Grains

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development has significant direct investment in grains research, development and extension capability and activities, research infrastructure and policy development.

The Western Australian grains industry is a major contributor to the agrifood sector and the Australian economy. WA produces on average 18 million tonnes of grains (cereals, oilseeds and pulses) each year. Grain exports generate more than $5.9 billion (five year average) for the WA economy each year – making it the largest agricultural sector in the state, and the fifth largest export industry overall after iron ore, oil and gas, gold and lithium.

WA exports about 80% of its annual grain production to more than 50 countries worldwide. Indonesia is WA’s top wheat export market worth over $880 million per year, followed by China ($750 million) and Vietnam ($610million) over the last five years. WA is the world’s leading supplier of premium malting barley to Japan, China and India, the major supplier of wheat for the Japanese udon noodle market, and a major feed barley supplier to the Middle East.

In the 2021/22 season it is estimated the WA grains industry exported a total of $6 billion of cereals and $3.2 billion of pulse and oilseeds. The major contributors to these exports were wheat ($3.9 billion), canola ($3.0 billion), barley ($1.4 billion), lupins ($200 million) and oats ($160 million).

Grains Research and Industry Development Projects

DPIRD strives to provide essential knowledge and tools to increase profitability, meet market requirements, and improve the economic development of WA.

Research is undertaken in collaborative projects with other state government agencies, universities, CSIRO, grower groups, growers, and commercial partners.

DPIRD Grains priority projects

2024 Crop Sowing Guide for WA

The Crop Sowing Guide for Western Australia is a one stop shop for variety information on all the major crops grown in Western Australia, compiled by officers in DPIRD.

This edition includes the major crops grown in WA – wheat, barley, canola, oat, lupins and pulses. The publication aims to provide information to support growers with decisions on the best choice of variety for each of the major crops for the upcoming season. The lupin and pulse sections also include an “agronomy guide” summary to support management decisions required for these high value industries.

Hardcopies of the 2024 Crop Sowing Guide for Western Australia are available from DPIRD offices and other agribusiness outlets. Learn more

Articles

Diagnosing manganese toxicity in canola

3 February 2015

Manganese toxicity is rare in WA, but may occur on acidic heavy soils with high manganese levels.
Diagnosing nodule dysfunction in narrow-leafed lupins

19 January 2015

Nitrogen deficiency from nodule dysfunction can be caused by lack of Rhizobia, soil conditions, herbicide toxicity, or molybdenum or cobalt deficiency.
Diagnosing poor quality seed in narrow-leafed lupins

19 January 2015

Lupin has large seeds that are prone to mechanical damage during harvesting and subsequent handling, which may reduce seed viability.
Diagnosing allelopathy in cereals

28 November 2013

Allelopathy is an uncommon disorder of germinating plants caused by a toxins in the soil that have leached from plant residues.
Monitoring pulse nodulation

15 April 2014

All pulse plants require healthy root systems in order to maximise growth and yield.
Monitoring cereal tiller counts

15 April 2014

The ability of a cereal crop to tiller is an indication of the crop’s ability to maximise crop yield. An inadequate number of tillers will limit the number of heads and yield potential.
Monitoring flowering in broad-acre crops

15 April 2014

The time of flowering can be critical in determining final yield in all crops. Frost or hot, dry conditions during flowering in cereal, canola and pulse crops can dramatically reduce yields.
Windrow assessment for canola

15 April 2014

The aim of this check is to ensure that the crop is at the right stage of maturity for windrowing. This will ensure that seed yield and oil content are maximised.
Monitoring head and pod density

15 April 2014

The number of tiller in cereals establishes the yield potential of the crop for the season. The branching of legumes and canola largely determines the yield potential in these crops.
Crop productivity on raised beds in Western Australia

18 February 2011

The costs of installing a system of raised beds should be recovered through a cropping program.