THE WEEKLY TIMES | Grains RDC cash reserves to surpass $1bn

Reserves held by the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) are expected to surpass $1 billion in the next 12 months, as revealed in the 2025-26 federal budget.

The financial reserves, which include grower levies of $299 million and $308.5m government contributions, would make the RDC Australia's wealthiest agricultural research body.

The Weekly Times reported that national grower body Grain Producers Australia is set to propose to farmers to reallocate the proportions of their levies to biosecurity efforts under the existing Plant Health Australia levy.

GPA chief executive Colin Bettles said the proposal was first floated with growers more than two years ago, but was waylaid by the federal government’s surprise inclusion of a “biosecurity protection levy” in May 2023, which was axed in February due to a lack of support from the industry and, more crucially, crossbench support in the Senate.

Mr Bettles said the size of the GRDC’s unallocated cash reserves were a key consideration.

“We need to look at whether these rates are still fit for purpose in a modern context,” he said.

GPA’s proposal is to temporarily reallocate 0.06 per cent of growers’ GRDC levy to PHA.

“Grains levy rates haven’t changed since 2007, and only once in the past 25 years. But biosecurity risks are increasing dramatically across the globe with local impacts,” Mr Bettles said.

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