Mrs Sharon Starick

South Australia

Appointed as Chair (Non-Executive): 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2027.

Appointed as a Non-Executive Director: 30 November 2018, reappointed to 30 September 2023, reappointed to 30 September 2024.

Member: Remuneration, People and Performance Committee (from 1 October 2024).

Chair: Audit and Risk Committee (from 6 December 2023 to 30 September 2024).

South Australian grain and pork producer Sharon Starick was announced as GRDC’s new board chair in September last year. Sharon has been on the GRDC board since 2018 and has an in-depth understanding of both the business and the grains sector.

Sharon has a degree in Agricultural Science from the University of Adelaide and is currently a Director of Animal Health Australia (past Chair) and Director of the Regional Investment Corporation.  She is also a past Chair of the South Australian Murray-Darling Basin Natural Resources Management Board and independent Chair of the South Australian Future Drought Fund Advisory Group.

As a grower, Sharon understands the challenges facing Australian agriculture, and is passionate about sustainability and natural resource management. She is also a staunch believer in the value of RD&E when it comes to supporting Australian farming businesses.

Mr Nigel Hart

Managing Director

Nigel grew up in southern New South Wales and has spent more than 25 years working in executive and leadership positions in large scale infrastructure, port, warehousing and supply chains operations for the grains sector, both within Australia and internationally.

Nigel has worked as an expert consultant on a range of projects in the grain supply chain from takeover bid advisory for a large listed grain company, international bench marking of bulk and container supply chains, hybrid wheat commercialisation modelling, commercial contracting for minerals concentrate transport, digital strategies for supply chain optimisation and the design, and development of a 1.3mmt grain export terminal.

He was previously Global Director (Ports) at Archer Daniels Midland where he led the development of a global port’s growth and productivity strategy across Asia, Europe, South America and the USA.

Prior to this he spent 15 years at GrainCorp culminating in his position as Group General Manager – Storage and Logistics where he led the storage and logistics operations, grain accumulation and domestic customer management teams across the east coast of Australia.

Nigel has a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture from Western Sydney University, is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and successfully completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School in 2013.

He commenced in the role of Managing Director with GRDC in March 2022.

Mr Bob Nixon

Western Australia

Director (Non-Executive) and Deputy Chair

Appointed: 1 October 2020, reappointed 1 October 2023, appointed Deputy Chair in 2024

Member: Audit and Risk Committee (from 9 December 2020 to 30 September 2023, reappointed 6 December 2023); Remuneration People and Performance Committee (from 6 December 2023).

Bob owns and manages a family farming business Bunketch Ag in the 300mm annual rainfall North-eastern wheatbelt of Western Australia. The family grow wheat, barley, canola, lupins, chick peas and serradella cover crop. He has a strong interest in crop agronomy, soil health, whole of landscape management and resilient farming systems and communities.

Bob is past Chair of the Grain Industry Association of WA (GIWA) from 2017 to 2020 and past member of the GRDC Soils Constraints West steering committee. He currently sits on the WA Soil and Land Conservation Council and is an active member of his local Liebe Grower Group.

He completed a Nuffield Scholarship in 2014 looking into ‘Mitigating Risk in a Dry and Variable Climate’ in response to the drying out and increase in seasonal variability of the WA cropping belt. Bob was awarded the GRDC Seed of Light in 2019 for his work in managing soil constraints.

Mr Richard Heath, BSc (Hons), GAICD

New South Wales

Director (Non-Executive)

Appointed: 1 October 2017, reappointed to 30 September 2023, reappointed to 30 September 2026

Chair: Remuneration, People and Performance Committee (from 9 December 2020 to 30 September 2023, reappointed 6 December 2023)

Richard is the CEO of the Zero Net Emissions from Agriculture Cooperative Research Centre (ZNE-Ag CRC). The ZNE-Ag CRC has been formed to catalyse industry, community, and government action to achieve Zero Net Emissions from agriculture.

Previous to this role Richard was the Executive Director of the Australian Farm Institute, an independent agricultural policy research organisation. Richard was also an Associate Professor of Agronomy and Farm Management at the University of Sydney and before that, was involved in a large family farming business in North West NSW. He is a Nuffield scholar and was a director of Nuffield Australia.

Mr Shaun Coffey FTSE CRSNZ FAIA FAICD

Queensland

Director (Non-Executive)

Appointed: 1 October 2023 to 30 September 2026

Member: Audit and Risk Committee (from 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2026).

Shaun Coffey is an internationally acknowledged leader in agriculture, with over 30 years of experience as a Non-Executive Director, Chairman and CEO.

An agronomist and geneticist by training, Shaun developed broad interests across science and technology through key leadership roles, such as Director of Research and Extension in the Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Foundation Chief of the CSIRO Division of Livestock Industries (2002-2006) and as CEO of the NZ Crown entity, Industrial Research Ltd (2007-2013).

Shaun has become known as a business and science entrepreneur. He has been involved in the founding of many start-ups and joint ventures in technology. He has operated in the agriculture, manufacturing, energy, environment, health, and services sectors

He currently serves on the Board of the Future Fuels Cooperative Research Centre and as Director of Capacity Building in the Crawford Fund for a Food Secure World. He recently retired as Chair of the Agriculture and Food Forum of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.

Ms Kellie Benda

Western Australia

Director (Non-Executive)

Appointed: 1 October 2023 to 30 September 2026

Member: Audit and Risk Committee (from 6 December 2023 to 30 September 2026).

Kellie is an experienced non-executive director having served (and is serving) as a non-executive director and Chair, since 2003; including Federal and State government trading enterprises, public listed and unlisted companies, private equity funded entities and various not-for-profits.

She is a graduate of and has been awarded a fellowship by the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

After commencing her career with King & Wood Mallesons as a corporate lawyer, she moved into investment banking, and most recently held senior executive positions as Chief Operating Officer; Chief Risk Officer, and Executive General Manager within AX20 companies, with responsibility for large and complex portfolios.

She holds a Bachelor of Law, Bachelor of Arts (Industrial Relations), Master of Applied Finance and is a graduate of the Harvard Advanced Management Programme. She has also studied digital leadership at Masters level.

Ms Belinda (Bindi) Turner CA MBA MAICD

New South Wales

Director (Non-Executive)

Appointed: 1 October 2023 to 30 September 2026

Chair: Audit and Risk Committee (from 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2026).

Member: Audit and Risk Committee (from 6 December 2023 to 30 September 2024).

Belinda (Bindi) Turner is an Agribusiness executive with experience across the grain supply chain. Based in Inverell, NSW where her family operate a mixed farming and stud cattle enterprise, she is the Chief Investment Officer of Agri Carbon Investments, an asset manager providing investment pathways into agriculture, with a focus on regenerative practices and carbon.

Previously Bindi was part of the team that built and operated one of the largest grain producers in Australia, on behalf of an Institutional Investor.

Bindi has delivered key strategic commercial outcomes in areas such as procurement, contracting, grain marketing and precision agriculture as well as financial and management reporting.

Prior to moving into corporate agriculture, Bindi held senior finance and management roles in the Australian offices of global agricultural commodity trading houses COFCO International and Nidera.

She has been a Director of Queensland Rural Industry Development Authority (QRIDA) since 2015 and chairs the Audit and Risk Committee.

Bindi has an Executive MBA from Melbourne Business School, a Graduate Certificate in Agribusiness from Marcus Oldham College, a Bachelor of Commerce (Liberal Studies) from the University of Sydney and is a Chartered Accountant.

Ms Natalie Sommerville

South Australia

Director (Non-Executive)

Appointment: 1 October 2023 to 1 October 2026.

Member: Remuneration, People and Performance Committee (from 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2026).

Natalie Sommerville has been farming on Ngadjuri Country in South Australia’s Mid North for over 20 years in her family farming business Windjara Ag and brings operational and strategic experience in managing a grain and livestock agribusiness.

Natalie has a Bachelor of Applied Science in Natural Resources Management and Agriculture combining her key interests of sustainable ag and the environment with a holistic approach to build robust and resilient farming systems. Natalie has a background in crop agronomy and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engagement.

Natalie brings creative strategic leadership to her board directorship roles, strong governance and a First Nations lens. She is an non-executive independent director for National Farmers Federation, President of Australian Women in Agriculture, and representative on industry committees and First Nations advisory groups.