About the GRDC
GRDC’s National Panel being briefed by Kevin Roberts, Manager of Sandalwood Feedlot near Dalby, Qld. Sandalwood Feedlot has around 15,200 feeder cattle units. Photo: Rachel Bowman, Cox Inall
The Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) was founded in 1990 under the Primary Industries and Energy Research and Development Act 1989 (PIERD Act).
The corporation has two key customer groups: Australian grain growers and the Australian Government. Its role is to invest in R&D and related activities to benefit grain growers, other grains industry participants and the wider community. In doing so, the GRDC invests in research where obstacles to the industry’s progress exist and where R&D may be effective in overcoming such obstacles.
This includes:
- investigating and evaluating the requirements for R&D in the grains industry
- coordinating or funding R&D activities
- facilitating the dissemination, adoption and commercialisation of the results of R&D.
The GRDC determines its priorities in consultation with industry, government and research partners, and acts in partnership with public and private researchers, other R&D funding organisations, agribusiness and grower groups.
The GRDC is funded jointly by a levy collected from grain growers based on the value of grain they produce, and contributions from the Australian Government. The industry levy is collected on 25 crops, spanning temperate and tropical cereals, oilseeds and pulses.1
The GRDC’s organisational structure and objectives recognise the complexities of the grains industry and its investment needs. Planning, delivering and communicating R&D outputs occurs in an environment that embraces governments, industry groups, research partners, other R&D investors and those operating in the industry itself—particularly Australian grain growers.
Organisational outcome
In a dynamic environment, the GRDC addresses R&D priorities to meet national, regional, commodity and multicommodity challenges, in order to achieve the following overall outcome:
Through its commitment to innovation, an Australian grains industry that is profitable and environmentally sustainable for the benefit of the industry and wider community.
The outcome reflects the corporate vision in Prosperity through Innovation, the corporation’s five-year Strategic Research and Development Plan 2007–12, and is consistent with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry’s portfolio goal of achieving more sustainable, competitive and profitable Australian agricultural, fisheries, food and forestry industries.
Board and Executive Management Team
As described in more detail in Part 3, a Board of directors governs the GRDC, while a team of executive managers, based in Canberra, leads the corporation’s business activities.
Structure
The organisational structure of the GRDC is shown in Figure 7.
Members of the GRDC Western Regional Panel on their 2007 Spring Tour at Esperance, WA: (left) Ralph Burnett, Julia Polkinghorne (Panel Support Officer), Philip Young (GRDC Board member), Neil Young (Panel Chair), Ben Curtin and Merrie Carlhausen. Photo: GRDC
Hostile subsoils have a significant impact on yield and profits. Photo: GRDC
Lines of business and enabling functions
At the operational level, the GRDC’s organisational structure is divided into three lines of business: Varieties, Practices and New Products (described as ‘output groups’ for performance reporting purposes). The lines of business are supported by two enabling functions: Corporate Services, and Corporate Strategy & Program Support. A fourth output group, Communication & Capacity Building, delivers the outputs of the communication and capacity-building programs that are managed within the three lines of business.
National Panel
Members of the GRDC National Panel inspecting a healthy wheat crop at Cunderdin, New Norcia, WA: (left) Brendon Cant, Gavin Whiteley, Peter Reading, Neil Young, Iftikhar Mostafa, John Harvey and Vince Logan. Photo: GRDC
The National Panel includes the chairs of the GRDC’s three regional panels, the GRDC’s Managing Director and the GRDC’s executive managers. The National Panel recommends the GRDC’s research investment strategies to the GRDC Board, and assists the Board in maintaining links with Australian grain growers, the Australian Government and research partners. On advice from program teams, the National Panel also recommends proposals for the national elements of the GRDC’s research investments.
Regional panels
Recognising variations in local conditions, the GRDC has three separate advisory panels to cover the northern, southern and western grain-growing regions of Australia. Figure 8 illustrates the geographical spread and characteristics of each region. Part 3 provides details on the membership of the regional panels.
The three regional panels develop regional investment priorities and make recommendations on the allocation of investment budgets to meet regional needs. They are also represented on program teams that advance recommendations on investments to the Board through the National Panel. Regional panels also identify investments that may respond to national priorities.
The regional panels also provide an interface with grain growers and researchers and promote awareness of GRDC investments and research outcomes and the corporation’s strategic direction.
1 Leviable crops are: wheat; coarse grains—barley, oats, sorghum, maize, triticale, millets/panicums, cereal rye and canary seed; pulses—lupins, field peas, chickpeas, faba beans, vetch, peanuts, mung beans, navy beans, pigeon peas, cowpeas and lentils; and oilseeds— canola, sunflower, soybean, safflower and linseed. The levy for all crops is 0.99 percent of the net farm gate value of grain produced, except for maize, which is levied at 0.693 percent of net farm gate value.