Investment call

Agriculture representative body Graingrowers is calling on the Federal Government to invest in the grains sector to enable job creation and support regional communities.

Graingrowers has used its pre-budget submission to detail funding across areas ranging from farm inputs, infrastructure, trade and market access to biosecurity, taxation and sustainability.

Graingrowers chair Rhys Turton said initiatives to improve the operating environment for grain growers would meet the government’s focus on building economic capacity and resilience.

Mr Turton said the value of the grains industry to the Australian economy delivered real value to future government investment.

“As an industry, we are a powerhouse of regional Australia with 22,500 farm businesses directly employing 34,000 workers each season and thousands more employed across the supply chain,” he said.

“From an estimated 31 million hectares, we grow 65 million tonnes of grains, oilseeds and pulses each year, contributing more than $20billion gross value of production to the Australian economy. In short, grain growers significantly contribute to the well-being of our regions and the national economy.”

Mr Turton said the pre-budget submission identified a range of opportunities that could make a difference to growers and the wider industry, including upgrading road and freight networks; trade and market access funding; opportunities for domestic manufacture of fertiliser, chemicals, fuel and spare parts; fit-for-purpose visa arrangements; initiatives that lower on-farm emissions; an investigation of the Australian grains industry and supply chain; establishing a sustainable funding model for biosecurity; improved mobile and internet connectivity for grain farmers and the wider rural community; and adopting the productivity Commissions Right to Repair recommendations for agricultural machinery.