GIWA Board

Tress Walmsley was appointed as the InterGrain CEO in 2012. InterGrain is a national cereal breeding business. Having joined the business at inception in 2007 as the first staff member, Tress played an integral role in governance, developing operating systems and building the company’s commercial platform.

Tress has over 20 years of agribusiness experience and prior to working for InterGrain, spent over ten years with DPIRD in a variety of roles. During this time, she played an industry leadership role in the development of the Australian grains industry 'End Point Royalty' collection system which has enabled cereal breeding in Australia to become commercially sustainable.

Tress is the Chair of Australian Crop Breeders, a member of Grains Australia Barley and Oat Councils, and Director of Chemistry Centre WA. In 2020, Tress was a finalist Telstra Business Women’s award and in 2015 the WA Rural Woman of the Year.

After completing studies at Muresk and a few years back on the family farm, Peter began working in commercial agronomy at Landmark where he worked for many years in the Central Wheat and Midlands region, of which, the last 3 years were spent managing the WA Agronomy team.

For the last 8 years, Peter has worked for Pioneer brand seeds in WA. More recently, in Southern WA as Territory Sales Manager. He is also the Technical Lead for WA. The primary focus in these roles, is canola. He has a keen interest in farming systems, particularly soil health, crop nutrition and resistance management to support sustainable profitability.

Throughout this time, he has been involved with various industry groups.

Peter is currently a member of the GRDC Research Update Programme committee and he has also been a member of Albany Port zone GRDC RCSN since 2018.

Tracy holds off-farm leadership roles including Moora Shire President, Director of InterGrain, and is a member of Grain Growers National Policy Group. These roles, along with her 20 year farming career, highlight her dedication to the Australian grain industry.

Tracy's professional journey includes founding and successfully divesting an award-winning business, experience as an agribusiness analyst, communications manager, and freelance agricultural journalist. Each of these equip Tracy with a comprehensive understanding of the agri-business landscape.

Tracy's expansive network and connections allow her to act as a bridge between the agricultural sector and governmental bodies at all levels.

Ashley Wiese owns and manages a family farming operation in Narrogin WA, with his wife Jo and a team of wonderful staff. Originally beginning his career as an accountant, Ash went on to pursue his passion of growing food on his property which has been in his family for four generations. He is a father, husband and entrepreneur who is passionate about the pathway from the farmer’s paddock to the customer’s plate.

Ashley takes his responsibility as a custodian of the land very seriously , and is proud of the fact that he makes food with just his nurtured soil and the rain that falls from the sky. After a journey that has taken 8 years to unfold he is finally excited to be able to take Australian-grown quinoa straight from the farm onto the plate as part of the Three Farmers story (Profile courtesy of Three Farmers).

Ruth is a partner in her family’s grain-growing business, Wyening Mission Farm, at Calingiri in the WA Wheatbelt. She has extensive experience in agribusiness, having started her career as a rural journalist reporting on the grain industry in Victoria and WA. Ruth went on to work in grower relations and price risk management roles with AWB Ltd in the central wheatbelt, before joining her husband John in managing and growing their grain business.

Ruth has served on the Grain Research and Development Corporation’s Western Panel and on the CBH Group’s Grower Advisory Council. She also has a strong interest in farm safety, having developed and delivered a practical farm safety workshop for rural educator Rural Edge, and recently serving on the SafeFarms WA board.

In an effort to improve long-term sustainability, Ruth has developed a strong interest in finding a profitable pulse crop to suit their continuous cropping system. Along with her husband John, Ruth has travelled to India to look at the major market for Australian pulses. She is keen to contribute to developing the WA pulse industry through her involvement with the Grains Industry Association of WA.

She began her career in the grains industry – firstly with the Grain Pool of WA (now CBH) in the comms team, then as a regional manager; and then as inaugural executive at the then Barley Australia (now a part of Grains Australia). 

Linda is a director in the family farming business in Broomehill WA, as well as secretary of the Broomehill Cropping Group. She began her career in the grains industry – firstly with the Grain Pool of WA (now CBH) in the comms team, then as a regional manager; and then as inaugural executive at the then Barley Australia (now a part of Grains Australia).

Linda was part of the team who established TrialCo Pty Ltd, a crop trials service provider based in Katanning with the mission of delivering timely and efficient plot trials in the great southern region. She has also undertaken consultancies in the grain marketing sphere on projects improving communication with grain growers.

Linda is passionate about the grains industry in WA - having dedicated almost her entire career in and around the grains industry in WA and on a national level. Her focus on barley and malt has meant she now has an extensive network spanning the entire value chain in this sector and a depth of knowledge and thorough understanding of the grains industry from both sides of the farm gate, on a local, national and internation level.

Eamonn brings a unique qualitative and strategic financial viewpoint drawn from his role with all shapes and sizes of business and his time growing up on the family farm in Dumbleyung.

Kaara Klepper is the Executive Director of Broadacre Systems at the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD), Western Australia. She brings extensive experience in research, development and extension (RD&E) and investment management across the public and private sectors, having built strong national and international relationships throughout her career.

Raised on a family farm in New South Wales, Kaara began her career in agricultural research before moving into leadership roles that connected science, policy and industry. She is passionate about empowering teams, fostering collaboration, and driving practical, evidence-based strategies to strengthen the agricultural sector.

Kaara is committed to engaging with regional communities and stakeholders to better understand local priorities, ensuring the directorate’s work delivers meaningful impact for Western Australian grain growers.

Kellie is Manager of Government and Industry Relations at the CBH Group, liaising with local, state and federal Government and grain industry organisations to advocate for good outcomes for CBH and the grain growers of Western Australia.

Kellie has more than ten years professional experience in the fields of marketing, communications, events and community relations and prior to moving into her current role, spent three years in CBH’s Corporate Affairs team. Before joining CBH, Kellie worked within local government at the Town of Victoria Park for a number of years. Kellie has a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication and is currently studying a Masters of Business Administration at Curtin University.