The Wumbulgal site is located near Griffith. Photo: AgConnex

AGCONNEX has secured $4 million through the NSW Government’s Agriculture Industries Innovation and Growth Program to upgrade rail loading, storage and processing infrastructure at the Western Riverina Connect rail siding at Wumbulgal near Griffith.

The project builds on recent investment in the WRConnect precinct, now with a new rail siding, and is set to grow further with MEDLOG relocating from Griffith’s CBD to the Wumbulgal hub.

AgConnex chief executive officer Geoff Barker said the upgrades would support growers in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA) as more turned to pulses or looked to introduce them into their crop rotations.

Last season, AgConnex expanded its winter-crop receivals to include lentils and lupins for the first time, alongside wheat and barley.

“The project involves upgrading our silo infrastructure to receive and outturn grain to rail,” Mr Barker said.

“It’s got a focus on attracting legumes and pulses in the region as we look at the production around us starting to expand.”

He said the MIA was a “hugely productively region” but there was a “clear lack of infrastructure to support it”.

“This is what this project is all about…growers are looking for a legume in their rotation, and this will provide a path to market for them.

Mr Barker said the team had not yet settled on exact plans for the development, although more silos were planned.

“The main thing is the elevation equipment that we’re putting in to handle the products both from a point of view of speed and efficiency and soft handling for pulses.

“We’ll also upgrade our container packing facilities.”

MEDLOG move

Mr Barker said the upgrades will also be supported by MEDLOG’s decision to relocate its existing container park from Griffith to the WRConnect site.

He said MEDLOG currently runs a train service from the park to Melbourne.

The move was foreshadowed by the Leeton Shire Council last year when the long-awaited contract for work on the Wumbugal rail siding was awarded.

Leeton Shire Council Mayor George Weston said at the time that the works would facilitate freight company MEDLOG’s move out of Griffith and enable the full vision for the WRConnect site to begin.

“It will facilitate getting our region’s primary produce and our value-added goods – much of which is for export – to market more quickly and more efficiently,” Cr Weston said.

Griffith City Council Mayor Doug Curran said MEDLOG’s move out of the CBD to the new rail siding would be “a game-changer for the movement of freight out of this area”.

“The relocation of the MEDLOG logistics facility to the Wumbulgal site will remove the freight bottleneck out of the Griffith CBD and provide an exciting redevelopment opportunity in the heart of our city,” Cr Curran said.

The rail siding works delivered a 1500m multi-user rail siding between Griffith and Leeton, and were completed late last year.

Alongside the Wumbulgal site, AgConnex also owns and operates grain storage and handling facilities at Benerembah, Carrathool and Coleambally.

AIIGP recipients

A total of $28M was allocated to six recipients under the Agriculture Industries Innovation and Growth Program.

Alongside AgConnex, the other successful recipients were:

• $500,000 for Hortifutura Co, Cessnock to transform waste into renewable energy, heat, carbon dioxide fertiliser and recycled water to support NSW’s first high-tech, certified organic propagation nursery with commercial grafting capacity;
• $2.1M for Provenance Propagation, Grafton to increase its controlled-environment propagation growing area by 1.38ha, incorporating state-of-the-art automation and advanced production systems;
• $2M for Freeman Vineyards, Young to build NSW’s first dealcoholisation facility enabling end-to-end production of non-alcoholic wine in regional NSW;
• $2M for Yieldtech Enterprises, Coffs Harbour to support the establishment of a regional manufacturing facility that converts Australian-grown hemp by-products into prefabricated building materials for the construction sector;
• $1.4 million for AWH to establish the Goulburn Wool Auction Innovation Hub, a first-of-kind, fully digital wool auction and handling facility which will shift a core component of Australia’s wool auction system from metropolitan-centred infrastructure toward a decentralised regional model.

Premier of NSW Chris Minns said the funding will enable businesses to adopt new technology and upgrade equipment to support more efficient and sustainable production.

“Agriculture is one of the most important industries for our state,” Mr Minns said.

“The sector contributes billions of dollars to our economy, underpins thousands of jobs in regional communities and puts food on our tables.

“This co-investment model unlocks enormous potential for our state’s primary industries, driving private investment in projects that advance the sector and deliver real benefits for regional communities across New South Wales.”

Minister for Agriculture and Regional NSW Tara Moriarty said investing in agriculture also meant supporting regional communities.

“When farming businesses do well, the whole community benefits – from local shops to transport operators and service providers,” Ms Moriarty said.

“This is about the NSW Government investing in regional NSW and our ag sector through an open and transparent process, something that hasn’t happened for many years.”

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