Oats roll paddock to plate with Four Leaf mill catering for breakfast tables

South Gums farmer Phillip Dunn, Kapunda, crops 300 hectares of mixed grain, including oats, rye and barley.

He then mills some of it at family-owned business Four Leaf Milling, where he is manager.

"Both the farm and the sharefarmers we have contracted to run the farm for the past 14 years, are certified organic," he said.

"We have been organic farmers for 50 years and started processor 510P Australian Certified Organic, known around the globe.

"I've needed to cultivate the paddocks a few times before seeding to control weeds, instead of spraying.

"There is a biodynamic spray we do put on at a rate of 330 millilitres LSA to 33 litres water/ha and there is foliar spray, we do put on (at a rate of 3-5L/ha) too."

He said there was quite a bit of certified organic fertiliser about, which meant he had to work out what was most economical.

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"Peats Newtech Premium T#2 was the fertiliser we chose to use (at a rate of 80 kilograms/ha)," he said.

The rest of the cropping process is the same as the conventional farming methods with seeding/harvesting times and machinery used.

Mr Dunn said they try to keep about six to eight months worth of raw oats on site at the mill at all times.

"It's so we don't run out if there is a bad year," he said.

"We store a bit on-farm, but we try and bring as much as we can to the mill, which can be stored for up to a year.

"Once the oats are on site, they are cleaned and quality graded where any stones and weed seed will fall out.

"Then they go through a dehuller and a patty table process, which removes the husks of the oat, then the hulled oats - called oat kernels - go through gravity table for a final clean to remove any product not suitable for rolled oats. It basically ends up with perfect oat kernel ready for rolling."

Rolled oats are subjected to high-moisture steam for a short period of time before being rolled into a flat flake.

The products are then packaged in a different section of the plant according to orders needing to be filled before being collected by freight companies.

Grain Producers SA chief executive officer Brad Perry said the grain industry was predominantly a bulk exporter.

"A lot of our product is shipped directly to market mostly overseas so I think there are more and more opportunities, particularly with the investment in plant protein manufacturing sites in SA," he said.

"I think that's really going to change that paddock to product consumer model because I think there'll be a lot more processing done with plant protein varieties.

"A small mill is more likely to focus on a more niche, premium product.

"We're never going to move away from being a mainly exporter of our grain, but I know that there are some smaller premium varieties, which have got a target market where they are selling direct."