cAs Australian growers look on track to deliver another bumper harvest, ensuring this moves efficiently off the farm to its next location is critical.
The report, Australia’s Priority Grain Freight Routes: Critical Infrastructure, Bottlenecks, and Strategic Investment Requirements, provides a rare, state-by-state breakdown of grain freight movements. Drawing on CSIRO’s Transport Network Strategic Investment Tool (TraNSIT), the analysis reveals just how complex grain freight routes are, with distinct networks and patterns in each state shaped by production, markets, and infrastructure access.
GrainGrowers CEO, Shona Gawel, said the findings highlight both the diversity and the challenges of moving millions of tonnes of grain from farm to market.
“Grain freight in Australia is not a one-size-fits-all task. The report shows the complexity of freight movements and the unique challenges in each state — from bridge weight limits at the New South Wales/ Victorian border, to gaps in the PBS A-double network in Queensland, or the high volume of grain on local government roads in Western Australia. These bottlenecks add costs and reduce efficiency for growers.”
The report identifies:
- The critical role of local and regional roads in first- and last-mile freight movements.
- The need to address ageing bridges and PBS network gaps that constrain productivity.
- The growing risk of climate-related disruptions, particularly on high-volume corridors.
- The opportunities for greater cross-border harmonisation to streamline movements.
“Detailed, publicly available information about grain freight has historically been limited. This report helps fill that gap, offering new insights into the complexity of freight routes and providing a clear, state-by-state picture of where targeted investment will deliver the greatest benefit,” Ms Gawel said.
GrainGrowers is calling on policymakers and infrastructure planners to use these findings to prioritise investment in the freight routes that matter most to growers and regional communities.
ends