Stepping onto a grain receival site west of Moree is a long way from a typical day in the Sydney office – but for GrainCorp’s Road Freight Commercial Manager, Stewart ‘Ozzie’ Osborne, it feels a lot like his natural habitat.

In his usual role, Ozzie is a manager in GrainCorp’s supply chain planning and logistics team based in Sydney, overseeing the movement of about two to three million tonnes of grain by road each year.

But this month, he’s swapped the desk for dust, spending several weeks away on secondment at Merrywinebone – one of the most remote sites in GrainCorp’s network.

Harvest: A familiar experience

While grain handling is a contrast to his usual day-to-day responsibilities, it’s an environment Ozzie knows and appreciates well.

Before joining GrainCorp nine years ago, he farmed at Cowra until 2007, then spent eight years running a bulk haulage business carrying grain, magnetite and fertiliser between Cowra, Port Kembla and Newcastle.

“I’ve been involved in nearly every aspect of harvest over the course of my life,” Ozzie says.

“I’ve always loved trucks – I can’t explain why, but it has always been there since I was a little boy.”

Those practical years on the land and behind the wheel now shape how he approaches his work at GrainCorp.

“A lot of what I do doesn’t really feel like work – which probably means I’ve found the right job.”

A secondment with a special twist

With road outloads “quieter” at this time of year, Ozzie volunteered for the month-long placement, taking on afternoon-shift caretaking responsibilities at Merrywinebone.

He’s no stranger to harvest secondments, having previously worked at Coolamon in 2020 and Nyngan in 2021.

But this years’ experience has an added highlight: his son, Archie, has signed on as a harvest worker at the same site.

“I grew up working alongside my father and hadn’t had quite that experience with my own kids – so this has been really special.”

The pair have been staying at the Rowena Pub, which Ozzie enthusiastically rates for its impeccable country hospitality – and for serving one of his favourite T-bones in rural Australia.

“The community, the diversity of people – and of course having Archie here with me – it’s been a fantastic experience.”

Seeing the whole picture

Spending time back on site has reaffirmed the complexity and coordination that sits behind every grain delivery.

“Working on both sides of the supply chain, and getting out at harvest, gives me a deeper appreciation of the complexity behind each tonne delivered.

“It’s a complicated pathway – getting grain from site to ports, exports and domestic end-users. And the work here with the grower at the gate is where it all starts, it’s a really importance piece of the puzzle.”

So far this season, GrainCorp’s Burren Junction cluster – which includes the Merrywinebone site – has received half a million tonnes of grain.

For Ozzie, the return to site has been like getting back to his “natural habitat.”

“It’s been a great experience – maybe I’ll even get back in a truck again,” he jokes.

This story was originally published in The Land by Elizabeth Anderson (Read here)