Leadership Team

 

Shane Bird

CEO

After completing a Bachelor of Agricultural Economics at Queensland University, Shane worked for Cargill for 12 years in Toowoomba, Wagga Wagga, Melbourne and Johannesburg, South Africa. During this time Shane developed extensive experience in grain procurement, logistics and trading. He developed an association with BFB in 1996 while working for Cargill and has been a director and shareholder since 2009. He took on the role of Grain Risk Manager in 2011, and became CEO in 2019.

Stuart Wiencke

General Manager

Stuart joined BFB in 1999 after previously gaining nine years industry experience in grain, fertiliser, storage and handling and logistics. He has held various roles within BFB such as Logistics Manager and Operations Manager. In his current role as General Manager, Stuart oversees the operational divisions of the company and is also a company director and shareholder.

Narelle Pinney

CFO & Company Secretary

Narelle grew up on the Hazelbank property which now forms part of the BFB portfolio. Narelle has a Bachelor of Business (Accounting) degree from Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga and is a Certified Practising Accountant. After holding various accounting roles in commercial enterprises and public practice, Narelle commenced with BFB in 1993 as the company’s first internal accountant. She has overseen the implementation of the various finance, accounting and administration systems required to handle the growth of the BFB business to what it is today.

Operations Team

Aaron Coleman

HR Manager

Having lived in the Riverina all his life, Aaron finished studies and worked in various roles including banking, accounting, and tax for St George Bank, James A Gunn and H&R Block in Wagga Wagga and Griffith. Aaron commenced working for BFB in 2001 and forms part of the team responsible for managing the human resources, payroll, IT and insurance requirements of the company.

Kevin Tyrrell

WHS Manager

In 1990, Kevin joined the State Transit Authority of NSW and after 22 years of experience and having gained Lead Auditor qualifications in Safety Management Systems, ICAM qualifications and an Advanced Diploma in OHS, helped State Transit achieve Self Insurer status. From 2012, Kevin owned and operated Wagga Safety Services for three years. In 2015, Kevin joined BFB as WHS Manager and provides support in developing and maintaining a consistent WHS management and compliance culture which is fully integrated with the company's operational activities, with a focus on continual improvement.

Peter Block

JV Site Manager

Peter attended Temora High School leaving in Year 11 to work in the shearing industry before starting at BFB as a casual for harvest in 1999. In 2000, Peter started full time as a yard attendant before taking on the JV Site Manager role in 2014.

Gayle Macauley

Logistics Manager

Gayle commenced with BFB in April 1999 after completing a Bachelor of Business (Accounting) degree at Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga. Gayle worked as an accountant in the finance department for eight years before moving into the logistics division to manage the accounting requirements of the transport operation, where she also handled inventory control for the business. Gayle took on the role of Logistics Manager in March 2013.

Greg Davidge

BFB Site Manager

Originally from Moruya on the NSW South Coast, Greg moved to Temora in 1984 and commenced working with BFB as a yard hand in 1988. In 1999, Greg helped set up the Cargill/BFB Joint Venture grain receival site and managed the JV site for 15 years. Greg currently oversees the grain handling, fertiliser and fuel distribution operations for BFB from the Twynam Street depot.

David Dore

Grain Services Manager

Since finalising Bachelor of Commerce studies at Swinburne University of Technology in 2010, David has gained a decade of experience working for Melbourne and Riverina based agribusinesses in various roles including grain accumulation, fleet logistics, trading and finance. David started with BFB in 2020, joining the experienced BFB team in assisting growers to leverage off BFB’s full suite of services.

Peter Stimson

Farm Manager

Peter has been involved in agriculture for 35 years and started with BFB in 2001. Peter commenced as an operator assisting with duties across the farms and as the company grew, progressed to Field Supervisor and then to Farming Manager. Peter currently oversees the operational activities across the BFB farming portfolio.

Keith Harrop

Piggery Manager

After leaving Swan Hill High School in 1978, Keith spent three years in the RAN serving on HMAS Melbourne. In 1983, he moved to Moulamein and started a piggery career with Rivalea where he spent 14 years before moving to Temora to manage a local piggery with a 350 sow breeder-to-finisher unit. After 10 years in Temora, Keith moved to Young and managed a 1,300 sow breeder-to-finisher unit and during this time, completed a Diploma in Agriculture specialising in pig production. In 2013, Keith returned to Temora to manage the 35,000 pig space grow-out unit for BFB at Moore Park.

Simon Forsyth

Merchandise Manager

After completing a Bachelor of Ag Economics at the University of WA, Simon spent 28 years working in ag chemical retail and procurement across southern NSW. Throughout this period, Simon managed various retail merchandise businesses from procurement and account management through to executing retail sales, supporting many large scale farming enterprises with the supply of crop chemical and fertiliser inputs, as well as advising on various day to day farming activities. In March 2019, Simon commenced with BFB managing chemical and fertiliser procurement and retail sales for the BFB farming enterprise and many loyal retail clients.

Chris Bell

Agronomist

In 2008 Chris completed a Bachelor of Agricultural Science, specialising in agronomy at Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga. After completing his degree, Chris spent 10 years working in retail agronomy providing production advice to broadacre cropping and livestock business within the Riverina. Chris commenced with BFB in 2019 as a farm business consultant, providing independent farm consulting advice to BFB’s farming operation and family farming clients, focusing on holistic farm production and profitability.

David Bushell

Agronomist

After completing a Bachelor of Applied Science in Agriculture at Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, David spent 25 years providing production agronomy advice to broadacre cropping and livestock businesses across the Riverina. Through this period, David has been involved in the whole farm change from largely wheat/sheep enterprises to the introduction of canola into farm rotations, and diversified no-till cropping enterprises where whole farm planning and rotation have become of paramount importance. In 2019, David commenced with BFB as a farm business consultant providing independent advice to family farming clients, as well as BFB’s farming operation, focusing on whole farm profitability and production.

Charles Edmonston

Agronomist

After completing a Bachelor of Agriculture Science, Charles began working for an agronomy company based in Cobram, Victoria in the role of Technology and Services.  After two years in this role, he started as a trainee agronomist and a year later, Charles returned home to Ballarat, Victoria as a fully qualified agronomist. With 11 years of experience providing agronomic services, Charles took 12 months off to concentrate on the family farm and has recently returned to the industry on a part-time basis, joining the BFB agronomy team in 2020 where he provides insight to the development of BFB's crop management strategy.


transport • grain • agronomy • farming • piggery • fuel • fertiliser • chemical