South Perth, Western Australia
October 29, 2008
The Department of
Agriculture and Food has declared that Vlamingh seed will be
free to trade (farmer to farmer) in Western Australia from
November this year, following the normal expiry of the two year
restricted trading period.
Vlamingh has been accredited as a malting barley variety from
Western Australia.
Barley Industry development officer Jeff Russell said barley
growers should be mindful that Vlamingh was currently undergoing
export market development with overseas buyers.
“Recent feedback from overseas maltsters indicate that Vlamingh
performs similarly to Gairdner, and so is likely to be a
replacement for that variety,” Mr Russell said.
“The market potential of Vlamingh is not likely to be fully
understood or realised for another few years, a factor that
should be kept in mind given the current marketing environment,”
he said.
“This may have a bearing on the price growers will be paid for
delivering Vlamingh that meets malting quality standard and
where it can be received in the short term.”
Mr Russell said growers who wanted to begin growing Vlamingh
while it was undergoing export market development should be
conscious of the need to match production to market demand.
“They should consider only growing enough for their own
evaluation and bulk up needs and the likely marketing options
available to them until a better knowledge of the market size is
known,” Mr Russell said.
“For growers who intend to purchase Vlamingh from a neighbour,
it is paramount that high varietal seed purity is maintained, as
with all malting barley varieties.
“The seed should be tested for variety purity and a seed
analysis statement obtained.
“New requirements for the delivery of malting barley are likely
to be in place by the 2010/11 harvest. These will require
growers to provide evidence of the variety purity declared prior
to delivery at the bin.”
Farmnote 315 (July 2008) ‘Maintaining variety purity in malting
barley crops’ is available from Department of Agriculture and
Food offices or on-line at www.agric.wa.gov.au.
Mr Russell said that even though Vlamingh was protected under
Plant Breeding Rights (PBR), this did not prevent future farmer
to farmer sales.
“Vlamingh will still be subject to End Point Royalties (EPR) for
every tonne of grain produced and sold by growers,” Mr Russell
said.
Vlamingh is jointly owned by the Department and the Grains
Research and Development Corporation who fund the Western
Australian Barley Improvement Program through Barley Breeding
Australia.
The EPR for Vlamingh is $3.50 / t for grain delivered for
malting and $1.50 / t for grain delivered as feed (plus GST). |
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