GRDC has welcomed the Western Australian Government’s announcement of a new $320M world-class agricultural facility, which will house the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD), Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre (AEGIC) and Intergrain upon its completion in 2027.

The announcement was made yesterday by WA Premier Mark McGowan and WA Agriculture and Food Minister Alannah MacTiernan at Murdoch University’s Grains Research Precinct, which was built with the support from GRDC's infrastructure investment.

GRDC Chair John Woods says that the planned precinct would be an exceptional outcome for agriculture in WA, bringing together the State’s key agriculture and grains agencies alongside world-class biosecurity and research facilities.

“As a key investor in DPIRD, AEGIC and Intergrain, alongside a number of grains research organisations in WA including Murdoch University, we are delighted and strongly supportive of this announcement by the WA Government,” Mr Woods says.

“The WA Government is taking a visionary approach to research and development infrastructure, with this precinct likely to deliver benefit to WA growers for decades to come.”

Mr Woods says he looked forward to continuing GRDC’s close working relationship with DPIRD, AEGIC and Intergrain with the mutual goal of delivering innovative research, development and extension for the State’s grain growers.

“GRDC has a long history of investing in RD&E in WA and we look forward to building on that through our ongoing involvement with key research partners.”

This year alone, GRDC has made several major joint announcements with DPIRD including:

• $24M investment over four years into AEGIC
• $20M investment over five years for the WA Farming Systems project
• $10M initial commitment over three years to the WA Agricultural Research Collaboration.