All we need is time: Rice industry ‘at risk of non-existence’

But at present the industry is at “tipping point” as water buybacks and the subsequent increase in water prices push rice growing in Australia to the brink.

A hearing in Deniliquin last week heard that the global company SunRice, which operates the biggest rice mill in the southern hemisphere in Deniliquin, believes it is being “forced offshore by the water reform process”.

Its CEO Paul Serra, addressing the NSW Government inquiry into impacts of the 2023 Water Amendment Act on NSW regional communities, said ABARES predicts the water price will increase to more than $180 per megalitre (under current water policy) and “at that price the rice industry in Australia is at risk of non-existence”.

Mr Serra said SunRice strongly urged the NSW Government “to bring people to the table and enable industries time to evolve”.

“We strongly urge the NSW Government to take a stronger stand with the Federal Government to pause further buybacks,” he told the hearing.

Mr Serra said the Australian rice industry was proud to be the highest yielding and lowest water usage per tonne rice industry in the world, and SunRice was one of the lowest carbon emission rice producers in the world.

The company employs more than 2200 people, including 500 directly in the Deniliquin and Leeton areas, processing food goods which are exported throughout the world.

It has payments to the region of more than $½ billion annually for procurement of rice and manufacturing of high value goods.

And for this to be maintained, all it wants is a bit of time.

“We have shown in the rice industry that we are not only world leading rice producers when it comes to water per tonne of rice produced, but with our breeding programs we are moving towards an aerobic system for rice (a method that doesn’t use flood irrigation),” Mr Serra said.

“In the future, hopefully with the new varietals that are coming down our development pipeline they will enable us to move into systems where we could irrigate with lateral systems, for example.

“These are world first initiatives,” Mr Serra said, highlighting how technology and developments in the Australian rice industry could benefit the world, including helping to make the industry across the world more efficient.

“But we need time to evolve, and irrigators need time to continue evolving their efficiency measures and achieve the outcomes in a more sustainable manner across industry and the environment.”

He also spoke about concerns with uncertainty around water policy and its implementation, saying this leads to “a pause in terms of investment”, and forces the company to look more internationally in terms of investments.

“There is no truer statement than consistency in policy is a friend of business and has a direct impact on how we allocate our capital globally,” Mr Serra said.

“In the past 25 years, I have seen multiple (Australian) food industries move offshore as the cost of inputs and policy changes became uncertain.

“The rice industry has been no stranger to that … we’ve had diversification in Vietnam and California, and we are looking further afield and where we set up operations as a direct result of the impact from policy reform in Australia.”

The company could continue to grow in the region, “but at the moment with policy uncertainty and the speed at which these buybacks are happening, it’s causing an unnecessary shock to the system which puts all that at risk”.

He also spoke about the environmental impacts, highlighting that the region has the lowest carbon producing per tonne rice industry in the world.

Loss of the rice industry in Australia would mean a need to import rice, which would come at a significant net carbon increase for the planet.