Co-operative Farming: June 2022 news

23 June 2022

Summerland: Banking the Northern Rivers community through thick and thin

The Northern Rivers region of NSW is no stranger to floods. But this resilient community has been stretched to breaking point this year, with record-breaking floods reaching heights beyond what anyone had ever imagined.

In our latest podcast, rural journalist Michael Cavanagh joined John Williams, CEO of Summerland Credit Union, to find out what drives this member-owned bank to keep going in even the toughest of circumstances.

Discover why member-owned banks are an important part of the Co-operative Farming family, how Summerland’s co-operative values have informed its flood response and why Summerland is optimistic about the future. Discover more about the bank that’s putting its members first and strengthening the capacity of its community to recover from the 2022 floods.

Listen now via our website, Spotify or Apple, or read more about how Summerland Credit Union is helping Lismore get back to business.

Celebrating our movement

Join with us on Saturday, 2 July in celebrating the International Day of Cooperatives. It is an important opportunity for all co-operatives and mutuals to communicate the role our businesses play in serving members and the wider community. This year’s theme is “Cooperatives build a better world”, and we look forward to celebrating this important day with co-operators and mutualists in Australia and around the world. Download resources from the Coops Day website.

National Mutual Economy report

Last week the BCCM launched the 2022 National Mutual Economy (NME) report. The ninth annual NME report captures the width and breadth of the valuable contribution co-operative and mutual enterprises (CMEs) make to the Australian economy and to their communities. Read highlights or download the entire report.

In the FY2020-21 the total turnover of the 13 farming, fishing and forestry co-ops in Australia’s Top 100 CMEs was $6.48 billion. These figures demonstrate the valuable contribution of farming, fishing and forestry CMEs to our national economy.

A co-operative for Queensland’s salad bowl

The Lockyer Fruit and Veggie Co-operative Ltd is seeking 20,000 Australian members to support its vision of providing a state-of-the-art food processing facility for farmers in Queensland’s Lockyer Valley. The co-operative will strengthen Australian food security by canning and freezing fresh produce locally, supporting Australian farmers in the process.

Co-op farming sector news

Mutuals and co-ops resilient in challenging economic times (paywall)

Time is right for co-operatives with ESG in focus, says Melina Morrison (paywall)

Coota District Co-op gets the green light

Business loans for Sweeter Banana Co-operative and Geraldton Fishermen’s Co-operative

Migration a fix for labour shortage: CEOs (paywall)

Agriculture industry ‘ready to work with Labor’ as leaders label biosecurity and skills shortage key issues

Victoria’s First Nations-led regenerative farming program changing lives, one beehive at a time

Norco and Woolworths announce cream partnership

Myanmar refugees overcome wet weather, floods to start farming co-operative on NSW Coffs Coast

Upskill your team in 2022 with BCCM courses

An Introduction to Co-operatives and Mutuals
This accessible and affordable two-hour online induction training has been designed to educate and to inspire people working in the sector to understand more about the unique role and contribution of co-operatives and mutuals. Give your staff a strong understanding of our unique sector by sending them to our next course on 14 July. Watch the extract of the interview with Taryn Lane from Hepburn Energy from last month’s course. Each course introduces a new co-op leader in conversation, and in July we will meet Mark Mugnaioni, Group CEO, RACT.

BCCM Innovation Masterclass
Our newest offering, this industry-specific masterclass gives the BCCM community access to world-class innovation thinking delivered by global facilitators providing practical and immediately usable approaches. This masterclass is perfect for teams, emerging leaders and executives looking to build innovation and resilience in their organisation. This three, half-day online masterclass is delivered by University of Geneva and UTS Professor Emmanuel Josserand and Strategyzer global innovation advisor Fred Etiemble. The masterclass will run from 2 pm – 5:30 pm AEST on 22 and 29 August, and 5 September 2022. Bookings now open, but hurry, as early bird pricing ends on 30 June.

Watch our recent introductory session to meet Emmanuel and Fred and discover more about this ground-breaking course.

We’re here to help

If you have questions or would like more information or support to plan, start or run a co-op, please get in touch with the Co-operative Farming team.