GrainGrowers is celebrating National Agriculture Day on 21 November by offering a group of lucky grain farmers the chance to get off the farm and travel to Sydney to learn more about what their customers want from Australian wheat.
GrainGrowers CEO David McKeon said winners of the 2018 Wheat Discovery Tour competition would travel to Sydney to attend a hands-on milling and baking workshop on National Agriculture Day.
"The workshop will teach the lucky participants about the various qualities of Australian wheat and the variety of food products, both in Australia and overseas, that can be made from it. This information can be applied directly back to the farm business.
"GrainGrowers is proud of the contribution Australian growers make to the Australian economy each year through the production of quality grain for a range of food products, from bread to noodles to beer.
"We are pleased to hold this event to bring growers closer to their customers for whom they can #GrowforGood (the theme of this year's National Agriculture Day) by producing the quality grains for a range of nutritious and delicious foods."
The one-day workshop will be held at the Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre (AEGIC) in North Ryde, Sydney. It will be followed by a dinner hosted by GrainGrowers to give the growers a chance to network with GrainGrowers and AEGIC wheat quality and market experts.
"To enter the competition, growers simply need to send us an email (to events@graingrowers.com.au) and tell us in 100 words or less what they do on the farm and what interests them in learning more about the wheat quality they grow on farm and in what their customers want both in Australia and overseas," said Mr McKeon.
"Many farmers have not had the season they hoped for this year and for a few winners the competition may be an opportunity to take a short break from the drought and find out more about the great industry they work in," he said.
"If they are lucky enough to be too busy with the harvest, they might have partners or farming colleagues to suggest entering. Participants need only to have an understanding of the quality of wheat they grow on farm and an interest in finding out more about what their customers want."
Entries close by COB (AEDT) Monday 12 November.
More about AEGIC Sydney and the workshop
AEGIC Sydney was once known as the Bread Research Institute of Australia and has been at the forefront of wheat quality research for more than 70 years. The North Ryde facilities include a four-story commercial-scale Pilot Mill, Pilot Bakery and Laboratory facilities. These facilities are the centrepiece of AEGIC’s highly sought-after training courses, which are attended by senior grain traders, food manufacturers, wheat breeders and flour millers.
Participants will get a hands-on feel for wheat quality and how it affects the performance of end-products, including noodles and bread. By the end of the day they may not be qualified to operate a flour mill, take on a bakery or open a Japanese ramen shop, but they will know a lot more about what Australian wheat is used for and what Australia's current domestic and international markets value.