Big new potato processing shed at Locklands, Kangaroo Island

The new shed is back processing seed potatoes after taking shape on the old 50-by-50-metre concrete pad - pretty much the only thing that remained after the devastating 2019-20 KI bushfires.

The fire, on that fateful day of January 3, 2020, not only took the shed, boxes of potatoes, packing and cool rooms, forklift, trucks and farm machinery, it also destroyed his home as well as the backpacker accommodation.

"I still go to grab something and then realise it was from the old shed and we haven't replaced it yet," he said.

Prior to shed rebuild, Mr Lock and the some of the other growers had been forced to share facilities, including Richard Trethewey's packing plant.

Mr Lock's new shed started taking shape about six months ago and now features two very large 300-tonne cool rooms to house the precious seed potatoes before and after shipping.

There is also a vast array of solar panels to go up on the roof, making the operation self sufficient.

The shed also has six Mindaroo emergency pods and two caravans set up at the front which is temporary housing for Mr Lock and his workers.

RELATED READING: Seed potato growers on KI hit hard by bushfires

Last week, Mr Lock and his eight workers hit their stride processing 28 bags, or 36 tonnes, of seed potatoes.

The mild and relatively wet summer has been great for the Island's seed potato growers.

Meanwhile it was announced last week that the federal government's Black Summer Bushfire Recovery Grants program would provide $1.9 million for the KI Seed Potato Crop Development Project.

The project and grant application was made by the Kangaroo Island Community Club - the non-profit that owns the hotel and campground in Parndana.

That project will see a new state-of-the-art, automated potato processing plant fitted in Mr Lock's shed.

The plant is being built in England and will take at least 18 months to arrive on the Island.

The other component of the KICC project is new workers accommodation.

The new workers accommodation can not come soon enough as the emergency pods are hot in summer and cold in the winter.

Permission to temporarily set up the pods was complex with help from consultant Andrew Boardman.

The former council general manager has worked closely with both Mr Lock and community club to make the rebuild project a reality.

Also working on the rebuilding projects was Sue Arlidge from the Strengthening Business program.

"It's been a long, hard struggle to get to this point, but here we are," Mr Boardman said.

He said the KI Seed Potato Crop Development Project would result in generational change for the agricultural sector, increasing and potentially doubling the tonnage of seed potatoes produced on KI.

"The new grading equipment will reduce the need for labour and yet the seed potato industry is very labour intensive, and so if we expand, there will be need for more accommodation," he said.

"With the transition by KI Land there is going to be substantial need for more labour as land owners get to diversity into agriculture ventures such as seed potatoes."

With the transition from the Island's forestry to agriculture, there was scope for some blue gum plantations to be turned into seed potato farms, some historically used for potato farming and even having dams required for irrigation.

Mr Boardman paid tribute to Mr Lock's tenacity. "The fires and what he's been through would have kicked any other person to the ground, so what you see here is testament to his character."

RELATED READING: Seed potato industry recovers on Kangaroo Island