{"id":376704,"date":"2026-10-06T13:47:35","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T03:47:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=376704"},"modified":"2026-10-06T14:18:05","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T04:18:05","slug":"growers-question-grdcs-priorities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/10\/06\/growers-question-grdcs-priorities\/","title":{"rendered":"Growers Question GRDC’s Priorities"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Kumbia grower Julian Cross has been growing peanuts for decades (Photo: Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Wooroolin peanut grower Lionel Wieck (Photo: Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

October 6, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Two South Burnett peanut growers are questioning why the Grains Research Development Corporation (GRDC) is prepared to invest $2 million to develop a new pigeonpea industry while the established peanut industry is fighting for the research, breeding and market support needed to survive.<\/p>\n

Australian peanut growers pay a levy, based on the gross value of production, which goes to the GRDC to support agronomic research but there are questions now about how that levy is supporting them.<\/p>\n

GRDC has called for tenders for a four-year program to establish pigeonpea as a new summer legume across Queensland and northern NSW. It hopes that a 30,000ha pigeonpea industry could be established by 2030.<\/p>\n

Long-term peanut grower Lionel Wieck, from Wooroolin, says it is difficult to understand.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeanuts are a drought-tolerant, summer legume capable of returning plenty of nitrogen and carbon to the soil but peanut growers are fighting to even get a meeting with GRDC at present, let alone support to help the industry grow,\u201d Mr Wieck said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe peanut industry is already established. We know we produce some of the best peanuts in the world yet we\u2019re constantly being told that we should all start growing pigeonpeas instead, despite pigeonpeas being relatively unproven.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

The GRDC’s own 2026 Peanut Crop Improvement Plan says that continued investment in research, market development and supply-chain capability could position the Australian industry to respond to growing demand.<\/p>\n

Mr Wieck said that with the right support, the peanut industry has an opportunity to revitalise, increase production and capture a greater share of growing domestic demand.<\/p>\n

\u201cAustralian peanuts are readily acknowledged as some of the best quality in the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we can\u2019t boost our productivity without R&D support and a viable breeding program, something that GRDC is very reluctant to discuss with peanuts growers at present.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kumbia peanut grower Julian Cross has grown peanuts for decades.<\/p>\n

He said he cannot believe that pigeonpeas are being promoted as a replacement crop for peanuts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is deeply disappointing to see GRDC prepared to invest $2 million in research, market development and supply-chain capability for an unproven crop when that exact type of support could help our Australian peanut industry to rebuild,\u201d Mr Cross said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe peanut industry has had a major setback with the sale of PCA in Kingaroy last year but we have generations of experience growing peanuts.<\/p>\n

“They\u2019re a tough crop well suited to Queensland\u2019s climate, they\u2019re a strong legume capable of fixing a lot of nitrogen and there is proven demand in Australia for high-quality peanuts.<\/p>\n

\u201cQueensland\u2019s peanut growers want the opportunity to grow peanuts to meet growing Aussie demand, but we can\u2019t do that without support from our R&D corporation.<\/p>\n

\u201cAustralian growers have made many attempts to meet with GRDC in recent months without success, then we learn that GRDC is investing in a new, unproven crop while overlooking a well-established summer legume like peanuts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Cross said the issue was not whether pigeonpea deserved research. The question was why comparable urgency and investment was not being directed towards an existing Australian industry that has growers, infrastructure, knowledge, genetics and consumers already in place.<\/p>\n

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The reaction by the two Kingaroy peanut growers follows a recent GRDC podcast by Toowoomba-based DPI research scientist Bruce Winter and Angus Woods, from seed company Woods Group, examining the results of pigeonpea trials and discussing their commercial potential.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The GRDC says demand is growing for high quality pigeonpea grain for human consumption in India; India currently imports peanuts from Central Africa and Myanmar.<\/p>\n

In 2023,\u00a0 new experimental pigeonpea lines were evaluated at four sites across southern and central Queensland in GRDC-funded trials, including at the DPI’s Kingaroy Research Facility.<\/p>\n

At the time, the GRDC said these lines showed high grain yield, quick maturity and were easy to harvest using existing equipment.<\/p>\n

A 2024 GRDC update paper<\/a><\/strong> noted “given these encouraging results, efforts to commercialise pigeonpea are continuing”.<\/p>\n

A 2025 GRDC update paper<\/a><\/strong> stated that current summer pulse options were limited: “Mungbean, peanut and soybean are not sufficiently resilient, drought-tolerant, or easily managed for broad-scale dryland production in low rainfall areas. Growers need a summer-grown version of chickpea. Pigeonpea is the most obvious option to fill this critical gap in northern region farming systems.”<\/p>\n

External links:<\/strong><\/p>\n