South Australian Grain Industry Awards

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (15:25): I rise to speak about the 2025 South Australian Grain Industry Awards, which were held a few weeks ago and really showed the resilience of farmers for the toughest year on record and I would argue the toughest year in South Australia's history.

In regard to the Innovation Award, sponsored by Croplife Australia, the winner was Sam Trengove from Yorke Peninsula. He was recognised for his outstanding contributions to economic research and development, including groundbreaking trials that are set to revolutionise farming practices, particularly in low-rainfall years.

The Sustainability Award, sponsored by the South Australian Drought Hub, was won by Tim Paschke from the Riverland, an acknowledgment for his commitment to soil health and sustainable farming techniques achieving remarkable production results despite minimal growing season rainfall.

I talked about the sense of humour that farmers have, even though they have had the toughest year they have ever had. Tim got up to give his acceptance speech and said, 'Well, what do you do with 62 millimetres of rain?' and everyone just roared with laughter because what do you do with 62 millimetres of rain? It shows how farming techniques, technology and farmers' own innovations have worked around low rainfall to actually get some results in what has been a terrible year.

The Women in Grain Award, sponsored by Viterra, was won by Lou Flohr from the Mallee, around Lameroo, and I know Lou was—

Mr McBride: Hear, hear!

Mr PEDERICK: Hear, hear—celebrated for her leadership and influence in the grains industry, including her active roles in governance, advocacy and industry membership. Lou does great work working with farmers across the Mallee for them to get better outcomes as well.

The Industry Impact Award, which was sponsored by Cargill, was won by Professor Christopher Preston, recognised for his significant contributions to agricultural research and advocacy for responsible chemical use in broadacre farming.

The Young Grain Producer of the Year, sponsored by PIRSA, was won by Jock McNeil from the Mallee, another one who has done great work in a very dry year. He was acknowledged for his innovative approach to farming in the Mallee and his leadership in adopting new technologies to manage soil and weeds.

Grain Producer of the Year, which was sponsored by Elders, was won by Andrew Polkinghorne from Eyre Peninsula, recognised for his forward-thinking approach to farming, global research on grain industry trends through a Churchill Fellowship and lessons applied in succession planning processes within his family business.

On the night there were some Hall of Fame inductees and one of the historical inductees in the inaugural South Australian Grain Industry Hall of Fame was John Ridley, the inventor of the Ridley Stripper, the world's first successful mechanical grain harvester, which revolutionised global grain production. Richard and Clarence Smith were pioneers of the stump-jump plough, an innovation that allowed for broadacre cropping on previously unusable land.

The modern inductees that were introduced included John Lush, a man I have known for many, many years. I worked with him when he was involved in the South Australian Farmers Federation and then Grain Producers South Australia. He is a very highly respected grains industry advocate. He was the inaugural chair of Grain Producers South Australia and a key figure in industry leadership at both state and national levels. This is a truly well-deserved award for John.

Dr Allan Mayfield is a renowned researcher, agronomist and industry leader with a legacy in grains research and development. This is well deserved for Allan Mayfield. He worked in the agriculture industry for many decades. There was a posthumous award for Ken Schaefer. I knew Ken in his days with the South Australian Farmers Federation and early on with Grain Producers South Australia. Ken was a passionate industry advocate, instrumental in establishing the South Australian Grain Industry Trust, supporting millions of dollars in research funding.

I would just like to say that it was a great event put on by Grain Producers South Australia. Brad Perry and the team did a great job in putting on this event, and it just gave you so much heart to see the many hundreds of farmers and their partners and families at this event. After having the toughest year in South Australia's farming history, they still managed to share their stories and have a little bit of levity in what has been a hellish year for South Australian farmers.