Industry: Seed Production
See also: Seed Merchants
Gross value of production |
$4.7m |
Number of processors |
23 |
Number employed |
40 |
Current annual production |
3000 t |
Hectares under production |
7000 |
1. Description of Product:
Temperate grass seed is produced at Mansfield ie. Perennial Rye Grass, Annual Rye Grass, Ferage and Turf type Fescue, Coxfoot, and to a lesser extent and declining Phalaris. Corryong producers produce specialist seeds at Tooma and mixed seeds at Corryong.
Sub clover seed is produced in Rutherglen, Springhurst area and at Wangaratta.
The operations of this industry are:
1. Seed production as described.
2. Cleaning and packaging of seed.
3. Marketing and dispatch.
2. Location of the Industry:
This industry is located primarily in the Mansfield region, in Corryong (more recently established) and in Rutherglen and Wangaratta. There is a smaller amount of seed produced at Benalla.
3. Employment and Labour Requirements
a. Number of Producers
There are up to 23 producers in the region .
4-6 of those are large producers with acreages >4000 acres. Two to four are intermediate sized properties with 1000-2000 acres, and the rest are smaller with acreages from 100-1200 acres.
b. Number Regularly Employed
For 4000 acre farm 4 people are employed regularly. For industry approximately 40 people are employed.
c. Seasonal Requirements
At harvest 3-5 weeks (middle of December to end of January) an extra 50 people are employed full time.
For cleaning and processing working on 24 hours/day, 20-30 extra people are employed for a 6 week period, to take advantage of early markets especially in export trade.
4. Annual Production from North East Victoria:
In the Murray Valley 500-600 tonnes of seed is produced, and in the Mansfield region 1500-2000 tonnes is produced.
500 tonnes of seed is produced in Rutherglen area, 120 tonnes at Wangaratta, 58 tonnes at Benalla.
5. Value of Product:
The price of seed varies from $1/kg to $6.50/kg depending on variety. The gross value of seed industry to region is $4.7 million approximately.
6. Production Trends Over the Next Five Years:
a. Projected:
Although there are sectors of the seed industry not planning for such significant growth in general there is an expectation of industry growth, 50% increase within five years. This increase in production will be achieved by larger producers contracting other farmers to produce and with the introduction of newer higher yielding varieties. There is a expectation of a slow exiting of smaller growers in the Mansfield industry. The smaller grower finds it increasingly difficult to meet the requirements of industry development in terms of quality assurance, yields, weed control and plant rotation etc.
Extracted from the Bright Report
