Director Spotlight: Phil Snowden

Director Spotlight: Phil Snowden

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“Lynda and I are in it for the long haul, and we hope our children, and possibly our grandkids, will want to keep farming here in the future.

“Whatever impacts the Basin Plan has on the region, there will still be people here who want to keep farming and will need access to water.”

Outside his participation in Murray Irrigation, Phil has been heavily involved in advocating for the irrigation industry. He is a founding member for both the Fullers Road Landcare Group and the Australian Fodder Industry Association, is a past director of Southern Growers, has been actively involved in the Berriquin Irrigators Council, and has served as a Director on the National Irrigators’ Council (NIC) Board since 2021.

He is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is a Fellow of the Peter Cullen Trust Science to Policy Leadership Program.

Phil says stepping into a Director position at NIC was a natural progression from being a Murray Irrigation Director. 

“All the organisations operating in this space need to work together and ensure we’re aligned to achieve a common goal," he said. 

“I was representing Murray Irrigation at the NIC meetings regularly when I was asked to step up for a Director position.

“Being on the NIC Board has given me a deeper understanding of water policy and has assisted with the information flow between the two organisations as we work towards a common goal of continued viability of irrigated agriculture in Australia.” 

Beyond his accomplishments in primary production and water advocacy, Phil is also inventor of the innovative and award winning Hay Cap cover system, which is being manufactured on farm and distributed throughout Australia since 2008. 

“At the height of the Millenium drought, when water access had been suspended by the government, Lynda and I found ourselves with some unexpected time on our hands to properly explore a simple alternative to tarps for hay storage and protection,” Phil said. 

“We had been searching high and low for an alternative to tarps to cover hay that we didn’t have shed storage for.

“We couldn’t find one, so we invented one!”

This invention saw Phil win a number of awards including ABC’s The New Inventors and Berrigan Shire’s Business Person/Entrepreneur of the year in 2009. He also received the National Farmers' Federation Innovation in Agriculture Award for New Technology in 2010.

“I’ve always lived by the mantra: 'Focus on the solution, not the problem'," Phil explained. 

“This is the mentality we took when we embarked on the Hay Cap venture. 

“This is also the mentality that I take when participating in Board discussions: 'What is the solution?', and 'How can we assist in developing that solution?'.

Above all, Phil is passionate about constructive and respectful conversations that revolve around win-win solutions to problems. 

“Water is a very political space, and the discussions can get very heated,” Phil said. 

“We’ve seen this more times than we can count since the introduction of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan; and even before then. 

“However, conversations go nowhere if we continue to butt heads with each other. 

“We need constructive conversations that lead to tangible solutions to the very real challenges we are facing, not only as an organisation, but as a community. 

“This goes not just for the national political discussion, but for local discussions too. 

"I believe we will always achieve more through working together and being respectful of each other.”