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Riverina rice co-op forced to buy foreign rice
16 Jun 2005
Riverina rice miller SunRice will buy foreign grain to meet orders, most of which will be processed in Papua New Guinea, and in the Middle East. Rice growers in the southern Riverina harvested 305,000 tonnes this year, compared with 1.7 million tonnes in 2002. Local rice growers harvested 530,000 tonnes in 2003. Riverina Ricegrowers Co-operative, which owns the SunRice brand, will buy between 300,000 and 400,000 tonnes of foreign rice. Shipping costs and quarantine laws prevent large scale imports of raw product to the Leeton, NSW mill. Co-op chairman Gerry Lawson said life was "very difficult at the moment" for the co-op's 1800 grower shareholders. This year farms across the region had between 42 and 49 per cent of the water allocated to them in drought-free years.
Herald Sun, 16/06/05
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