Sam Statham

Sam Statham is an organic farmer and winemaker at Rosnay Organic, father of three, and has been an active member of the organic industry for over 20 years. Sam's family moved to Canowindra, in the NSW Central West, in 1996, became certified organic in 1998, and today they grow wine grapes (20ha), olives (10ha) and figs (½ha) for domestic and export markets. The farm, “Rosnay”, is part of a group of organic growers called Rivers Road Organic Farms, set up in 1998.

Sam's industry experience includes:

• Training and working worked as an Independent auditor for NASAA in the 1990's and early 2000's
• Board member and representative of the Organic Federation of Australia on the Gene Technology Grains Committee from 2000 to 2006
• Chair of the BFA Vignerons Committee and a member of the BFA Standards Committee of BFA from 2008 to 2011
• Member of the National Standards sub-Committee from 2014 to 2019
• Sam was awarded the Inaugural NSW Organic Pioneers Award in 2012
• Rosnay won the NSW Landcare Award in 2015

Sam is an outspoken proponent of organic farming and winemaking, and also of good corporate governance, transparency, consultation and democratic processes, especially with regards to maintaining Australia's organic standards, the corporatisation of organics and the responsible regulation of GMOs.