Grains marketer and maltster GrainCorp has dodged a so-called first strike on its pay for executives.
At GrainCorp's annual general meeting on Friday, 79.87 per cent of votes cast were in favour of the company's remuneration report.
If 25 per cent of shareholders vote against the remuneration report, it is called a first strike.
If there is a second strike at the annual general meeting the following year, the company must put a vote to shareholders to spill the board.
GrainCorp chairman Don Taylor told shareholders that a majority of shareholders supported the remuneration report but not some proxy advisors.
Mr Taylor said executive remuneration in the agriculture sector was complex given the variability of commodity prices, supply and demand, and the weather.
But some proxy advisors were making recommendations based on an "overly-simplistic" approach to remuneration.
"To respond to such an approach would not be in the best long-term interests of you, the shareholders," Mr Taylor said.
A representative of the Australian Shareholders' Association pointed out to Mr Taylor that almost all GrainCorp executives received an increase in fixed pay in fiscal 2015 although profit before significant items had fallen more than 50 per cent and earnings per share were down 36 per cent.
Mr Taylor said some elements of executive pay were not just linked to overall financial performance but to areas such as safety performance and to divisional performance.
Nor could executives control the weather, which was the main determinant of the performance of much of GrainCorp's business.
GrainCorp's approach was to not overpay executives in good years or underpay them in bad years.
Meanwhile GrainCorp said its grains business will again be affected by lower grain production this financial year.
"We expect another positive year for our processing businesses, although the grains businesses will again be impacted by the lower grain production following a poor season.
"We've seen that in the recent harvest," Mr Taylor said.
Nonetheless GrainCorp was strong and in a better position to create value for shareholders while withstanding cyclical factors that the company could not control.
GrainCorp said that so far in fiscal 2016 - since September 30 - it had received 7.1 million metric tonnes of grain, and year-to-date grain exports totalled 0.5 million metric tonnes.
Mr Taylor, who was re-elected to the GrainCorp board on Friday, said it would be his last term.
Shares in GrainCorp were 11 cents lower at $8.13 at 1309 AEDT.
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