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The Grains Research & Development Corporation is one of the world's leading grains research organisations, responsible for planning, investing and overseeing research and development, delivering improvements in production, sustainability and profitability across the Australian grains industry. GRDC is a statutory corporation, founded in 1990 under the Primary Industries and Energy Research and Development Act 1989 (PIERD Act), it is subject to accountability and reporting obligations set out in the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 (CAC Act). The GRDC's portfolio department is the Australian Government Deparment of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF).
The GRDC's mission is to invest in research and development for the greatest benefit to its stakeholders - graingrowers and the Australian Government. The Corporation links innovative research with industry needs. The GRDC's vision is for a profitable, internationally competitive and ecologically sustainable grains industry.
The GRDC's research portfolio covers 25 leviable crops* spanning temperate and tropical cereals, oilseeds and pulses, worth over $7 billion a year in farm production, alone. The GRDC is a statutory corporation, operating as a research investment body in partnership with growers and Government.
Funding is provided through a levy on graingrowers. This is determined each year by the grains industry's peak body, the Grains Council of Australia (GCA). The Australian Government matches this funding, up to an agreed ceiling.
The GRDC derives its functions, powers and objects from the PIERD Act. This enabling legislation provides the foundation for the GRDC's accountability to the Australian grains industry and to the Australian Government for securing the greatest possible returns.
* Wheat
Coarse Grains : barley, oats, sorghum, maize, triticale, millets/panicums, cereal rye, canary seed
Pulses : lupins, field peas, chickpeas, faba beans, vetch, peanuts, mung beans, navy beans, pigeon peas, cowpeas, lentils
Oilseeds : canola, sunflower, soybean, safflower, linseed
