Welcome to the annual general meeting of GrainCorp Limited. I am Peter Richards, Chairman of the board, and I thank you for joining us today. Also in the room are members of our executive and senior leadership teams, our investor relations manager Dan Jones, Eliza Penny from PricewaterhouseCoopers, our external auditor, and representatives from Link Market Services, our share registry provider. Turning to the agenda for the meeting, I'll deliver the Chairman's report and then Robert will present a report on FY 2023, an update on our strategic priorities and initiatives in the outlook for the current financial year. We'll then proceed to consider the resolution set out in the notice of meeting. I will outline the voting arrangements ahead of that section, and there will be an opportunity for shareholders to ask questions during the formal business items as they relate to the resolution being considered.
Now, moving to my address. I've just realized that my address here is double-sided, so I've missed some of the opening, so I'll try and get on. Okay. FY 2023 was another outstanding year for GrainCorp. We continue to execute on our strategy, and we delivered our second strongest-ever result, driven by outstanding supply chain execution, which enabled us to handle high grain volumes and capitalize on continued strong demand for Australian commodities. The resilience of our team and network was once again evident in managing the disruptions caused by severe flooding across New South Wales and Victoria in early 2023. We are now four and a half months into the 2024 financial year, and as Robert will discuss shortly, the 2023-2024 ECA winter harvest was a tale of two halves, with lower production volumes in the northern growing regions offset by above-average output in Victoria and southern New South Wales.
This morning, I look forward to updating you on our financial and operational achievements, capital management and shareholder returns, and our board succession process. I will then pass to our Managing Director and CEO, Robert Spurway, for a more detailed review of our achievements and update on our priorities and outlook for 2024. So I should just return to my more formal part of the discussion before I move on and just introduce my fellow directors. Obviously, on my right here is Robert Spurway, and we've changed order. So our non-executive directors are Dan Mangelsdorf, Kathy Grigg, John Maher, Clive Stiff, Nicky Anderson, and Peter Knoblanche. So welcome. And we also have our company secretaries here, Stephanie Belton and Annerly Squires , and our CEO, Ian Morrison. So welcome. First of all, Safety. Before moving to our financial and operational results, I would like to focus on Safety at GrainCorp.
It is obviously with great sadness we reflect on the fatality at our receival site in Moree, New South Wales, earlier last year. The impact of the death of our colleague has reverberated across GrainCorp, starting with the board and cascading down throughout the company. It is our individual and collective responsibility to ensure that every GrainCorp employee returns home to their family at the end of every day. Tragically, we did not achieve this aim. My board colleagues and I, together with the management team, remain resolute in embedding a strong Safety culture and in driving our goal of zero harm to our people. This incident demonstrates that Safety is a constant and continuing commitment and that there was always more work to be done. Moving on to the FY 2023 highlights.
The company delivered earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization of AUD 565 million and a net profit after tax of AUD 250 million. In agri, we handled more than 37 million tons of grain and achieved our second highest-ever domestic outload, while our processing division crushed a record volume of canola. I'm pleased to report our FY 2023 return on invested capital was 18.6%. We also progressed several exciting growth opportunities, including the proposed acquisition of Performance Feeds and Nutrition Services in November 2023 and several investments through our corporate venture capital program, GrainCorp Ventures. Robert will provide more detail on our strategy execution and priorities shortly. Turning to capital management. Obviously, FY 2023 was another strong year of cash generation for GrainCorp, resulting in a core cash position of AUD 349 million at the 30th of September 2023, up from AUD 177 million the prior year.
This excellent financial performance allowed the board to declare a final dividend of AUD 0.30 per share, fully franked, bringing total ordinary and special dividends for FY 2023 to AUD 0.54 per share. This payout is consistent with both FY 2022 and our dividend policy paying out between 50%-70% through the cycle NPAT and continuing the board's strong focus on providing returns to shareholders. We have also committed to returning an additional AUD 50 million to shareholders through a share buyback, which is anticipated to commence towards the second half of FY 2024. We are confident that our strong core cash position and robust capital management framework will facilitate ongoing investment in our core business and our growth strategies and allow shareholder returns to be maintained through the cycle. Turning to sustainability. In 2022, we established a new Board Sustainability Committee with our board colleague Clive Stiff appointed as chair.
In the committee's first full year of operating, the BSC worked closely with our management team on the areas of sustainability most relevant to GrainCorp to ensure that considerations of this form an integrated part of our strategic financial and operational decision-making. Looking forward, we'll maintain our focus on the priority areas of responsible sourcing, climate, and on the environmental impacts of our operations. We will continue to enhance our data quality collection and management to facilitate a greater understanding of these key areas and promote better decision-making prioritization. Robert will discuss some of these achievements shortly. On community. Our success as a business relies on a thriving and vibrant rural and regional community. We seek to contribute to the social connection of these communities by investing in the local infrastructure and community initiatives that bring people together.
In its second year of operation, the GrainCorp Community Foundation supported more than 140 community groups and 150,000 members in regional and rural communities across Australia. We were pleased with the success in the first year of its program, and in July 2023, we entered into a three-year partnership with Go Foundation, an Aboriginal-led and governed organization providing education scholarships to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. I'm also delighted to announce our recent partnership with Ronald McDonald House Charities, which provides accommodation and support to families of seriously ill or injured children living in remote and regional communities. Finally, I'd like to touch on the board. We regularly review our board's composition to ensure we have the right mix of skills, experience, and attributes. In December 2023, we appointed two new directors to the board, Peter Knoblanche and John Maher.
Both were appointed following an extensive search, and each adds to and complements the board's existing skill set to ensure the effective governance of GrainCorp into the future. Peter has a deep understanding of strategy, agribusiness, funding, commodity trading, and risk management, as his experience was most recently as Regional Manager of Australia New Zealand and CEO Australia for Rabobank. John's experience extends across strategy, capital allocation, agribusiness growth and innovation, and agriculture supply chains. His previous roles include Managing Director and CEO of Ruralco, and most recently was CEO of the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation. The board unanimously recommends the election of Peter and John by shareholders today, and you'll hear from them a little bit later. I would also like to take a moment to recognise Dan Mangelsdorf, who, at the conclusion of this meeting, will retire from the GrainCorp board after 19 years.
During his tenure, GrainCorp has undergone countless changes, and his experience, knowledge, expertise have been invaluable to the board and to myself and the company during that time. His passion for agriculture has served as a constant reminder to his fellow directors of the potential, the opportunities, and significant responsibilities that our company has in supporting this vibrant industry. On behalf of the board, I'd like to thank you, Dan, for your significant contribution and wish you all the success with future endeavors in agriculture and beyond. And I think it's just appropriate we give Dan. He will be greatly missed. So in conclusion, it remains a privilege to chair this dynamic company and connect Australian agriculture with the world. On behalf of the board, I'd like to thank our people for their commitment to delivering for our customers in what has been another very busy year for GrainCorp.
The sustainable operational improvements achieved across our business are a testament to their dedication and expertise and leave our business well-positioned for FY 2024. Thanks also to Robert and the rest of the senior management team for the ongoing hard work and continuing to drive the execution of our strategy. Of course, I'd like to thank you, our shareholders, for your continued support. Finally, before handing over to Robert, I'd like to share a short video reflecting on GrainCorp's core values, which we refreshed during 2023. These values set the tone for how we operate to achieve our goals and underpin why we remain well-positioned to support growers, our customers, suppliers, and the communities in which we operate into the future. Thank you.
FY 2023 was an important year for GrainCorp. It was a year of exceptional performance as we delivered value through the capability of our people working across our extensive supply chain. A year of disciplined focus on growing and evolving the business and delivering on projects that will build a sustainable future for the agricultural industry. Our successes were underpinned by the GrainCorp way of supporting growers, customers, and communities through our four new company values.
This year, we didn't just set high expectations. We delivered on them. Our grains business met strong demand for high-quality Australian grains and oilseeds, outloading and exporting 1 million tonnes of grain to the world every month for the second year in a row. The international business recorded some of its strongest results, and we built new and important customer relationships in key markets across Asia and Europe. Our nutrition and energy businesses achieved record oilseed crush volumes, and we expanded our used cooking oil collection service for Australian fast food outlets, boosting our lead as a major supplier of renewable fuel feedstocks. The team at GrainCorp truly identifies with the value of "We deliver." The drive to succeed and provide the best service for our customers underpins everything we do.
We strive to stay safe at GrainCorp by prioritizing our physical and mental well-being, reducing risk, and looking out for ourselves and each other. Tragically, we lost a valued colleague at our site in Moree in April of last year. It was a crucial reminder of the dangers of working in an operational environment, and it reinforced our resolve to continue to work towards a zero-harm environment. Throughout the busy events of the year, the value of "We stay safe" flowed through our business beyond our operations. We strengthened our quality assurance testing services. We set the bar on food Safety and security for consumers, and our robust cybersecurity measures were a critical pillar in keeping our business and our customers safe.
We do what's right at GrainCorp by integrating sustainable practices across our commercial and operational activities and embedding our commitments into the mindset of our teams. In FY 2023, we took a significant step towards our climate goals by committing to the Science Based Targets Initiative to build an ambitious emissions reduction roadmap. We strengthened our ongoing support for Australia's transition to a lower carbon economy with a new initiative exploring the supply of agricultural feedstocks for sustainable aviation fuels. We're making progress on our goal to eliminate tarps from landfill by 2027 through our collaboration with Sustainable Plastic Solutions. We improved energy and water management across our network and reduced emissions from our processing sites. Through partnerships with growers, government, and industry, we're leading sustainable and innovative agriculture through another century of growth.
At GrainCorp, we care about our people, our customers, the environment, and our communities. The GrainCorp Community Foundation supported more than 140 rural communities in FY 2023 and helped to bring tourists back to the bush with three new silo out projects, adding to the popular nationwide trail. Our new partnerships with Ronald McDonald House Charities and the Go Foundation provide new ways for us to make a positive difference for the people in the communities where we live and where we work. We were proud to receive conditional endorsement of our Innovate Level Reconciliation Action Plan from Reconciliation Australia, and we further closed the gender pay gap in our workforce. As always, our people continued to give back, providing disaster relief in times of hardship, volunteering, supporting local projects and education programs, and sporting clubs.
A review of our values reflected the level of change and growth across the business and the high-performing and caring culture that our people actively promote.
These four key values (We deliver, We stay safe, We do what's right, and We care) are at the heart of what we do at GrainCorp: connecting us with global markets, customers, and rural communities to deliver value through innovation and expertise.
Thank you, Peter, and good morning, everyone. It's a pleasure to join with you today. This morning, I'll further reflect on our operational performance for financial year 2023. I'll provide an update on how we continue to deliver on our strategy, highlight our sustainability achievements in financial year 2023, and provide an update on the 2023-2024 East Coast Australia winter harvest and the outlook and earnings guidance for financial year 2020-2024. I do just want to start by echoing Peter's comments and conveying our sincere condolences to the family and friends of our colleague fatally injured in a truck accident at Moree in April of last year. Incidents like this underpin why we continue to strive for zero harm every day. We have, and we are continuing to invest in Safety initiatives across our business, and we're making consistent progress in both key lead and lag indicators.
Turning now to some of the operational and financial highlights from the year. As Peter noted, GrainCorp delivered another excellent financial result in financial year 2020-2023, with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization of AUD 565 million, and net profit after tax of AUD 250 million. Performance in our agribusiness segment was driven by positive cropping conditions, operating efficiencies, and strong demand.
East Coast Australia handled a total of 37.4 million tonnes of grain compared to the 41.1 million tonnes in the prior year, and again, we demonstrated the value of our infrastructure assets and our ability to move grain efficiently across the supply chain. In the processing segment, oilseeds had another record year with crush volumes of 496,000 tonnes while also benefiting from favorable gross crush margins. We continued disciplined investment in our growth strategy, targeting areas complementary to our existing profile and where GrainCorp has a right to win.
In summary, financial year 2023 was another great year for the company as we continued to deliver for growers, customers, and shareholders. As a result, we closed financial year 2020-2023 in a very strong financial position with AUD 349 million in core cash. In addition, we received gross proceeds of AUD 127 million on the 15th of November from the sale of United Malt Group to Malteries Soufflet. Turning now to our strategy, and this slide will be familiar to many of you. It shows our vision, our purpose, and it's centered on delivering for growers and customers to create sustained shareholder value. To achieve this, we focus on two key strategic priorities: what we call strengthening the core of our business, that is, driving our assets harder and more efficiently, and the disciplined pursuit of value-add growth opportunities. I'm pleased with our ability to continue delivering on this strategy.
Just focusing on strengthening the core, we've continued to invest in our assets. In the East Coast Australia network, we implemented initiatives which have allowed us to reduce truck turnaround times to improve the grower experience. This has enabled our network to capitalize on another bumper crop. We continued to improve the utilization of our port assets, and in financial year 2023, bulk materials provided record EBITDA contribution. Our processing business also achieved a record year in financial year 2023, driven by our oilseeds business, the disciplined investment and integration of advanced analytics into our processing plants, and was supported by record crush volumes. As well as improving the performance of our assets, we are committed to driving efficiencies in our systems. The GrainCorp Nutrition and Energy Integration has already unlocked internal synergies and improved customer experiences with more to come.
We remain focused on maximizing our return on invested capital by optimizing the contribution of all our assets across the business. In financial year 2023, we commenced a strategic review of our underperforming food assets in New Zealand, while in Canada, we recapitalised the joint venture GrainsConnect Canada. Moving to the second part of our strategy and strategic pillar, we progressed several growth opportunities this year, which are listed on the slide in front of you. Positive steps were taken to identify Western Australia as the preferred location for a new oilseed crush plant. We're in ongoing conversations with both upstream and downstream partners, and this remains a priority for GrainCorp. We recently announced the intended acquisition of Performance Feeds and Nutrition Service Associates, which demonstrates our propensity for disciplined investment in high-quality, value-accretive businesses.
This proposed transaction not only adds deeply to our industry knowledge, to an already experienced team, but it also provides ongoing earnings diversification. In digital and ag tech, we continue investing in emerging and innovative technologies that support the long-term sustainable growth of Australian agriculture. Now turning to sustainability and ESG more generally. It is embedded across both of our strategic pillars, and we aim to build a sustainable and inclusive value chain by partnering with customers, suppliers, community, and other industry stakeholders. This slide provides a snapshot of the progress we've made in financial year 2023. At an operational level, we reduced our greenhouse gas emissions on a per-tonne production at our processing sites. We also continue to develop our approach to financial and other disclosures around climate emissions.
During financial year 2023, we committed to the Science Based Targets initiative, known as SBTi, and will continue submitting targets for Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions reduction. This will be a priority workstream for financial year 2024. Importantly, the SBTi project incorporates our commitment to no deforestation across primary deforestation-linked commodities by the end of 2025. Other notable successes across our teams during the year included the conditional endorsement of our Innovate Level Reconciliation Action Plan by Reconciliation Australia and the further narrowing of the gender pay gap at GrainCorp. We were proud to support more than 140 community groups through the GrainCorp Community Foundation. As you saw in the video, people and values are an integral part of our success. Looking ahead, we recognize sustainability is a constantly evolving area requiring focus, time, and effort across the business.
In financial year 2024, we will continue to adapt our approach to reflect the latest science, innovation, technology, and stakeholder expectations. Moving to a harvest update and the current crop for financial year 2024. After several bumper crops, the 2023-2024 East Coast Australia grain production has moderated towards average levels, with ABARES estimating a 2023-2024 East Coast crop of 21.7 million tonnes. That's very close to the 10-year average of 21.6 million. However, as Peter said, we have seen crop production vary notably across the region. Favorable growing conditions in Victoria and southern New South Wales are in contrast with the much lower production in Queensland and northern New South Wales. Notably, several of our receival sites across Victoria recorded their best-ever season.
As of this week, we've received 8.5 million tonnes of grain into our network during the 2023-2024 harvest, compared with 11.9 million tonnes at the same time last year. Year-to-date export volumes are 1.7 million tonnes compared with the 3 million tonnes last year. We are forecasting full-year exports of between 4.5 and 5.5 million tonnes. Carry-in from financial year 2023 of 3.9 million tonnes will support both the export and domestic outload capabilities. Importantly, growers will be pleased that significant summer rainfall in several regions has boosted soil moisture in many areas.
That's supporting the summer crop and also the prospects of winter crop planting. I'd like to finish with some comments on our financial guidance and outlook for financial year 2024. We expect to report underlying EBITDA of between AUD 270 million and AUD 310 million and underlying net profit after tax of between AUD 65 million and AUD 95 million.
This guidance range excludes the costs associated with our system's transformation. Turning to the business segment results, as we've mentioned, the integration of feeds, fats, and oils into our processing side of the business, which at an operational level is well established, will form part of our financial reporting for the 2024 half-year results onwards. Outlook for our agribusiness segment, which going forward will consist of East Coast Australia and the international business, reflects an average East Coast Australia winter crop and normalization of margins across that region. We expect international demand for Australian grain to continue. Performance of our nutrition and energy segment is expected to be underpinned by our oilseeds business as we continue to drive efficiencies at our crush plants.
We expect crush utilization to remain strong, driven by underlying demand for vegetable oils and renewable fuel feedstocks, while margins are expected to moderate from Financial Year 2023 levels. Our strategic growth initiatives in agri-energy remain an area of focus for GrainCorp, including the ongoing feasibility study for a new crush facility in Western Australia, which represents an exciting opportunity for GrainCorp to support Australian growers who produce valuable feedstocks like canola for crop-based oils. As a leading biofuel feedstock supplier already, GrainCorp is briefing the federal government on the role that agriculture can play, and we're supporting policy development in respect of onshore sustainable fuel refining capability for the aviation sector. We've also embarked on a systems transformation program to unlock efficiencies in how we operate as a business.
The details of the program will be shared when the financial business case is approved by our board through this year. In summary, we're well placed to execute on our long-term strategy, meaning we can continue delivering high levels of customer service and provide through the cycle value to our shareholders. In conclusion, I'd like to thank the entire GrainCorp team for their efforts and contributions throughout the year. I'd like to thank our growers, customers, and our shareholders for your ongoing support. Good morning, everyone, and thank you. Back to you, Peter.
Thanks, Robert. Okay, we'll now move to the formal items of business at this AGM. The notice of meeting and explanatory notes were lodged with the ASX and posted to our company's website. I will take the notice of meeting as read. As set out in the notice, there are four items of business today which are displayed on the screen behind me. Item one for consideration with no vote required, and all other items are ordinary resolutions which require a shareholder vote. Shareholders, proxies, and corporate representatives who are registered to vote today should have received a yellow voting card. Shareholders, proxies, and corporate representatives that are not voting today should have received a blue non-voting shareholder card, and only those holding yellow cards are eligible to vote, and only those holding blue or yellow cards are eligible to speak at this meeting.
Anyone with a red card is not able to ask questions during the meeting or vote on the resolutions. I can confirm that the undirected proxies have been given in favor of the chairman. Those shares will be voted in favor of all resolutions to the extent permitted. Voting on all items of business will be conducted via a poll, and I'll now declare the poll open for each of the resolutions in the notice of meeting. Sumit Singh of Link Market Services will conduct the poll as the returning officer. Your voting cards will be collected by Link Market Services at the conclusion of the formal business. If you need to leave early, please complete your card and present it to Sumit's staff at the door there. As chairman of the meeting, I'll ensure that there are opportunities for separate deliberation concerning the items of business.
To enable all shareholders to participate, it is important that comments and questions are succinct and restricted to the subject matter of the business and resolution set out in the notice of meeting. We have two roving microphones in the room, and when we come to questions during the meeting, please raise your hand to ask a question. During the meeting, we'll display and discuss each resolution. We'll then display the number of direct and proxy votes received on each prior to the meeting. Votes cast during the meeting will be counted by Link Market Services after the meeting closes. Results of the poll will be released as soon as available today on the ASX and will also be displayed on our website.
Okay, now moving to item one, which concerns the consideration of the financial statements and the reports of the directors and auditors for the financial year ended 30 September 2023. The reports are contained in the annual report, which was posted to our website on the 16th of November last year, and a hard copy was sent to those shareholders who specifically requested it. Shareholders have also had the opportunity to view the statements and reports on the company's website. I will take the reports as read and now formally lay them before the meeting. The purpose of this item is to provide an opportunity for shareholders to ask questions and make comments about the company's performance, operations, and management.
Shareholders were invited to submit questions in advance of today's meeting to our auditors on the conduct of the audit, the preparation and content of the auditor's report, the accounting policies adopted by GrainCorp relating to the preparation of the financial statements, and the independence of the auditor in conducting the audit. No questions to the auditor were received. Now, would anyone like to ask a question or express a view on the financial statements and reports or the presentation from myself and Robert? A reminder that only holders of yellow or blue cards are entitled to ask questions, and also if you could state your name before asking each question. So, sir.
Stephan Fonte, chairman. I've been a shareholder for some time, and I used to get the annual report, but I moved to chess, and I don't get the annual report now. I rang Link to ask for one. They hung up on me. I rang the company, and someone called Dan Jones, I think it is, said he'd look after it, but I haven't seen an annual report. And I can't vote on the remuneration stuff. Don't tell me it's on the internet because I'm not interested in that.
I think we did return to a service where you had to check a box in terms of whether you receive a hard copy, but I'm sure we can address that either straightaway or during the meeting. So, apologies for that, sir. Any other questions on the financial statements or the presentations? Okay, there being no further questions and there is no requirement for a vote on this item, I now move to the items of business which require a formal resolution. Item 2 contains the adoption of the remuneration report, and the resolution is now displayed on the screen. This report is set out on pages 42-45 of the annual report, noting your concerns, and provides disclosures relating to director and executive remuneration. As stated in the notice of meeting, the vote on this report is advisory only and does not bind the directors or the company.
The board, though, will, as usual, take note of the views of shareholders in relation to our remuneration policies. Last year, the shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favor of the remuneration report. We, as a board, remain committed to ensuring that our approach to executive remuneration aligns with our business strategy and with the interests of our shareholders, and it's fair and competitive to enable us to attract the talent that we need to manage our businesses effectively and to meet our strategic objectives. I now invite comments or questions in relation to the remuneration report. Yes, ma'am?
I can probably talk loudly enough without the microphone. Thank you, Mr. Richards. Fiona Balzer from the Australian Shareholders' Association. We have proxies from 36 holders worth about AUD 1.4 million. Your remuneration framework is in keeping with our guidelines, so we will be voting in favor. But I would like to ask if you could show the proxy votes at a time where we could still ask questions, if they aren't as well received as last year. That would be really helpful for us.
I think we can show the proxy votes now.
Thank you.
I'll pause while you can have a look at those if you want to ask any further questions.
Have you had any engagement on the 12.9% against in your proxy?
Extensive.
Yes. Can you give us an outline of the concerns and how you'll address them, please?
They started helping out Dan last December, I think it was, and continued extensively through January and into February. I think I would have had 12-13 meetings. Dan would have had more, so probably 17-20 meetings in all. In fairness, in terms of the concerns raised over the remuneration, it was in relation to the treatment of the board of the fatality in terms of how it impacts the bonus structure. My response has been that there was a very unilateral, immediate response from the board upon that fatality that we have a gateway, which immediately means that there is no bonus associated with Safety in terms of our structure of the STI. There was no debate. There was no discretion applied. It just was crossed off the STI, which affected a couple of hundred people across the organization.
The concern expressed was there an issue with the board in terms of their commitment to Safety, which, of course, is quite a challenging question for me as a chair and us as a board in that their level of commitment to Safety is unparalleled across GrainCorp. There was nothing that one could say to sort of suggest that there should have been any other treatment that we did in relation to the STI associated with Safety. I might add that we had four indicators that go into the assessment of the STI for Safety. 3 of those were above stretch, and one was above target, which would have resulted in, I think, a 15% payout associated with Safety. It was just squashed immediately. The issue of discretion is one that wavers between feedback from proxy advisors.
Sometimes they love you to have discretion, and then if you apply it, they really query why you have discretion at all. But we were unequivocal. We were immediate. And it was a response across the organization, which I think showed the appropriate requirement from the board and management. Any other questions? Thank you for your question. Appreciate it. Right, the proxies are on the screen. I can now move to item three in the notice of meeting, which concerns the election of John Maher and Peter Knoblanche, which will be dealt with as separate resolutions. In accordance with the casual vacancy rule under the ASX listing rules and GrainCorp's constitution, John and Peter, who were each appointed as directors by the board on the 1st of December last year, are required to retire at this EGM, being eligible, each offering himself for election.
As I mentioned before, John and Peter were appointed following a comprehensive review of board skills and an extensive search process. We are delighted to have John and Peter join the board and bring the strong contribution skills and experience that they bring. Item 3A concerns the election of John Maher, and the resolutions are displayed on the screen. The details of the experience are set out in the notice of meeting, but I would like, John, just to say a few words to the shareholders and those that gathered here today.
Thank you, Peter. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
There you go. Thank you, Peter. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is John Maher, and I thank you for the opportunity to introduce myself. I feel immensely privileged and excited to be considered for election to the board of such an iconic and dynamic company as GrainCorp. As someone deeply passionate and thoughtful about the development of Australian agriculture, I look forward to contributing to the board and helping to sensibly grow the business and create value for the company's stakeholders while building on the already impressive GrainCorp story. As you may have seen in the AGM notice, I've worked in various Australian agribusinesses at executive and board level, covering a number of rural sectors. I was managing director and chief executive of listed rural services company Ruralco for nine years until 2015.
Prior to that, I was a senior group executive at Wesfarmers for 11 years and AWB for 2 years, where I led the landmark, now Nutrien, rural services business. These roles have given me a unique insight into the whole agricultural supply chain, both in Australia and internationally. Most recently, I pursued a more social edge to my agribusiness career as group CEO of the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation. In addition to being a GrainCorp non-executive director, I'm currently chair of major wool and livestock marketers, AWN, and a non-executive director of significant agricultural investors, GO.FARM Australia . I'm also director of the New South Wales Biodiversity Conservation Trust and a director of not-for-profit organization, the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation. I'll be grateful for your ongoing support as I seek election today. Thank you for your trust and confidence. Back to you, Peter.
Thanks, John. I'm now inviting the questions or comments from the field. No, and I shall now show the proxies received in this item up on the screen. I must admit, I'm thrilled to have John join the board and contributing as we move forward. Okay, now moving to item 3B, which concerns the election of Peter Knoblanche. This resolution is now also displayed on the screen, and details of experience were set out in the notice of meeting. Peter, if I can now invite you to say a few words.
Thank you, Peter, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I'm also deeply honored and thrilled to be joining the board of GrainCorp, a company that holds such a significant and pivotal role in the Australian and international food and agriculture sector. GrainCorp's track record and its commitment to ensuring performance and sustainable growth in that sector is commendable, and I'm excited to be part of this going forward. As you've seen from the announcements and heard from Peter, my experience covers 27 years at the food and agri-focused Rabobank Group, which concluded with the last seven years as the regional manager for Australia-New Zealand and the CEO and the director for Rabobank Australia. In addition to GrainCorp, I'm currently a director of the not-for-profit Wheen Bee Foundation, which is dedicated to raising awareness and of supporting the critical role of bees in pollination for food security.
I feel that I bring a broad range of knowledge and experience to the food and agriculture governance, strategy, and management side to the board, and I'm eager to continue to be with GrainCorp and continue the success with GrainCorp into the future for you. I thank you for your support and look forward to election.
Thanks, Peter.
Thank you, Peter.
The votes on the screen. And again, as much as I'm saddened with Dan's retirement, I'm also thrilled with Peter's addition to the board as well going forward. Okay, I now move to the final item of business, which relates to the grant of performance rights to our Managing Director and CEO, Robert Spurway. The explanatory notes to the notice of meeting provide a summary of the performance hurdles, vesting mechanisms, and other conditions applicable to the FY 2024 long-term incentive performance rights. Your board believes that the offer of rights under a long-term incentive plan is an important part of his overall remuneration, as it's designed to provide incentive to pursue the continued growth and success of GrainCorp, which in turn is directly aligned with shareholders' interests. Now, happy to have any questions or comments in relation to this resolution.
I thought Ian was going to ask a question there, Robert, but he was scratching himself. Okay, if we can now show the proxy. Again, thank you very much for the support of our shareholders. I now ask shareholders, proxy holders, and corporate representatives holding yellow voting cards to complete the card if you have not already done so, so you can finalize the votes. And Sumit, if you could please come forward to collect the voting cards. If you don't have a voting card or require assistance, please see the link at the door. Are we all good? Thank you very much. I now, no, we still haven't finished. Okay, I think now I can declare the polls on the resolutions closed. Okay, Link will now count the votes, and the results, as I said before, will be available on the ASX platform later on today.
I can now say this completes the formal items of business. Again, I'd like to thank you for attending our AGM today. In addition, I'd like to thank our shareholders and customers, the executive leadership team and the staff of GrainCorp, the company's advisors and auditors, and Link Market Services. And again, special thanks for Annalee and her team for arranging this venue and setting up this AGM. So I now declare the meeting closed, and thank you very much for coming. And I think we do have the customary cups of tea and not sure what else. So feel welcome to stay around and ask any further questions you might like to have. Again, thank you very much.