Ballarat potato growers, McCain reach agreement

BALLARAT region potato growers and McCain Foods have reached an agreement a short time ago, offering growers about $305 a tonne for their potatoes.The Ballarat McCain Growers Group met with the company this afternoon for further negotiations.The committee emerged to give growers the outcome, which was about $305 a tonne for their potatoes."That's as far as we think we can take it," group spokesman Ross Dimond told the growers.This equates to 30.5 cents a kilogram, up 3.5 cents a kilogram from the original offer.While some growers were not completely happy with the offer, being short of the $310 a tonne they asked for, all 43 growing families took part in a secret ballot to vote on the offer.The offer is part of an eight-point position put forward by McCain, which says the company and growers must reform the whole industry to ensure its long-term sustainability.They will also set up a working group, similar to groups already set up in the Tasmanian and South Australian potato growing regions.A full agreement was reached, and growers are expected to move their tractors shortly.For more, see The Courier tomorrow.