GPSA to offer 5000 free showbags celebrating grains sector

About 5000 showbags will be on offer in the Grains Pavilion, after GPSA worked with the show's grains committee to brainstorm the new idea to attract new visitors to the site.

GPSA chief executive officer Brad Perry hoped the launch would help to reach more "city-based families".

"It was an internal idea we came up with. We had a discussion about how we could attract visitors to the Grains Pavilion and how we can maximise the experience for country and city-based families," he said.

"So, we decided to pull together a free showbag to serve a couple of purposes."

Mr Perry said with cost-of-living pressures at an all-time high, a free showbag could be a great help for many families.

"We hope families will appreciate it and we also wanted to create an opportunity to reach young people," he said.

"It is important to use the opportunity to help get people thinking about getting involved in the grains sector as a career.

There will be a fair few goodies inside the Great Grain Showbag, after GPSA reached out to industry groups and businesses to help fill it with some surprises.

It will include information about the sector, as well as breakfast oats to enjoy and seeds, which families can grow in the backyard.

"We are hoping it is received well and year on year, it will grow," Mr Perry said.

Mr Perry hoped at the very least, it would offer a chance for even more families to understand where their food comes from.

"We need to do more work in selling this story and how important these industries are," he said.

"We need a lot of people to fill positions in the grains industry in the future - it is a really important opportunity to take hold of."