GRDC ANNUAL REPOR GRDC Vision GRDC Mission T GRDC Values

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1 GRDC Annual Report

2 The GRDC The Grains Research and Development Corporation is a statutory authority established to plan and invest in R&D for the Australian grains industry. Its primary objective is to support effective competition by Australian grain growers in global grain markets, through enhanced profitability and sustainability. Its primary business activity is the allocation and management of investment in grains R&D. GRDC Vision Driving innovation for a profitable and environmentally sustainable Australian grains industry. GRDC Mission To invest in innovation for the greatest benefit to its stakeholders. This will be achieved by being a global leader in linking science, technology and commercialisation with industry and community needs. GRDC Values Commitment and action in meeting the needs of our stakeholders and exceeding their expectations Winning as a team Achievement of superior results Creativity and innovation Openness and trust in dealing with people A performance-driven culture Ethical behaviour in all our activities i

3 Highlights of Successes Through its involvement with the Primary Industries Standing Committee (PISC), the GRDC provided strong support for the development of a national strategy for grains research, development and extension (RD&E). The strategy, which will drive productivity and innovation within the grains industry, is expected to be finalised in During , the GRDC also successfully: facilitated the release of more than 40 improved crop varieties, including sixteen new wheat varieties, some of which have yields up to 15 percent higher than commonly grown varieties four new triticale varieties with wide adaptation and yields up to 30 percent higher than previous varieties one new oat variety, Yallara A,with yields 2 percent higher than its predecessor fourteen new canola varieties, some of which have yields up to 10 percent higher than commonly grown varieties one new soybean variety, Fraser A, which provides a valuable rotation option for cane growers and is suitable for culinary purposes supported the National Variety Trials (NVT), which planted a total of 570 trials across Australia, giving growers independent information about how varieties perform in their regions facilitated a partnership between the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Australian Cereal Rust Control Program to screen Australian varieties for resistance against the exotic Ug99 stem rust pathogen, in Kenya completed contingency plans for potential incursions of dwarf bunt of wheat, fusarium wilt of canola, barley stripe rust, barley stripe mosaic virus and sunn pest assisted the Premium Grains for Livestock Program to move from discovery to commercialisation by sublicensing near-infrared calibrations, enabling a market place for feed grain that buys and sells on grain functional quality facilitated a national Climate Change Research Strategy for Primary Industries with other RDCs, CSIRO, and federal, state and territory governments. The collaborators worked to develop relevant performance indicators and timelines to implement the national strategy won the Ernst & Young Risk Management Award at the NAB Agribusiness Awards for Excellence 2007 supported work to better understand the likely impact of global climate change on the Western Australian grains industry facilitated a study of greenhouse gases emitted in the production and delivery of wheat to port in south-western Australia Figure 1 Grower mood towards the state of the Australian grains industry 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% 1% 15% 40% 27% 17% Under considerable threat Fair shape Extremely good shape 0% 13% 38% 29% 20% 3% 24% 43% 19% 11% Under some threat Good shape Figure 2 Proportion of surveyed grain growers who feel they have directly benefited from GRDC-specific activities over the past five years Western Southern Northern 58% Australia 61% 63% 63% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Source: GRDC Organisational Performance Research Survey 2008 Source: GRDC Organisational Performance Research Survey 2008 ii

4 Highlights of distributed a magazine on spray application to over 40,000 growers, advisers and contractors to help the industry better understand the parameters of spray application and to highlight some examples of ways to reduce the risk of drift developed the 2008 GRDC Planning Guide for Low Risk Farming, summarising the key elements needed to manage the risks of cropping and distributed it to over 15,000 growers and agronomists in the Southern commissioned detailed impact studies of five project clusters, to assess their benefits to the Australian grains industry and the wider community developed in partnership with the University of Adelaide, CSIRO and Lancaster University a soil phosphorus test that better reflects how crops respond to phosphorus in the soil Challenges The GRDC operates in an ever-changing grains industry. Following the severe drought of , the grains industry faced significant challenges in Grain growers faced the impacts of high fuel and fertiliser prices, climate change, changing wheat-marketing arrangements, and changing farm demographics. The GRDC, in collaboration with the other rural R&D corporations (RDCs), CSIRO, federal, state and territory governments, grain growers and research partners, continued to provide leadership in meeting the industry s challenges. The GRDC collaborated in areas where there was a strategic advantage in doing so and where it could add value. The GRDC worked with other RDCs to identify and respond to major issues that impact on all rural industries, such as climate change, productivity growth and capacity building. To add clarity to changing wheat-marketing arrangements and to maintain industry confidence, the GRDC facilitated transitional arrangements to ensure that the operations of the wheat classification process will continue during This will enable the supply of consistent products, increase the marketability of Australian wheat and help to maximise the return to growers. As publicly funded research has come under pressure, plant breeders have increasingly relied on the GRDC and End Point Royalties (EPRs) to finance their activities. Commercial wheat-breeding companies depend on EPRs for their survival. To meet this challenge, the GRDC has been working with breeding companies, seed companies, bulk handlers and marketers to simplify EPR collection systems and build a whole-of-industry culture of compliance. Figure 3 GRDC income in Figure 4 GRDC expenditure in Grain grower levy $76.6m (60.3%) Australian Government $37.6m (29.6%) Interest, royalties and other $12.9m (10.1%) Research and development $89.1m (86.9%) Employee benefits $5.8m (5.6%) Suppliers & other $7.6m (7.5%) Source: GRDC Financial Statements Source: GRDC Financial Statements iii

5 Contact details Location Level 1, Tourism House 40 Blackall Street BARTON ACT 2600 Postal address Contact officer GRDC PO Box 5367 KINGSTON ACT 2604 GRDC Compliance Officer Telephone: Facsimile: Website: Delivery dates Submission of financial statements to the GRDC Finance, Risk and Audit Committee 8 August 2008 Submission of final draft to the GRDC Board 17 September 2008 Certification of financial statements by the Australian National Audit Office 20 August 2008 Approval of final annual report by the GRDC Board 29 September 2008 Submission to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry 15 October 2008 Submission to the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry 15 October 2008 Tabling in parliament Presentation to the Grains Council of Australia During the spring session On tabling Production notes Compliance editors Photo editor Program editor Financials Concepts, text and research Editing and indexing Design and typesetting Printing Noelia Freitas and Catherine Wells Maureen Cribb Zoltan Lukacs Danielle White GRDC WordsWorth Writing, Canberra Four Design Group, Queensland Goanna Print, Canberra ISSN Grains Research and Development Corporation 2008 This publication is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission from the Grains Research and Development Corporation.

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