2022 View: Basham ready for upcoming ag challenges

Last year, he was pleased to have finally lifted the long-standing GM moratorium, giving local farmers a choice on what they wanted to grow.

"More than 23,000 hectares of GM canola was sown across the state and despite the doomsday predictions of some of our political opponents, GM canola has been a real boon for SA farmers with not only the highest returns in Australia, but with less inputs," he said.

Mr Basham said marine scale fishing reform had also been a "challenging space" and the government was still working with industry on adapting to the new system.

"The government put $24.5 million on the table to buy back licences to reduce the size of the fishery and put in place quotas for the four key species of snapper, King George whiting, southern garfish and southern calamari - it has been a big change for the industry," he said.

"But we have introduced these new measures to protect sustainability of species and so fishers can better plan their operations to maximise returns.

"These changes mean much intrusive red tape historically imposed can be cut and we will continue to work with the industry to explore further options to reduce regulatory burdens."

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Mr Basham was also pleased to return fruit freedoms to most of Adelaide, after Mediterranean fruit fly was finally eradicated from the metropolitan area, while Riverland growers are also able to return to marketing as fruit fly-free, with the eradication of Qld fruit fly in most areas.

"We can't wait for Riverland growers to be able to start accessing higher value markets again," he said.

Looking ahead, Mr Basham said "a number of things" were in the works.

Finalising the new Biosecurity and Pastoral Acts was atop his 2022 to-do list, with both still undergoing amendments.

"We unfortunately ran out of parliament time last year, so we will take both through after the election," he said.

"There has been some contention arounds certain aspects of the Pastoral Act, including alternative farm uses, tourism opportunities and allowing pastoralists to take up carbon farming.

"We hope to get the Pastoral Act through in the first six months of parliament, when we are back in May."

Mr Basham also looked forward to the rollout of the drought hubs across SA.

"We have our locations locked in and we will see that ramp up over the course of the year," he said.

The progression of the Dog Fence was also being monitored.

"It will be a game changer once finished and we are excited about the prospect of country being able to come back into production," Mr Basham said.

Last last year, Mr Basham expanded the SA wild dog fence rateable area to include all Hundreds within 150km of the fence.

He said there had been very little backlash at this stage.

"There is certainly a need to protect the fence going forward and making sure there is enough funding for that," he said.

"It has been a big investment, so it is important it is looked after so having that wider support is crucial as everyone benefits through the Dog Fence being there."

Urban encroachment and farm trespass legislation were also agricultural issues Mr Basham had on his radar.

"We will be very busy these next three months in the lead up to the election letting the community know what we have done over the past four years, particularly the enormous investment in regional areas," he said.