RIRDC supports rural industries that do not have their own Research and Development Corporation (RDC) including the rice, chicken meat, honey bees and pollination, horse, pasture seeds and export fodder, ginger and tea tree oil industries.

RIRDC invests in research and development to accelerate the establishment of new and emerging rural industries such as truffles, redclaw, emu, deer, fibre goats, quinoa, Kakadu plums and crocodiles. It is my intention that we will further advance the program by enlisting full engagement and collaboration across agricultural communities, all relevant stakeholders including the Minister, Government and Departmental operatives. I overwhelmingly believe in consultation and working together as a team to advance agriculture.

RIRDC also invests in research and development to address issues that are common across agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors. Issues like: better seasonal forecasting; studies to identify new and emerging issues that may affect competitiveness; studies to improve policy debate by government and industry on issues relevant to agricultural and rural policy in Australia.

I am committed to having RIRDC collaborate to deliver value for money across sectors and to ensure we have maximum cooperation with joint initiatives where appropriate. Our vision is that Australian rural industries are innovative, adaptive and valuable.

This R&D Plan 2016 – 2021 sets out our vision, purpose, goals and investment approach for the next five years. It guides our approach and our decision making. The first of our three goals is to discover new enterprises, technologies, opportunities and challenges that may positively or negatively impact rural industries. Our second goal is to deliver tangible and practical improvements to rural industries in terms of farm-gate profitability. Our third goal is to encourage people in rural industries to develop their leadership potential, for example, I was overwhelmed by the energy enthusiasm and knowledge that was displayed at the partnership between RIRDC and the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources in convening the recent GrowAg conference.

GrowAg was designed to facilitate collaboration amongst a diverse range of future leaders and decision makers within agriculture, demonstrate the Australian Government’s commitment to contributing to the future of the sector and to highlight R&D achievements on farm offering a feedback loop for continued learning and interaction. It was exciting to witness demonstrated leadership in a cross industry innovation forum where participants could share ideas, be motivated and value the opportunity to engage in learning, capacity building, knowledge sharing and community building for these young professionals. The intention is to continue to build on this strength of the organisation. The broad range of new rural industries and investment opportunities available to RIRDC has seen the application of a ‘life cycle’ analysis approach to investment decisions. This ensures that our R&D investment is aligned with the developmental stage of each emerging industry. It also frees up funding for us to make new investments when an industry has reached the point where it is able to support its own R&D.

RIRDC is about partnerships and collaboration. When we invest in R&D, we do so in partnership with the rural industries that we serve. Once R&D priorities have been determined, we partner with research organisations to undertake the research. Increasingly, RIRDC is looking to collaborate with other RDCs when addressing issues that are common across industry sectors. The Board, Management and staff at RIRDC will continue to work diligently, respecting the vision of our industries so that together we can contribute to a better working, lifestyle and environmentally sustainable rural and regional Australia. With the growing importance of the private sector in Australian agriculture, we anticipate that over the next five years RIRDC will be increasingly partnering with the private sector to meet the needs of our industry and government stakeholders. From my observation I believe RIRDC to be well placed to partner in value adding between the private sector and our agriculturalists.

Our commitment to regional Australia will see RIRDC move its operations from Canberra to Wagga Wagga in New South Wales. This presents new and exciting opportunities for our organisation and the rural industries we support. These opportunities and the addition of new industries and ventures may mean that we need to revise this five year R&D Plan before June 2021. Any changes would, of course, only be made following due process, including consultation with our industry and government stakeholders.

Australian rural industries have and always will operate in a dynamic environment, shaped by domestic and global forces that are increasingly complex. Access to world-class expertise and leadership in ground-breaking research and innovation is critical to ensuring rural economy continues to grow and prosper. In collaboration with the resilient rural industries we serve, RIRDC has a unique contribution to make both to individual industries and more broadly across Australian agriculture, fisheries and forestry. We look forward to being part of the blueprint that will shape the future of Agriculture and deliver benefits to the entire nation.