During a visit to Northam, Minister for Regional Development Alannah MacTiernan has officially opened the new Grains Research facilities.
The $11.5 million scientific research facilities in Northam feature four new and five upgraded laboratories, new storage, preparation and processing rooms, a chemical preparation area, plotting area, glasshouses, screen houses, controlled environment rooms and cool stores, along with netted, fenced and irrigated field research plots.
The Northam Grains Research Facilities are purpose built for grain research focused specifically on WA production challenges.
Minister MacTiernan took a guided tour of the facilities and spoke to researchers and workers.
Along with opening the facilities Minister MacTiernan has announced a $24 million investment into research and development in the State’s grain industry.
The investment will be used for a new cropping systems research program, genetics and crop protection projects, grain product quality and market research, and university and private sector grants.
Western Australia is the biggest grain producer in Australia, exporting more than 85-per-cent of its production and in the 2017-18 growing season produced more than 39 per-cent of the countries total winter crop.
