Image courtesy Wine Australia
The South Australian State Government has committed $260,000 to help Riverland grapegrowers address the oversupply of red winegrapes.
Riverland’s CCW Co-Operative, Australia’s largest member owned winegrape 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.
“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 grape,” said Clare Scriven, Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development.
“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.”
An Implementation Officer has been appointed by Riverland Wine to assist with rolling out the Riverland Wine Industry Blueprint, which includes actions around assisting interested Riverland winegrape growers to transition into new production methods, alternative commodities, or other business prospects.
Peter Szabo, general manager of the CCW Co-operative, said that with this support, the group was “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,” said Szabo.
On Thursday, 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 commissioned report, titled “The current wine crisis: Ways forward in Australia’s wine regions”, has 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 highlighted 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 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, grapegrowers and others in the industry hard hit by oversupply issues.
For more information on support for wine grape growers in South Australia visit: https://pir.sa.gov.au/primary_industry/grape_and_wine.
Are you a Daily Wine News subscriber? If not, click here to join our mailing list. It’s free!
