Governance

Tess owns a family farming business in the Central West of New South Wales. The operations consist of a cattle feedlot, lamb and wool production, crops, silage and hay production. Tess was previously the President of the Australian Lot Feeders Association and a director of the Red Meat Advisory Council. She was also the previous Chair of the Australian Beef Sustainability Framework Steering Group(ABSF) and the Red Meat Panel. She is currently the chair of Local Land Services State Board in NSW and a director of Meat and Livestock Australia. Tess completed a Masters in Agribusiness in 2020.

Her interest in agricultural sustainability initially developed through her work as a member of the inaugural ABSF and then later her role as chair of the ABSF. She has extended her interest in industry sustainability frameworks to the family farming business –implementing sustainability initiatives on farm.

Nigel is a fourth-generation farmer from Goondiwindi QLD with over 20 years’ of farming and business management experience, and is the Managing Director of New Leaf Ag Pty Ltd, a family owned food and fibre company. Nigel is a GrainGrowers Director for the Northern Region and sits as the chair of GrainGrowers’ Grains Sustainability Steering committee.With a Bachelor of Applied Science Agronomy from the University of Queensland, Nigel’s work across agriculture has been recognised as Australian Cotton Grower of the Year and ABC Rural Australian Young Farmer of the Year. Nigel also received a Nuffield Scholarship. Nigel currently sits on the board of both Cotton Seed Distributors and Ability Agriculture.

Richard has 30 years of experience in agriculture having worked for listed companies in North American and Australia. Richard is the former MD of Agrium (NutrienAg Solutions) and Meat & Livestock Australia as well as the Head of Retail at Elders Rural. Richard’s executive experience encompasses retail, innovation, logistics, marketing, and agribusiness. He holds the position of Executive Chair at Food Agility Consultancy, a leading research and development organisation dedicated to pioneering data-driven technologies and the Biotechnology company Terragen Holdings (ASX listed).

Shona Gawel is the Chief Executive Officer of GrainGrowers, bringing more than two decades of experience in strategy, marketing, communications, membership services, and industry engagement across Australia and the United Kingdom. Prior to her appointment as CEO, Shona served as GrainGrowers’ Chief Operating Officer and previously led Communications and Grower Engagement, playing a pivotal role in delivering member services and operational efficiencies that support a profitable and sustainable grains sector.Her career spans senior roles across technology, infrastructure, the charity and disability sectors, and industry associations, reflecting her commitment to strong community connections and the people who drive regional Australia. Passionate about ensuring grower-focused outcomes, Shona leads GrainGrowers’ efforts to advance a sustainable, innovative, and prosperous future for Australia’s grain growers and their regional and rural communities.

Matthew is an experienced and passionate grain grower from east of Moree, NSW, producing a range of dryland crops including wheat, barley, chickpeas and sorghum.After graduating from Orange Agricultural College with an Associate Diploma in Farm Management, he has spent the past 37 years working in and managing his own farming business. Alongside this, Matthew has broadened his skills through work in a local agribusiness supplying specialty grains to both Australian and export markets.

Mark Schilling has extensive experience in agriculture, having taken over management of the family property in 1995 at age 28. A fifth-generation farmer, he grew up on the family farm at Cunliffe on the northern Yorke Peninsula, a property owned by his grandfather since 1925. Throughout his career, Mark has shown a strong interest in improving profitability for his own family and for others across the industry. He believes the grains sector has a strong sustainability story to share and is committed to helping ensure it has the tools to do so.

Brendan was born and raised on Queensland’s Darling Downs in Warra, northwest of Dalby. He is a third-generation family farmer with 30 years of experience and is actively involved in the day-to-day operations of his family’s grain enterprise, producing wheat, barley, sorghum, mung beans and chickpeas.He is passionate about broadacre agriculture and strong farmer representation. Brendan brings extensive knowledge of grain cropping, along with experience in agricultural advocacy at both state and national levels.

Dr Mark Callow is the Manager Sustainable Cropping Systems at the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), based in Toowoomba, where he leads strategic RD&E investments that support grower profitability and long-term sustainability. He works across national research partnerships to advance innovations in agronomy, enabling technologies and emissions reduction. Mark brings extensive technical expertise and a strong commitment to evidence-based sustainability outcomes across the Australian grains industry.

Catherine Marriott OAM is an Australian agricultural leader with more than 20 years’ experience across management, governance, strategy and leadership roles in Australia and Southeast Asia. She brings a global perspective and strong systems thinking to herwork, with experience spanning the full supply chain from paddock to boardroom. Catherine specialises in aligning profitability with sustainability and ESG strategy to strengthen long term resilience, risk management and commercial performance.

She is passionate about enabling practical, business led sustainability that enhances environmental outcomes, rural community wellbeing and enterprise value. Catherine has led initiatives that identify emerging risks and opportunities early, translating complex global trends into clear, actionable strategies for agricultural businesses.

For the GSF, she brings an integrated, whole of system perspective, deep cross sector experience and a proven ability to connect strategy with implementation, ensuring sustainability is commercially grounded, regionally relevant and future focused.

Lachlan Evans is the Trade and Market Access Manager at Grains Australia, working collaboratively with the team and industry stakeholders to navigate complex regulatory landscapes. He supports the Trade and Market Access unit by coordinating operational responses to emerging barriers and delivering technical market intelligence. Lachlan works to optimise trade efficiency, leveraging his background in International Relations to facilitate outcomes that deliver mutual value for the Australian grain sector and its international customers.

Dr Mark Farrell is a Principal Research Scientist based in Adelaide within CSIRO’s Agriculture and Food research unit, where he leads the Biogeochemistry Team. He has more than 15 years’ experience delivering and leading impactful research into soil processes, how they are influenced by agricultural management and environmental change, and how these interactions affect the productivity and resilience of farming systems. His current responsibilities include leading the GRDC’s investment in developing a national soil health framework, as well as a major DAFF-funded Future Drought Fund initiative examining the suitability of regenerative agricultural practices for Australia’s dry and drying climate. With a strong background in environmental and agricultural science, Dr Farrell brings fundamental knowledge in the biophysical implications of agricultural management on soil health and its role in supporting a sustainable Australian agricultural

Graham Page is the Business Development Lead at Terragen, an Australian ag-biological company focused on improving livestock and plant performance through microbial science. In this role, Graham leads national business development strategy, distributor partnerships, market expansion initiatives, and commercial adoption of Terragen's biological products across intensive livestock systems and cropping programs.

With nearly three decades of experience in agronomy, technical leadership, product commercialisation, and industry extension, Graham brings deep expertise across sustainable production systems, input-efficiency strategies, and evidence-based practice change. His background includes national leadership across agronomy and technical services, where he supported large agronomy networks, delivered national training programs, and coordinated multi-site trials and demonstrations to accelerate adoption of sustainable, high-performance agricultural solutions.

Graham has a strong professional interest in improving input efficiency, system resilience, and long-term farm profitability, with a particular focus on microbial technologies that enhance nutrient use, soil function, livestock performance, and sustainability outcomes. His experience spans both livestock and grain enterprises, providing a cross-sector perspective relevant to whole-of-supply-chain sustainability frameworks. He brings to the GSF Steering Group a practical, commercially grounded viewpoint, combining technical rigour with real-world adoption insights. Graham’s strengths include strategic thinking, stakeholder engagement, and an ability to translate complex science into farmer-ready solutions. His industry networks, experience leading national extension programs, and commitment to scalable sustainability outcomes position him as a valuable contributor to the GSF’s development and implementation.

Steph Schmidt is a grower and Clinical Psychologist based in the low rainfall regions of South Australia. Together with her husband, she runs a mixed sheep and broadacre cropping enterprise, giving her first-hand insight into the realities, pressures and opportunities within Australian grain production systems.

Alongside her farming role, Steph is the founder of Farm Life Psych, where she specialises in practical, evidence-based approaches to mental health, wellbeing and psychological flexibility for rural and agricultural communities. Her work bridges lived farming experience with clinical expertise, supporting both producers and the agribusiness sector to build sustainable capacity in people as well as production.

Steph has a particular interest in the human sustainability of farming systems -recognising that resilient farms rely on resilient people, families and teams. She is especially focused on strengthening wellbeing, decision-making capacity and relationship dynamics within farming businesses during periods of uncertainty and pressure.

Through her dual lens as both grower and psychologist, Steph brings to the GSF Steering Group a grounded, systems-level perspective that connects productivity, safety and wellbeing. She is committed to ensuring the human dimension of sustainability remains visible and embedded within the future of Australian grains.

Ruth is an agroecologist focused on supporting farmers to be profitable and sustainable land managers through her consultancy, Rufous and Co. Ruth graduated from Sydney University with a Bachelor of Science and Masters of Applied Science in Wildlife Management and significant industry training. Ruth has spent over 20 years working across Australia in sustainable agriculture research and land management across cotton, viticulture, cropping, cattle, mixed farming, tourism and conservation sectors. Passionate about rural Australia, farming and our environment, her aim is to see the people and landscape of farming communities thrive.

Ruth, and her husband Damien, live and farm together with Damien’s family, at Burra, South Australia with 3 great kids and a menagerie of pets, growing predominantly wheat, barley, oats and recently lentils. In addition to working directly with farmers through Rufous and Co, Ruth also delivers research and extension projects with Upper North Farming Systems Inc. and sits on GRDC’s Southern Panel. Ruth brings practical grower, sound science and applied ecology perspectives to the GSF development, keen to see the framework facilitate market access and support the industry and growers to continue to evolve our systems and application of sustainability initiatives.

Ashley runs the family farm in Narrogin Western Australia with his wife Jo. Ashley’s focus on value creation has resulted in supply chains of quinoa and wheat-free oats into Australia's main supermarkets. Ash brings expertise in climate change resilience and adaptation, land and resource rights, supply chains and GHG emissions.