Industry blueprint sets ambitious vision for grain

After 15 months of consultation and construction, Grain Producers SA and Primary Industries Minister David Basham were proud to unveil the industry-led blueprint in Freeling on Monday.

It maps out targets and project areas under six pillar themes of market opportunities; capturing value; biosecurity and market access; innovation; building industry capacity; and infrastructure, which aim to grow the grain sector's worth to $6b by 2030.

Mr Basham said the initiative was important in helping the government achieve its Growth State Agenda, which aimed to lift the sustainable economic growth rate in SA by an average of 3 per cent a year.

"Growth in the grain industry in recent decades was not going to meet this ambitious target so a wider approach was needed, to engage the whole industry, and that was the approach taken by this blueprint," he said.

"Now the hard work begins."

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The state government allocated $140,000 to GPSA to develop the blueprint, while more recently GPSA was awarded federal funding for Pest Export Risk Management - the first project developed as a result of the blueprint under the biosecurity and market access pillar.

GPSA chief executive officer Caroline Rhodes said the funding would be used to deliver a grower education campaign to better manage phytosanitary market access issues arising from pests.

She said the newly-appointed GPSA Board would meet again next month to consider which other projects they would champion first.

"The blueprint is a comprehensive document with a massive wishlist, but GPSA will continue to advocate to move this industry agenda forward," she said.

At the launch, Ms Rhodes said despite its challenges, the past 12 months had been "fulfilling" for GPSA, setting a "bold ambition" for the state's 4500 grain-producing businesses and identifying opportunities to grow the value of the grain production sector to $6b by 2030.

"The blueprint comes at a critical time in our state's history as we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and plan for economic recovery," she said.

"Capturing greater value from export markets, building demand for grain in SA and reinforcing the state's reputation as a producer of quality grain in a changing climate are challenges we must face together.

"The blueprint sets a course of action to ensure the SA grain industry capitalises on its opportunities over the next decade."