The State Government is providing more support to South Australia's wine grape growers, committing $260,000 to help Riverland grape growers address the oversupply of red wine grapes.
Riverland's CCW Co-Operative, Australia's largest member owned wine grape co-operative, will use the grant to help winegrape growers who are looking to diversify to alternative crops and improve access to information on alternative crops and revenue streams for SA grape growers.
Yesterday, at the National Agriculture Ministers Meeting in Brisbane, ministers noted the progress of the Viticulture and Wine Sector Working Group to date, including the commissioning of a report from the University of Adelaide's Wine Economics Research Centre on how to drive a sustainable supply-demand balance into the future.
The Viticulture and Wine Sector Working Group was established in March, following Minister Scriven's advocacy to her Federal, State and Territory colleagues, to consider a national approach to addressing issues faced by the wine and viticulture sector, and support future balance and profitability for the industry.
The commissioned report - "The current wine crisis: Ways forward in Australia's wine regions" - has now been delivered to Agriculture Ministers and released publicly to assist industry in future planning.
In his report, Professor Kym Anderson highlights possible options for reducing the oversupply and moving towards a more sustainable future.
Professor Anderson highlights the important role industry has in leading the solutions to the oversupply situation, including better understanding consumer preferences when looking for markets to sell their product. The Working Group is reviewing Professor Anderson's report as it develops its final report and recommendations to provide to Agriculture Ministers at the end of the month.
While the challenges facing the industry are Australia-wide, the South Australian wine industry has been heavily impacted as it produces half of all Australian wine and 80% of premium wine.
The South Australian Government has also recently committed $50,000 for wine industry bodies state-wide to hold community events focusing on mental health and wellbeing in their regions for winemakers, grape growers and others in the industry hard hit by oversupply issues.
An Implementation Officer has also been appointed by Riverland Wine to assist with rolling out the Riverland Wine Industry Blueprint, which includes actions around assisting interested Riverland wine grape growers to transition into new production methods, alternative commodities, or other business prospects.
This is one more step adding to a range of measures in the past 12 months to support and alleviate issues within the sector, including $1.85 million as part of a China re-engagement support package, the $3.5 million Grape and Wine Sector Long-term Viability Support Package, the development and implementation of the Riverland Wine Industry Blueprint, grants of up to $1500 for red wine grape growers to cover everyday costs, and a further $4.4 million in the recent State Budget towards financial planning and counselling for producers.
For more information on support for wine grape growers in South Australia visit: https://pir.sa.gov.au/primary_industry/grape_and_wine.
As put by Clare Scriven
We are all aware of the current pressures and issues facing wine grape growers and winemakers in the Riverland and across South Australia due to the current over supply of red wine grapes.
Recovery measures need to be implemented at both a state and national level to assist us to return to a sustainable supply and demand level.
The diversification by some growers away from wine to other crops is a key element to this, especially in the Riverland, which is why we are making this investment now.
I also met with all of Australia's Agriculture Ministers this week where the challenges for winegrape growers across the country was front and centre.
Ministers agreed to the public release of a report from the University of Adelaide's Wine Economics Research Centre on how to move the sector to a sustainable supply-demand balance and to assist industry in future planning.
This report is also being considered by the Viticulture and Wine Sector Working Group, and we look forward to receiving their recommendations by the end of the month to see how we can further collectively address this issue nationally.
As put by Peter Szabo, CCW Co-operative Limited General Manager
With the support of the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development Clare Scriven, CCW Cooperative Limited in poised to explore new business opportunities and revenue streams.
Our goal is to create a more dynamic and robust agricultural sector, ensuring the long-term prosperity of our members and the wider Riverland community.
