Chair's Report

Australian agriculture is in a strong position. ood seasonal conditions, strong commodity prices, and record demand or Australian agricultural products are all contributing to a very avourable production environment and a sense o confidence and excitement or t e years a ead.

lders has thrived in this environment and createdexceptional value for shareholders as a result. While environmental factors affecting commodities have a direct correlation with our performance, the results presented in this Annual Report are also the product of the hard work of the lders team and its dedication to the interests of our customers. Our adherence to the ight Point Plan, and the commitment of the network team to consistently deliver the best service in rural Australia, has allowed us to record this exceptional result. he world’s population is pro ected to increase by 2 billion people in the next 30 years 1 , dramaticallygrowing from almost 8 billion currently to 9.7 billion in 20501. his population growthtogether with global instability put added pressure on food production and these factors call on Australian farmers to continue to increase productivity. Our industry’s ambition of reaching pre-farmgate value of $100 billion2 by 2030 has never been more relevant. lders is at the forefront of this growth, supplying goods and services to thousands of farmers across the country and assisting them to improve their production quality and quantity. We have an opportunity to sustainably grow our business and our sector to deliver more value to Australian farmers, consumers, and industry stakeholders. Reinvestment is an important part of our growth strategy. his year lders announced its new wool handling business which is a clear demonstration of confidence in the future of this unique fibre. his significant investment will help to make the wool industry more efficient and more sustainable. In addition, during the course of the financial year, we acquired 13 businesses with 10 new locations and 115 new employees, improving our geographic spread to service more clients. he business development pipeline for FY23 is encouraging with numerous successful businesses expected to oin lders in the next 12 months. We also continue to invest in our people. he Food Supply Chain Alliance recently stated the food supply chain is short at least 172,000 people3. abour is crucial to achieving our goals, and shortages in our sector mean we need to attract talent across every area of our business. he need to encourage diversity in our sector has never been so pertinent we need to ensure we hire and retain talent from across a broad spectrum of individuals. Women are underrepresented in our industry, withdata showing women make up only 32% of the agricultural workforce4. lders is committed to changing this with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. his year we refreshed our Diversity and Inclusion ob ectives regarding the representation of women in management positions, implemented equal gender composition on learning and development programs and in early careers recruitment, created policy changes to reflect inclusion, and introduced unconscious bias training at the frontline leadership level. lders is a partner of the National Farmer’s Federation Diversity in Agriculture eadership program, which involves committing to meaningful change towards gender diversity within lders and more broadly in the agriculture industry.

1 nited ations, lo al ss es Po lation, 2022. 2 ational Far ers Federation, 2030 oad a stralian ric lt re s Plan or a $100 illion nd str , 2020. 3 ational Far ers Federation, n recedented la o r crisis across stralia s ood s l c ain, 2022. 4 De art ent o ric lt re, Fis eries and Forestr , na s ot o stralia s ric lt ral or orce.

The representation of women in management is an important measure for us to track the success of our diversity strategy. In the coming year we are striving to get closer to our target of 25% women in leadership positions by 2025. This figure currently sits at 17%. Our representation of women in Non-Executive Director roles and Senior Executive positions remain steady at 60% and 42% respectively. There is much work to be done and Elders acknowledges it has a key role to play in improving participation of the underrepresented in our workforce. With so many opportunities ahead, there is a feeling of optimism in the agriculture sector. The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) is predicting the gross value of agricultural production to exceed $80 billion in 2022-23 and for favourable conditions to persist5 . Farmland values continue to increase, showing genuine confidence in agriculture as a safe and reliable asset class for investors6. Recent APRA findings support this increased investment in agricultural assets, with a 6% overall increase in lending to the farm sector in 2020-217 . It’s not possible to speak about the successes of Elders without referencing the progress we are making towards being a more sustainable business. This year Elders publishes its third Sustainability Report, tracking progress towards our ambitions to be a leader in sustainability for the agricultural sector, and an adopter of the best governance and sustainability standards practised in corporate Australia. We continue to support a wide range of organisations that each contribute to the richness and vitality of rural and regional communities around Australia. Strengthening regional Australia is important to us, and our clients, which is why we have joined the Regional Australia Council, to offer our support and expertise as well as make our own commitments to its development. It is evident that Elders plays a crucial role, not just in the agricultural sector, but to Australian livelihoods, the economy, and the global food supply chain. I am pleased to say your company is in good shape financially, which will allow it to continue in this role into the future and bring value to shareholders. I would like to thank my fellow directors for their support and all Elders team members for their great efforts and dedication throughout the year. Your Chair,

Ian Wilton

Chair