Grain Crop

Mr HUGHES (Giles) (14:58): My question is to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries. Can the minister inform the house about the state's current grain crop and how the season is progressing?

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL (Mawson—Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Tourism, Minister for Recreation and Sport, Minister for Racing) (14:58): I thank the member for Giles for the question, a very important question to all South Australians. Since we last updated the house things have come off a little bit after one of the driest Augusts on record and also combined with some of the coldest minimum temperatures we've seen on record in many parts of the state. In fact there is a band from across Northern Eyre Peninsula, Northern Yorke Peninsula, the Upper North, the Mid North and northern Mallee where they had the coldest August minimum mean temperatures on record.

That has, I guess, pulled things back a little, and last time I updated the house we were looking at a crop of about 7.9 million tonnes and now we are looking at a harvest of about 7.6 million tonnes. It has come back in a little bit but it is still ahead of a 10-year average which would give us the sixth harvest in a row that would be ahead of the 10-year average of 6.5 tonnes, but down on last year's massive crop which, of course, was the third biggest harvest on record in South Australia.

Some of the other good news in the report which we will be releasing this afternoon is that the effects of the beet western yellow virus are not as bad as first thought, because it hit fairly early in the season and people were able to put in other crops or replant, so that is good news indeed. The estimated value of this harvest is about $1.8 billion at the farm gate which is terrific news for the farmers and we know that, particularly when we have so many good seasons in a row, that money goes back into our economy right across the state.

It was terrific to catch up with many farmers from across the state last week at Grain Producers SA’s annual general meeting and also to talk with a lot of the journalists at the rural media breakfast down at the Royal Adelaide Show last week and to hear their anecdotal stories about how things are going. The export value of the crop is predicted to be around $2.3 billion, but you can never count your money until all the wheat and the other crops are in the silo.

These predictions are predicated on average weather conditions over the next month or so. Talking to a lot of the farmers around the place, what we need is about another inch of rain in many parts of the state, so if everyone can cross their fingers, do their rain dances and say a little prayer that the farmers get those great finishing rains, it would be terrific news not just for those regional communities but indeed for everyone in South Australia.

Something else that we have done in the last week was get together with many of the members of the opposition and the Minister for Transport and people from the logistics areas. We had Viterra, Genesee & Wyoming, the Freight Council and Grain Producers SA around the table. The minister for regions was there, of course. We were sitting around the table to try to work out what is the future for getting grain to port in South Australia, particularly when you look at the Mallee. We know that Genesee & Wyoming are keen to get out of rail and that would cause a lot of problems for our road network.

I think it is a terrific example of how people from both sides of the house can work together on this very important thing. We are also looking at the future of Eyre Peninsula to ensure that we do not have a whole heap of trucks going down the foreshore in Port Lincoln to get to the silos over there. It is important work and I thank those opposite for looking after their communities and working together with us.