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2005-06 Highlights
Successes
Figure 2 Australian growers' adoption
Figure 1 Australian growers' benefits
The proportion of Australian growers claiming to have benefited from grains research reached 77 percent nationally, exceeding the 2005-06 target by 7 percent. Benefits directly attributed to GRDC initiated programs increased 2 percent from 66 percent to 68 percent in 2005-06.
Other GRDC successes for 2005-06 included:
- successfully establishing National Variety Trials (NVT) across all the major grain-growing regions of Australia
- facilitating the formation of a single national barley-breeding program
- facilitating the formation of a single national pulse-breeding program
- making substantial progress towards commercially sustainable, world-leading wheat-breeding programs
- entering into a joint venture with Philom Bios Inc. of Canada to commercially develop new soil inoculant products
- developing with the Bureau of Rural Sciences a framework to report on the Australian grains industry's contribution to ecologically sustainable development
- improving the alignment between GRDC activities and the objectives of our key customer groups-the Australian Government and Australian graingrowers-as well as other stakeholders, including grower organisations and research partners
- improving collaboration with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico
- cooperating with other R&D corporations (RDCs) and providing information to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry regarding the Australian Government's Uhrig-based review of the governance arrangements of all statutory authorities, including the RDCs.
Challenges
Figure 4 GRDC R&D investments in 2005-06
Figure 3 GRDC performance
Farming profit margins were squeezed in 2005-06, in particular by higher input costs associated with fuel, fertiliser and transport, and by lower grain prices.
To meet the challenge of achieving a profitable and environmentally sustainable Australian grains industry, in 2005-06 the GRDC continued to work with industry and R&D partners to:
- formulate a nationally coordinated approach to grains R&D, to reduce fragmentation and duplication and to ensure maximum leverage for R&D expenditure
- maintain current levels of R&D expenditure, and evaluate and agree on a balanced total grains R&D portfolio in which there is no duplication or fragmentation
- develop an industry-wide agreement on the evaluation and development of genetic modification technology as it applies to the Australian grains industry
- support the development of superior varieties and best farming practices, to ensure graingrowers remain competitive and profitable and that maximum value is returned to growers
- encourage cross-industry cooperation on common issues and challenges facing the Australian grains industry
- develop improved information delivery channels, including an enhanced GRDC customer database to more effectively deliver relevant information to identified stakeholder groups.
Five years at a glance
| 2005-06 | 2004-05 | 2003-04 | 2002-03 | 2001-02 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GRDC | ||||||
| Revenue | $115.1m | $110.0m | $122.3m | $116.2m | $114.2m | |
| Expenditure | $126.7m | $119.5m | $124.0m | $112.0m | $113.8m | |
| Operating surplus/(deficit) | ($11.6m) | ($9.5m) | ($1.7m) | $4.2m | $0.4m | |
| Total assets | $127.7m | $135.7m | $141.0m | $151.7m | $150.0m | |
| Total equity | $82.4m | $94.0m | $102.5m | $104.2m | $102.5m | |
| Industry contributions | $60.9m | $64.2m | $68.8m | $65.0m | $63.2m | |
| Commonwealth contributions | $43.1m | $35.7m | $42.3m | $39.1m | $40.8m | |
| R&D expenses | $115.3m | $106.4m | $112.5m | $101.3m | $101.2m | |
| Employees | $5.5m | $5.2m | $4.9m | $4.0m | $3.5m | |
| Suppliers | $5.3m | $5.5m | $6.1m | $5.8m | $6.0m | |
| Number of full-time GRDC staff positions | 50 | 46 | 43 | 42 | 38 | |
| Grains industry | ||||||
| Estimated number of grain farmsa | 37,122 | 37,841 | 38,574 | 38,802 | 38,466 | |
| Number of grain crops covered by R&D levies | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | |
| Estimated gross value of production | $8,613m | $7,000m | $9,800m | $4,746m | $7,968m | |
| Total grain production-summer and winter crops | 43,042,000 tonnes |
38,076,000 tonnes |
45,966,000 tonnes |
19,194,000 tonnes |
41,686,000 tonnes |
|
a. ABARE estimates for the total number of broadacre farms planting more than 30 hectares per annum for grain production
Figure 5 GRDC total income in 2005-06
Figure 6 GRDC total expenditure in 2005-06
