Just like the cricket. Suddenly the international competition is a lot tougher for the Australian wheat industry.

Our wheat is still well respected around the world, but we’re losing market share to our competitors and our wheat quality is perceived to be declining. We have a lower market presence at all levels, with less technical support now and less collaboration with our international customers.

That’s according to a report prepared for the Grain Growers Association and the South Australian Government on trends in a number of international markets to determine how Australian wheat fits the demands of overseas consumers.

One of the report’s three co-authors, cereal chemist Michael Southan, detailed its findings to Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) Research Updates for Growers at Walgett and Trangie earlier this month.

The GRDC’s coordinator of Northern Region Updates, John Cameron, meets groups of local advisers and growers in the various subregions to plan Update agendas, ensuring they are regionally specific and address the information priorities of each area.

Dr Southan, manager of grains processing at the Sydney grains research organisation  BRI Australia Ltd and a member of the GRDC’s new Northern Panel, was asked to brief the Trangie and Walgett Updates on what the world wanted from Australian wheat growers.

He told the Updates Australian wheat is still seen to be inherently white, clean and dry, ideal for use across a range of applications and with a high level of versatility, allowing it to be blended with other wheats to provide a range of flours for end-uses.

But the competition was catching up – or had caught up already – and Australia was seen to be losing ground.

The U.S. and Canada had better “dual purpose” wheats, suited to both the sponge and dough bread-making process popular in Asia as well as the rapidly expanding noodle markets.

Those two countries were competitive against Australia in the high value market segments like high protein and soft wheats, while the emerging exporters –India and the Black Sea ports – were competing in the low price commodity segment.

Dr Southan said Australian wheat quality was seen to be declining, with more variation now in ASW and APW shipments and lower protein in AH. Grain size was getting smaller, probably through a combination of varietal influence and drought.

Markets wanted more yellow durum wheat and whiter APW wheat, particularly from South Australia.

“Finally, as our wheat customers became more “technology savvy”, they wanted more information about the wheat they bought and have become more demanding, particularly for quality specific purchases,” he said. 

The Australian wheat industry must:

• know how its competitors’ wheats perform, with a comparative analysis of competitor products,

• invest in R&D to maximize the value of Australian wheat,

• improve understanding of functionality and end product performance,

• develop functional foods,

• improve information flows, and

• align technical support models with the industry’s commercial structures, as the US and Canada have done.