New push on for grain to be Market Ready

The new 'Market Ready' campaign continues the work initiated by the SA Grain Market Access Group in 2016, which encouraged all participants in the grain industry to continue to keep SA grain clean, ensuring all grain meets market requirements and is within physical, chemical and biological tolerance limits.

GPSA chief executive officer Caroline Rhodes said while the intent of the original campaign remained the same, the new iteration had the additional aim of promoting the Industry Management Plans, presently housed within the Grains Industry Market Access Forum.

There are IMPs connected to protocols agreed between Australia and China for wheat and barley, and for barley to South Korea.

"Growers see market requirements translated to them through the receival standards applied to their grain deliveries by exporters, but some of the drivers of those receival standards are the checkpoint mechanisms outlined in the IMPs for when grain moves from farm to customer," she said.

"Growers are the first checkpoint for grain entering the export supply chain and therefore ensuring it meets high standards of hygiene."

GIMAF executive manager Tony Russell strongly endorsed the efforts of GPSA to promote the alignment of quarantine and food safety expectations of grain importers with grower endeavours to meet these requirements.

"One part of the picture is the IMPs and by being aware of them, growers gain greater understanding of where elements are coming from that drive on-farm strategies," he said.

Ms Rhodes said this new campaign strongly aligned with the Biosecurity and Market Access Pillar of the SA Grain Industry Blueprint launched earlier this year.

"One of the priorities identified under that pillar was for SA grain to have access to the world's best markets through maintaining high standards of grain hygiene, food safety and product quality," she said.

"With Market Ready, we want to increase grower engagement and knowledge regarding market requirements, standards, quality assurance and compliance practices."

A key feature of Market Ready, supported by the federal government through the Agricultural Trade and Market Access Cooperation Program, will be grower workshops held in early 2021.

These workshops will provide a practical overview of the IMPs and tips on how aspects of the plan can be implemented on-farm and along the supply chain.

They will be held in conjunction with grain marketing workshops, which will give growers insights into the factors that influence how grain is traded.

"International grain markets can be volatile, so it is important that SA's grain industry continues to uphold high standards of grain hygiene so we can protect our market access," Ms Rhodes said.

"Australia, and in particular SA, has a reputation as an exporter of quality grain and growers play a fundamental role in protecting that reputation."