Executive

General Manager Commercial | MSM Milling

Josh started with MSM Milling in 2021, previously working with the IEU since January 2015. Having spent seven years as Speciality Canola Business Manager and Australian Speciality Grains Manager for Cargill. Prior to this he worked for AWB Limited in commodity marketing roles and spent nine years with NSW DPI in agronomic research and industry development roles including Executive Officer of the Durum Industry Association. Josh has a Degree in Agricultural Science and holds the Australian Financial Markets Association (AFMA) accreditation.

Email: josh.gordon@live.com.au

Phone: 0419 156 790

Guy Webb was a farmer in the Condobolin district for the first 10 years of his career. He moved into agronomy and biofertilizer product development for the subsequent 20 years, practicing around Gympie, Goondiwindi, and now Forbes. Guy has focused much of his career on soil health and its nutritional and biological aspects that influence sustainable and regenerative crop and pasture production.

Most recently Guy has focused on farmer-adoptable methods to rapidly increase soil organic carbon levels and presently is the founder and Managing Director of Soil C Quest 2031, a not-for-profit research institute exploring microbial carbon sequestration inoculums and carbon positive farming methods. Guy holds a deep belief that finding methods to rapidly build soil carbon in agricultural soils holds the key to greater farmer profitability, improved food security and resilience, and importantly a potentially scalable mitigation strategy to help address dangerous climate change.

Guy is honoured to be part of the CWFS committee and is highly motivated to make positive contributions to the important work of this dedicated organisation.

Email: guy@soilcquest.org.au
Phone: 0422 806 325

Ruth, in partnership with her family run a mixed farming business on their properties at Forbes and Cudal. On their farms, they run Ridgehaven Poll Dorset stud, Bowan Park trial flock, commercial prime lamb enterprise, self-replacing merino flock, beef cattle, and cropping.

Ruth, and her husband Graeme, have four children aged 8-13. In addition to her family and running the farm business, Ruth is involved in a number of farming and community committees and organisations. She has been on the CWFS executive since 2015.

Email: rellegge@hotmail.com
Phone: 0438 642 113

Graham McDonald spent his childhood on a farm near Lake Cargelligo. He left school in 1970 in time for the large machinery boom of the 70s. Graham has been involved in CWFS since its inception in 1998, including a term as Chairman. Now a partner in a mixed farming operation north west of Condobolin along with his brother David and son James running a merino flock joined to Merino rams and another joined to White Suffolk rams, along with cropping.

Graham’s main interest in being involved in CWFS is to attract relevant research to the western cropping areas and explore new technology/crops to improve profitability. How we adapt to the challenges of the next 10 years will crucial.

Mail: scrublands@bigpond.com
Phone: 0428 965 306 

Lawrence Higgins has been on the CWFS executive since the inception of the organisation in 1998. Lawrence has been a farmer within the Merriwagga area since 1962 on a family farm as well as leased and share farmed land. The main driver for being part of Central West farming Systems has been to help conduct research that is relevant to the Merriwagga area. In 1998 the majority of the agricultural research being extended was conducted in Wagga Wagga and wasn’t relevant to the drier climate at Merriwagga.

Email: mamari@harboursat.com.au
Phone: 0428 639 291

Warren currently works in the role of Territory Sales Manager for AWB / Cargill, covering the Central West area and based in Forbes. Warren has an extensive background in agriculture, having been born and bred in the Grenfell district and growing up on his family’s mixed farming enterprise. After nearly 20 years of experiencing the highs and lows of family farming and exclusive cropping, Warren and his wife decided to move out of the farming business and into the agribusiness sector. Warren studied agriculture at The University of Sydney.

Email: warren@keyagri.com.au
Phone: 0428 047 111

Jeff Bennett farms west of Condobolin at Kiacatoo with his wife Lisa and 3 children. Jeff has been continuous cropping for the last 20 years growing cereal grains, canola and chickpeas with an increasing interest to incorporating livestock into his business. With a focus to compliment his cropping program and to establishing perennial pastures to utilise less efficient land for annual cropping. 

Jeff is a strong believer research underpins how farmers can respond to changes outside their control that affect farm performance and is enthused by local practice change, innovation of technologies, growth of enterprises and weather patterns in the last 20 -30 years. The local relevant research and extension activities that Central West Farming Systems can provide are a driver for Jeff’s involvement with the farming systems group.

Email: jbennett4@bigpond.com
Phone: 0428 965 337