Bignell wants to make ag vital sector for SA

"Everyone knows the economy of this state is run on the wealth that comes from the farming community," he said.

"We need to do everything we can to assist those communities right around the state."

Since being appointed to the role in March, he has toured fire-ravaged areas of the southern Flinders Ranges, hosted 16 European Union ambassadors to talk about markets for SA produce, and is currently on a six-day tour of the South East with plans to visit drought-affected pastoral land in the state's north east "as soon as possible".

Bignell said he would continue the push for a better share of the federal government's drought-assistance package, which he said seemed to be favouring NSW and Qld pastoralists.

"We definitely need to be fighting for that and we need to go back to the Commonwealth and see how we can go getting more money for the pastoralists," he said.

Bignell grew up on dairyfarm at Glencoe, between Millicent and Mount Gambier, before beginning a career as a journalist, including as a sports reporter for the ABC in the Riverland.

Since being elected as the MP for Mawson in 2006 and growing his two-party preferred vote to 54.4 per cent at the 2010 election and to 55.6pc at last month's election, he has been a strong advocate for McLaren Vale grapegrowers and winemakers.

He helped the region secure development protection measures in 2012 and now says he will continue to promote SA's food under the government's 'clean and green' strategy.

But Bignell said it was wrong for broadacre farmers to question if they were part of the premium food category.

"Ask any cereal farmer where the best barley in the world comes from and they'll tell you 'SA'. Best wheat? SA.

"Japanese brewers want to get their barley from SA because it's the best in the world."

He admits that when the policy was first rolled out, the tendency to use images of "fine wine and fancy cheeses" might not have been inclusive enough of the state's "biggest economic driver", and said there was a need to promote the correlation between other farm gate produce and its final products.

"It's good to look at not just what goes into the silos, but what comes out at the other end, such as the best beer, best pasta or best bread, in the world," Bignell said.

He is keen to point out the value of SA's produce at the other end of the market, particularly in the wake of his stance against GM foods and SA's ongoing moratorium - a position Bignell argues will result in SA produce being viewed with increasing favour overseas and a premium price.

But earlier this month, Bignell came under heavy criticism when he compared possible GM food health ramifications to early political negligence on asbestos and tobacco.

He said he did not want to be the politician who said 'yes' to something that could later became a known danger to public health, and wanted any long-term health ramifications understood.

Bignell later told Stock Journal that despite being criticised for his position on GM, it was a divisive issue, with opinions split 50-50 among SA farmers, and that he had also received a lot of support for his position.

"I think I just need to say this: there is never any easy fix in farming; there is always a lot of hard work," he said.

"We need to weigh it up, and the benefits we get on the moratorium on GM foods far outweighs any other benefits that the ag chemical sellers are going on about at the moment."

Improving the state's biosecurity is high on his list of priorities, particularly protection from phylloxera and fruit fly, along with helping the agricultural sector to value-add where it can.

He promised to look at recommendations made from the 2011-12 Select Committee on the Grain Handling Inquiry, of which he was a member, and check out why they had not been implemented.

"I didn't think there was anything too controversial about those recommendations," he said.

"I'll check out where that's at, and if things haven't been implemented, I'll find out why not."

* Full report in Stock Journal, April 17, 2014 issue.