MIRBOO North farmer Emma Germano has been re-elected president of the Victorian Farmers Federation.
VFF acting returning officer, Brendan Tatham, said VFF members had re-elected Ms Germano as president and Danyel Cucinotta, an egg producer from Werribee, as vice-president.
Successful applicants for a number of VFF commodity group positions were also announced, including Trent Anderson as East Gippsland regional councillor.
Mr Tatham congratulated all successful incumbent office bearers as the future leaders of Victoria’s peak agricultural advocacy body.
“The VFF also thanks all outgoing office bearers for their contributions over the years and helping to facilitate succession in the VFF to the next generation of VFF leaders,” he said.
The 2022 VFF election vote counting process was conducted on Thursday, December 22 at Farrer House in Melbourne under supervised conditions.
Ms Germano was re-elected president for her second term, which began in late 2020.
As a third-generation farmer from Mirboo North, Ms Germano is focussed on ensuring a vibrant future for agriculture in Australia.
Her family farm, ‘I Love Farms’ is mixed across livestock and horticulture.
Ms Germano is passionate about leading the conversation on key issues for Australian agriculture including food security, sustainability and climate resilience.
She has previously held the role of VFF vice president, VFF Horticulture Group president, and was acknowledged as a Nuffield Scholar in 2014 for her research examining global export opportunities for Australian primary producers.
Ms Cucinotta, also re-elected VFF vice president for her second term which began in late 2020, is a third-generation Victorian caged-egg farmer helping to operate her family’s egg farm, onsite café and deli in Werribee on Melbourne’s western outskirts.
She is a member of the VFF board and also commits her time to chair both the farming systems policy committee and making farming families safer committee. as well as being a committee member of both farm business and policy council.
Ms Cucinotta understands the dedica- tion, hard work and sacrifice needed to run a successful farm, and is committed to ensuring farmers receive strong government policy needed to ensure Victorian farms and agriculture thrives into the future.
Also elected in contested positions were Mark Billing as president of the VFF United Dairy Farmers of Victoria and Bradley Venning as councillor on the VFF Livestock Community Council – an additional position.
Uncontested representative positions were also announced: VFF Livestock president, Scott Young; VFF Livestock vice president, Peter Star, who was also appointed to be the VFF Board Livestock representative; Natasha Lobban, North East Region councillor; and Lachlan Barclay, Corangamite Region councillor.
