David’s core business is farming in the Wimmera region of Victoria. His farm was an early adopter of pulses – such as chick peas, lentils and faba beans – into crop rotations.
As this industry expanded, he established a pulse processing and export business at Rupanyup, known as The Wimmera Grain Company. In 2024 this business exported in excess of 100,000 tonnes of pulse grains to customers in the Indian sub Continent, Middle East and North & South Asia.
In 1998, David was appointed chair of the Rupanyup Minyip Finance Group, the entity that opened the first 2 Community Bank branches in Australia.
He was co-chair of the Community Bank Strategic Advisory Board (forerunner to the Community Bank National Council) when it was formed in 2008. He joined the board of Bendigo and Adelaide Bank in 2010 and remained a non-executive director of the Group until his retirement in 2024.
David retains a strong interest in agribusiness, and particularly how this plays into the social and economic prosperity of regional Australia. His latest venture, Farm Trade Australia, involves the creation of a farmer owned agribusiness that can ensure more of the value created through primary production finds its way back to farms and rural communities.