A new education program aimed at better understanding grain markets to support diversification has received $75,000 through the state government's Regional Growth Fund.
Grain Producers SA will run the Grain Marketing Operations and Diversification Project in partnership with Grain Trade Australia.
Primary Industries and Regional Development Minister David Basham said the program aligns with the recently-released SA Grains Industry Blueprint.
"Diversification is a key part of the SA grains industry target to grow the sector to $6 billion by 2030," he said.
"We want to ensure SA grain producers are better equipped to pursue new marketing opportunities and this industry led program provides an important platform.
"The program will engage with primary producers and provide education about options to mitigate and manage risk related to the marketing of their product.
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"SA is recognised as one of the global leaders in the international grain industry - we are home to about 4500 grain farms producing, on average, eight million tonnes annually."
GPSA chief executive officer Caroline Rhodes said the project was timely considering some of the uncertainty around access to key international grain markets.
"To kick-start the project, GPSA has now released a podcast series called Beyond the Silo - Grain marketing tips for growers, to boost the knowledge of producers in an important area of their business which is often misunderstood," she said.
"Our producers are heavily reliant on access to international markets, with more than 80 per cent of our grain exported in an average year. That's why we need to continually develop an understanding of consumer needs and wants in driving market demand offshore.
"We will be delivering regional workshops in early 2021 to help us provide SA grain producers with an enhanced understanding of the international grain markets and emerging opportunities in global trade, to make better decisions on-farm.
"This project captures a key priority of the blueprint; to increase business resilience and sustainability in the grain production sector."
- Details: grainproducerssa.com.au