THE cash-strapped Victorian Farmers Federation has taken the first step towards selling its Melbourne headquarters.

The VFF board has directed VFF chief executive Wayne Harvey to seek submissions from three agents outlining their recommendations "on a strategy and plan for the disposal of Farrer House".

A VFF sub-committee will review the submissions this week for the board's consideration next Tuesday.

That is well ahead of the federation's annual general meeting and conference on June 11-12.

VFF members had called on the federation to ensure they were consulted before any sale.

A resolution passed at last year's AGM stated: "The VFF requests the VFF executive not sell Farrer House without input from members".

But Mr Harvey said the "sale is going ahead".

VFF president Simon Ramsay said an agent would be appointed next Tuesday, assuming the board wanted to continue along that pathway.

However, he said the board may not go down that path "if the price is unfavourable".

With Mr Ramsay retiring at the conference, the issue of selling Farrer House has become a major campaign issue in the four-way election battle to replace him.

On one side of the camp sits VFF deputy president Bob Watters who wants Farrer House sold, while rival and United Dairyfarmers of Victoria president Doug Chant seems vehemently opposed to it.

In the middle sits the two remaining candidates, Andrew Broad and Meg Parkinson, who have not given any clear indication of where they sit on the issue. Neither candidate would clearly state whether they supported the sale of Farrer House.

When asked about the sale of Farrer House, Mr Broad said the VFF should no longer eat into its equity to fund its operational costs, but also stated Farrer House was "not a sacred cow".

Ms Parkinson said Farrer House was in need of "lots of money" to upgrade it, which the VFF did not have.

"However I am reluctant to 'sell the farm' without investigating whether we should keep ownership of the land so we maximise our choices, to see if this will give the organisation a long-term income and retain an asset base for future members," she said.

The Weekly Times understands the board has also directed Mr Harvey to offer some VFF staff redundancies as part of its major overhaul to cut costs and rein in its losses.