The Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre (AEGIC) and Grains Australia are joining forces to build a stronger and more united national grain alliance. Together, both organisations will focus on delivering better outcomes and efficiencies for Australian grain growers and the Australian grains industry.
Under the agreed new structure, there will be a seamless, connected set of industry good services through all parts of the supply chain to support the grain industry's long-term competitiveness and profitability.
There will be no changes to the work AEGIC does. AEGIC will continue as the nation's leading organisation for customer market insights, applied solutions, and education services.
AEGIC will participate more broadly across the range of Grains Australia's services, including trade and market access and classification systems. This will reduce risks of duplication, enhance efficiency, and create an environment that's more unified, and quicker to adapt to changing market dynamics.
The integration of activities and alignment between Grains Australia and AEGIC was announced today in Perth by Western Australian Minister for Agriculture and Food Jackie Jarvis and Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) Chair John Woods.
The Boards of all participating organisations are strongly supportive of the move to increase collaboration across a range of critical industry good functions for better industry outcomes.
AEGIC Chair Ron Storey said the AEGIC Board took an 'industry first' approach at the outset of these discussions to contribute towards the formation of a more aligned, more efficient operation for the Australian grains industry.
"AEGIC's 10-year partnership with the Western Australian State Government (Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD)) and GRDC is evolving into a broader set of grains industry services with Grains Australia. It's logical, more efficient, and will avoid the risk of "silos" developing. Importantly, it will help to build greater depth in industry technical skills and create a stronger national grains industry.
"We commend all parties, especially GRDC and DPIRD, for their collaboration and foresight. It's a good outcome for the investment of grower and taxpayer dollars and will deliver substantial value for the Australian grains industry in the decades ahead".
Until now AEGIC and Grains Australia have operated as separate entities; AEGIC as an initiative of DPIRD and GRDC, and Grains Australia as an initiative of GRDC. Under this new structure, Grains Australia will replace GRDC as a Member of AEGIC (alongside DPIRD) and investment for AEGIC from GRDC will come through Grains Australia.
The move will ensure industry and government funds continue to be invested in a coordinated and efficient way to maximise value to Australian growers, strengthen relationships, and meet the needs of customers and end-users around the world.
