The recently released report into the Western Victoria grain supply chain has recommended investment in roads and a series of initiatives to promote rail freight use. Photo: VFF

VICTORIAN farmers have welcomed the final report of the Western Victoria Grain Industry Supply Chain Study but say further work is needed to address gaps in detail and regional coverage.

The Victorian Government publicised the report’s release last Wednesday, but it was not made public until five days later.

Announced in July 2022, the $250,000 project was led by the SouthWest Alliance to assess shifts in production and forecast grain volumes for harvest and transport over the next 25 years.

It was to investigate the role of rail in the supply chain, as well as map existing grain silos and intermodal hubs, and give advice on optimal locations for future sites.

Three key recommendations

Drawing mostly on data from the ACCC’s Bulk Grain Ports Monitoring Report 2021-22, the ABARES Australian Agricultural Census 2020-21, and other government documents from this period, the report outlined three key recommendations for potential investments and initiatives to enhance western Vic’s grain freight network.

Two recommendations focused on upgrading the road network, advocating improvements to the Priority A network, which links key corridors to commercial ports, and the Priority B network, which connects farms and handling facilities to major highways and export routes.

The report estimated that $210 million would be required to upgrade the Priority A network including works to the Henty, Western, Sunraysia and Mildland highways and Calder Freeway; alongside $407M for “Priority B” roads, such as the Hamilton and Glenelg highways.

A cost-benefit analysis found the works would generate $1.65 billion in economic benefits over a decade, factoring in increased economic activity, supply chain impacts, and growth in employment and consumption as related sectors expand in response.

The third recommendation, to “continue to promote the use of the rail network”, outlined initiatives to improve rail freight efficiency for the grains industry, which currently runs trains on both broad-gauge and the national standard-gauge network.

The report suggested strategic actions to improve the rail network; namely, increasing train lengths, reducing train cycle times, and other track improvements such as extending the length of grain sidings.

It highlighted the benefits of increasing axle loads on the Maroona to Portland Line – currently approved for $150M in Federal Government funding – alongside further works to standardise the north-west regional network to support the grain task.

The study covered the grain supply chain in 18 Local Government Areas from Geelong to the South Australian border.

Report revealed gaps in data, scope

Overall, the report reinforced the concerns previously raised by farming groups, like the Victorian Farmers’ Federation which has fit-for-purpose road networks, and standardisation of the Maroona-Portland line as advocacy priorities.

VFF grains group president Ryan Milgate said the organisation supported the release of the report and was a member of the steering group which provided input to study author’s, GHD Advisory.

He said, while the report was a “good start” it was not a comprehensive view of the grain-freight task.

“It sort of gave a picture, but it’s not the full picture,” Mr Milgate said.

“It’s a good report but it’s certainly not all of the flows and it doesn’t include…the significant amount of grain flows from the southern Riverina through northern Victoria.”

He said VFF understood that initially the study was “just going to be southern Victoria, so from the Great Divide south”.

“So everyone wasn’t fully consulted, and they didn’t fully understand the flows of grain in Victoria.”

Given most of the data came from 2021-22 reports, Mr Milgate said the document would not have factored in recent movements in grain-freight trends.

“Things have changed since 2021, even just with the pulse supply chain, which has gone more bulk than containers in the last two or three years, so there have been some changes that it may not pick up.”

Despite these gaps, Mr Milgate said the “main issues and the priorities” were correct.

He said the report could be the foundation of further investigations into grain flows in western Victoria.

Mr Milgate said the VFF would also distribute the report to its members now that it had been publicly released, to “get their input on it”.

Inform future planning

In a statement, the Victorian Government said the study findings would inform future transport network planning that will benefit industry and the freight supply chain.

Minister for Roads and Road Safety and Ports and Freight Melissa Horne said the state accounted for 17 percent of Australia’s $33B total grain exports in 2022-23, making it the third-largest exporter in the nation by value.

“We know how important it is for farmers to have a strong supply chain to markets, which is why we’re looking at ways to improve access and efficiency to keep costs down,” Ms Horne said.

The supply chain study was delivered through a collaboration between the Victorian Government Regional Partnership committees of Great South Coast, Wimmera Southern Mallee and Central Highlands.

It covered 18 Local Government Areas from Geelong to the South Australia border to map and understand grain flows in western Vic, as well as cross-border movements from South Australia and New South Wales, to enable freight industry efficiencies and improve the competitiveness of the grain industry.

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