The heads of five of the Victorian Farmers Federation commodity groups have called for an independent scrutineer to be appointed for the organisation's upcoming annual general meeting.
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The presidents of the grains, livestock, pigs and eggs groups, as well as the United Dairyfarmers of Victoria, have written to VFF chief executive Brendan Tatham requesting a Victorian Electoral Commission scrutineer be appointed to check proxies.
It follows the VFF board emailing pre-filled DocuSign proxies to members.
The proxies support proposed contentious changes to the constitution.
Grains Council president Craig Henderson, Berriwillock, said commodity group heads believed proxies had also been sent to non-financial members.
"We are really, really worried about the credibility of these DocuSign proxies," Mr Henderson said.
"We want someone or all the presidents there present to check.
"This is such a critical time for the VFF and we just want to see due diligence done."
In an email to Mr Tatham, the five commodity group presidents said they were concerned multiple proxies had been sent to individual members.
"Some people have informed us they have received six emails with different codes on each," the correspondence said.
The presidents said the proxy forms could be filled in by someone who did not understand what they were doing.
UDV president Bernie Free said he was one of the members who received six emails.
"Does that mean I can vote six times?" he said.
He called for scrutineers to look at the proxies before next Tuesday's AGM.
Dairy Farmers Victorian president Mark Billing, Colac, said it was concerning non-financial members had been receiving the proxies.
"That's created a bit of consternation, and it's got to play out as well," he said.
Meanwhile, an independent report on "upheaval" at the VFF, commissioned by a company seeking to partner with the organisation, has pulled together the key issues facing the body.
A spokesperson for the organisation, who wished to remain anonymous, said it was considering working with the VFF over contentious Aboriginal Recognition and Settlement Agreements (RSAs).
The spokesperson said the report was compiled after the author spoke to current and former VFF employees.
The report said RSAs "usurp Native Title" giving more options and capacity for deals, finance, self-governance, land transfers and significant changes at local government level.
"It is feared that the organisation has gone from being one of the state's most-respected, valued and influential advocacy and representative bodies to one of little clout," the report said.
"Its voice is demure, or worse, silent when it should be unequivocally parochial."
It described comparisons between the proposed constitution and the current one as "spine-chilling".
"A clamp down on member involvement and the potential removal of memberships' control of money and assets are in stark contrast with the constitutions governing farming bodies in the UK and Canada," the report found.
The report raises several areas of concern, among them what it said was a move to centralised control of finances and staff.
The report said that was occurring by reducing staff or removing them from commodity specific advocacy and research to generalised policy and outcomes.
It also addresses what it claimed were falling membership numbers.
The report's author condemned the removal of "membership driven policy formation", and the failure to request member input in a timely manner.
It specifically claimed the VFF had failed to address fuel and fertiliser security issues, saying biosecurity required further work, as did addressing concerns over animal welfare and agriculture's carbon footprint.
"The VFF has all but been absent in the critically-important space of indigenous politics," the report's author said.
The report points to the formation of Dairy Farmers Victoria and the resignation of three directors as part of wider problems.
In its conclusion, the report said "it would be a brave organisation to form an alignment with the VFF".
"Little would be gained by forging ties with an organisation whose own members argue that contemporary leadership matters and proposed constitutional changes represent a 'step-by-step guide on how to bring an organisation down'," the report said.
The VFF has been contacted for comment.