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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-09-11 Daily Xml
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Bilby Oat Variety

Mr ELLIS (Narungga) (15:01): My question is to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development.

The Hon. Z.L. Bettison: Fig jam.

The SPEAKER: The member for Ramsay can leave for the remainder of question time for that outburst, thank you.

The honourable member for Ramsay having withdrawn from the chamber:

Mr ELLIS: Can the minister inform the house how a new super oat variety is helping to grow the South Australian grain industry?

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE (Chaffey—Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development) (15:01): I certainly can. I thank the member for Narungga for his very important question. We know that over on Yorke Peninsula—one of the more reliable grain-growing regions in South Australia—we will have the opportunity to grow the Bilby super oat variety. Last week, I attended the Golden Grain Pavilion at the Royal Adelaide Show, along with the SARDI scientists, representatives from Uncle Tobys to announce a project that has been 13 years in the making—a great initiative.

It is a new super oat variety that has characteristics that are win, win, win for all users and growers. Farmers will now have better capacity for higher yields. The millers will now have a better oat to mill. It has a much better return to product that goes to through the miller. It also has health characteristics in reducing blood cholesterol, and that is a really good outcome for what is now one of the eight varieties that have been bred in the last decade up at Waite, through SARDI.

This is a great outcome for the cereals industry. It is a great outcome for the farmers because it not only gives them more diversity in their portfolio but it also gives them the undertaking that they can put a new Bilby variety of oat into their rotation and they can get better yields. They will get better prices. It is an oat variety that will be predominantly used for the breakfast cereal market, and I think that's also important.

The collaboration between the National Oat Breeding Program, the SARDI scientists, Uncle Tobys and the farming communities has seen a great outcome. Again, it's supported by a government that has continued to bring those R&D programs into Waite. Many of you would know that Waite is the largest R&D campus in the Southern Hemisphere, and they continue to breed new seed varieties, new cereals. That is what Waite is world renowned for. The Bilby super oat is a great addition to the rotation of our farmers, it's a great addition to the millers and it's also a great addition for human health.

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