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Australian Grain Farmers National Levy Survey

Purpose:
a) To assess farmer support for a three year reduction of compulsory levies from 0.99% to 0.01% due to >$1.0bn cash held by GRDC.

b) To understand if farmers would prefer a farmer-owned R&D organisation with farmer-elected skills-based directors for better alignment of interests and management of farmers’ R&D investment.

Note: GRDC and R&D would not change, but farmers' returns would benefit from lower costs and fit-for-purpose board representation.
PARTICIPATION: One survey per farm business.

CONFIDENTIALITY: All responses are confidential and reported only in aggregated form.

Estimated completion time: 5 minutes

Each participating farm business has a chance to win a weekend at Crown.
Three Part Survey:

1 – Your grain farming business
2 – Changes you would like for the 2026 harvest
3 – Changes you would like for future years
Section 1 – Your Grain Farming Business
1.What is your primary grain growing region?
2.What is the approximate size of your annual cropping program?
3.Which grains do you grow? (Select all that apply)
4.On average, approximately how many tonnes of grain does your farm sell each year?
5.What is your estimated annual grain levy cost each year? [if unsure, calculate your approximate annual levy cost by multiplying the number of tonnes of cereals sold each year by $3.00 per tonne and $7.00 per tonne for canola]
6.Do you believe the value your business receives from your annual compulsory levy cost is:
7.Does the amount of money you spend on levies each year affect your capacity to invest in your own productivity-enhancing priorities? [For example: succession plans, soil remediation, technology, machinery, infrastructure]
Section 2 – Changes for 2026 Harvest
8.For your business, how important is it that the levy rate is reduced from 0.99% to 0.01% of your grain income for the next three seasons? [Note: this strategy will not affect R&D, but will save farmers approximately $3/t for three years (eg $9/t), and save Australian grain farmers approximately $600,000,000 plus >$40,000,000 in interest costs]
Extremely important
Important
Neutral
Moderately important
Not important
9.Would you like the Federal Minister for Agriculture to initiate an Independent Review of the grain levy system?
Section 3 – Changes for Future Years
10.To act in the best interests of levy payers, would you prefer a farmer-owned organisation rather than the current government-owned organisation?
Strongly support
Support
Neutral
Oppose
Strongly oppose
11.What benefits would you expect from a farmer-owned R & D organisation? (Select up to three)
12.What concerns would you have about a farmer-owned R & D organisation?
13.How important is it that farmers, via farmer-elected directors, govern the levy rate, levy expenditure, and the amount of farmers’ cash held as levy reserves?
Extremely important
Important
Neutral
Moderately important
Not important
14.Are you aware that the Federal Government appointed Grain Producers Australia (GPA) and Grain Growers Ltd (GGL) as “Responsible Organisations” to represent farmers’ interests regarding levy matters?
15.How effective do you think the “Responsible Organisations” have been in acting in the best interests of farmers concerning levy matters?
Highly effective
Moderately effective
Neutral
Moderately ineffective
Extremely ineffective
16.How effective do you think the GRDC board of directors has been in acting in the best interests of farmers?
Highly effective
Moderately effective
Neutral
Moderately ineffective
Extremely ineffective
17.How important is it that annual limits to R&D expenditure and a flexible levy rate are initiated to achieve better return on investment and avoid excessive reserves?
Extremely important
Important
Neutral
Moderately important
Not important
18.Should levies raised in each region (Northern-Qld/NSW(Northern), Southern-NSW(Southern/Vic/SA, Western-WA) be invested in that region, apart from a joint contribution towards R&D of national importance?
19.Should levy payers have the right to vote on extraordinary expenditure proposals (eg $81m to Bayer)?
20.How do you think directors of a farmer-owned R&D organisation should be selected? [Note: farmers and government contribute similar funding for R&D]
21.Should voting be based on the amount of levies your business pays? (as per the wool levy)
22.To improve transparency, would you prefer levy costs to be invoiced separately instead of deducted from your grain proceeds?
23.By percentage, where have the major productivity improvements come from in your business? Please allocate percentages across the categories below (must total 100%)
24.What changes would most improve the grain levy system?
25.Would you like to receive the survey results?
26.To be in the draw for a weekend at Crown, please include your email address