24 July 2025
The BCCM National Agricultural Co-operatives Roundtable and Dinner will be held in Griffith, NSW on 25 July 2025, bringing together leaders from Australia’s agricultural co-operative sector. Hosted by Yenda Producers Co-operative in celebration of their Centenary, the invitation-only event includes a morning tour of Yenda’s operations and the Aquna Sustainable Murray Cod farm, followed by a facilitated afternoon BCCM Agricultural Co-operatives Roundtable on shared challenges and opportunities for co-operative agribusinesses. This biannual forum provides a platform for strategic discussion, knowledge sharing and collaboration among agricultural co-operatives nationwide.
In the news
Yenda Producers gala to share stage with national agricultural round-table (pay wall), The Area News, 7 July 2025
Yenda Producers interviewed on ABC Radio’s NSW Country Hour,
Read the transcript
In 2025, 10 farmers from Yenda start a co-operative to gain mutual benefits in marketing, acquiring supplies, high-quality inputs and equipment.
Celebrating a century of operation, Yenda Producers Co-operative is committed to supporting innovation in farming and advocating for its members and strengthening its role as a key partner in Australian agriculture.
Anthony Neem is the general manager of Yenda who produces his cooperative. He says, “The focus of the co-operative might have changed, but it’s still going strong.”
“100 years for sure,” says Brett Nelson. “My understanding was 10 farmers that essentially banded together to improve their buying power or their sort of marketing power that they needed to, and it’s a sort of built-in nest.”
What sort of commodities are we talking about? The issue of Yenda’s process had some marketing efforts back in the 1940s. It’s sort of not what we do today, from our point it’s about farm advisory and supplies.
So the project has to be really for our farmers to take control of. We just need a bit of support and supply in advisory service business.
So unlike, say, an apple cooperative where it’s just about apples and you have a whole bunch of growers bringing it in and pooling it together, all the farmers do their own thing, but then they get assistance from the co-op.
At Curtaer, we’ve got a large team: horticulture, livestock production, and a very wide and diversified cropping base. The essence of Curtaer Brody is that you’ve got horticulture, livestock, dairy farmers – a wide range.
We make sure we’re part of it through strategic planting and budget planning, to ensure sustainability into the future.
And wine grapes as well – Yenda is pretty famous for that. Absolutely, viticulture is a huge part of their business. It’s a very concerned ton being, but ultimately it’s an area that we’re still heavily invested in.
Now a wide range of things – livestock, cropping, viticulture, horticulture. What’s the benefit of being a member then? What do they get out of it? How does it improve their bottom line?
It comes back to your member value proposition. An owner of the business is also the customer. That decision-making ensures shareholders get financial rewards and rebates tailored to member needs.
Other benefits include access to services, preferential treatment in volatile supply conditions, and always being first in line for inputs – a strong focus on members.
Anthony Neem is the general manager of Yenda Producers Cooperative. Drew Brathwaite’s family has been involved in the Yenda Co-op for at least 75 years. It all started on a small soldier settler block just after World War II.
The farm expanded into different commodities – rice, wheat, cotton, almonds, hybrid seed canola. It’s changed a lot since the early days.
It’s about productivity and changes in water management. The family sees great value in the co-op through purchasing power, rebates, lower net costs, and reinvestment back into the community.
Members of the family even helped run the co-op. Drew’s grandfather was on the board for 42 years and chairman for 10.
He says the co-op should prioritise honesty, cost control, and services that commercial businesses don’t provide because they’re not economically rational.
Co-ops help protect farmers from being picked off individually by the market. The Yenda co-op has thrived because growers have stuck with it.
With the highs and lows of irrigated agriculture and economic uncertainty, the co-op remains as relevant as ever. Water scarcity is a growing challenge.
Yenda has adapted with a diversified portfolio and continues to provide services aligned with the economic cycles of their commodities.
Drew Brathwaite’s family farm is 25km west of Griffith at Warrawidgee. The Yenda Co-op is celebrating 100 years at the end of next week.
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