ovens murray - victoria · 2018. 8. 28. · logistics centres the region has excellent road access...

Ovens MurrayInvest in Victorian agriculture and food

August 2018

InnovativeConnectedQuality

OF FARMERS IN THE REGION HAVE COMPLETED TERTIARY EDUCATION

40%

OF AGRICULTURAL OUTPUT PRODUCED IN OVENS MURRAY

$597M

invest.agriculture.vic.gov.au interactive mapped data; industries; regions

Why invest in Ovens Murray agriculture and food processing?

Access to major logistics centres

The region has excellent road and rail access between Australia’s two largest cities, Melbourne and Sydney, in addition to the presence of a major regional city and logistics centre in Wodonga. Wodonga boasts a fully functioning intermodal transport and logistics hub with an ability to reach 75 per cent of Australia’s population within 24 hours. Multiple airlines also operate daily services to Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane from Albury.

A growing agritourism sector

Leveraging its waterways, alpine valleys and wineries, the region is able to take advantage of the growing consumer demand for provenance and differentiated produce. Niche offerings, such as the King Valley brand, the Bright Brewery and wineries with gourmet food, allow the region to strengthen its brand and increase both its market share and profit margins for its agricultural products.

Specialised in livestock grazing

Beef, dairy and sheep meat account for nearly 73 per cent of Ovens Murray’s total value of agricultural production. These reflect the region’s inherent factors of advantage (such as the availability of good rainfall, water, pastures and fodder), and continue to offer investment opportunities in the region. From the plains of the Murray valley to the alpine hills and mountains, opportunities abound.

A skilled agricultural workforce

Ovens Murray has a skilled workforce with capabilities across the agricultural supply chain. Over 40 per cent of farmers in the region have completed tertiary education. This innovative workforce is well placed to drive future growth in the region’s agriculture and food processing capabilities.

A strong food-processing base

Strong food processing centres located at Wodonga, Wangaratta, Wahgunyah and Benalla see the region well placed to expand regional food processing. These manufacturing centres benefit from Victoria’s most climatically diverse surrounding farmland. With well-established food processors like Mars Corporation, Uncle Toby’s and Vitasoy supported by world-class packaging capability from Visy and Orora, the region has a sophisticated level of production capability.

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A growing region with agritourism advantagesOvens Murray farms produce around $597 million in agricultural output. This region has a growing rural population bringing ample off-farm income and ensuring resilient rural economies.

Ovens Murray – strategically located

Ovens Murray’s combination of a skilled workforce and agritourism opportunities make it a premium investment destination for agriculture and food processing.

Ovens Murray farms produce

12.4% of Victoria’s beef cattle

4.4% of Victoria’s sheep meat

3.8% of Victoria’s dairy

Ovens Murray economy and agriculture sector at a glance

Gross Regional Product: $5.8 bn

Population: 121,000

Food processing: $2.1 bn

Agricultural production: $597 m1

KEY

Non-agricultural land

Agricultural areas

Beef

Sheep

Dairy

Major food processing

Road network

Rail network

Regional boundary

Rutherglen

Wangaratta

Mansfield

Myrtleford

Beechworth

Bright

BenallaGlenrowan

Wodonga

KiewaTallangatta

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Sources for this page: map, Victorian Government; ABS Census 2016, ABS 7121 2015-16; agriculture production, Victorian Government analysis using 2016 ABS Agricultural Census data; food processing value, Victorian Government estimate based on 2016 REMPLAN data and 2011-12 RISE data; GRP, Victorian Government, 2016 data, http://www.rdv.vic.gov.au/information-portal (November 2017); population, ABS Census 2016.

1 Unless otherwise stated, all dollar values refer to gross values in this publication.

Ovens Murray’s competitive advantages

Located on a major transport corridor with access to major logistics centresThe region has excellent road access to Melbourne and Sydney markets via the Hume Highway, in addition to the major logistics centre of Wodonga, located on the New South Wales border. Wodonga is able to reach 75 per cent of Australia’s population within 24 hours through its intermodal transport and logistics hub. Located on the Hume Freeway and the Melbourne to Sydney rail line, the Logic Industrial Park provides access for B Doubles and future high productivity vehicles. The heavy vehicle access allows higher mass limits, enabling more produce to be transported out of the region at any given time. In addition, Albury airport provides access to capital cities and overseas markets with multiple airlines operating services to Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane daily.

Agritourism advantagesThe region is endowed with tourism attractions, that leverage attributes such as natural amenity, gold rush heritage architecture and world class tourism infrastructure. This, combined with the quality of the local agricultural production, represents a great opportunity for agritourism, much of which is already being realised.

From the cropping plains of the Murray Valley to the region’s hills and mountains, excellent wineries, boutique cheese farms, breweries and distilleries attract a range of visitors to the region. A number of wineries, such as in Rutherglen, Gapsted and Myrtleford have taken advantage of the growing consumer demand for differentiated produce, offering visitors an opportunity to immerse themselves in local processes and production, with the intention of developing loyalty with travelling consumers.

Another example of an area embracing agritourism is the King Valley, which includes a dynamic community of wineries started by Italian migrant families, as well as cheese and cold meat production. Prosecco sparkling wine is also emerging as a driver in the area, attracting tourism and new grape plantings and production.

Strong food processing centresOvens Murray is home to a number of leading food processing centres located at Wodonga, Wangaratta, Wahgunyah and Benalla. Wodonga has a thriving industrial base with several strong industries and an expanding commercial area, including a base for a global provider of packaging products and services, Sonoco. Both Wangaratta and Benalla are home to major food processing activities. Wahgunyah hosts the Australian production hub of Nestle’s Uncle Tobys brand. These food processing centres are complementary to local farming and agritourism activities.

Excellent skills and training in agriculture and food processingOvens Murray has higher levels of education and training than other Victorian regions, fostering innovation and providing capabilities across the agricultural and food processing supply chains. Education and training in the region is supported by a number of private and public high schools, in addition to three TAFE institutes and two universities.1

The Ovens Murray region is ideally positioned for agriculture and food processing investment. Deloitte Access Economics has assessed data on numerous factors of competitive advantage relating to agriculture and food at the regional and industry levels.

75% of Australia’s population within 24 hours through its intermodal transport and logistics hub.

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1 The three TAFE’s are GO TAFE (Wangaratta), Wodonga TAFE and Riverina TAFE (Albury). The two Universities are La Trobe Wodonga and Charles Sturt Albury.

Ovens Murray’s supersectors

Beef, dairy and sheep contribute nearly 73 per cent of the value of Oven Murray’s agricultural production.

Beef• Beef accounted for $278 million in production

value, which represents 47 per cent of the region’s value of agricultural production, and 12 per cent of Victoria’s value of beef production.

• The strong growth in domestic demand for grass fed beef, combined with rising demand from Asia as they adopt more western style diets – especially high protein ones – suggest continued strong prospects for the Ovens Murray beef industry.

Dairy• Dairy accounted for over 17 per cent of the region’s

value of agricultural production, which represents nearly 4 per cent of Victoria’s dairy production.

• Ovens Murray is able to leverage the renowned strength of the dairy industry’s research and development in Victoria to propel the farming and exports of dairy products within the region.

• There is currently strong global and domestic growth prospects for high-value dairy products.

Sheep• Sheep meat accounted for nearly 10 per cent of

the region’s value of agricultural production, which represents over 4 per cent of Victoria’s production of sheep meat.

• Ovens Murray is able to take advantage of the clean and green image alongside the disease free status in this export-oriented market.

• Lamb provides the region with an opportunity to capitalise on changing diets in emerging Asian economies.

Food processing• The value of food processing in Ovens Murray

is $2.1 billion.

• The main types of food processing in Ovens Murray are meat, dairy and vegetables.

• The main food processing locations in Ovens Murray are Wodonga, Wangaratta, Benalla and Rutherglen.

Figure 1: Ovens Murray value of agricultural production

Food processing

Eggs

Poultry

Pigs

Beef cattle

Wool

Sheep meat

Grapes (wine)

Grapes (other)

Nuts

Fruit*

Vegetables

Grains**

0 100$ million

200 300 21000 22000

Dairy

Note: The data is for agricultural production in 2015-16. *excluding grapes. **grains includes cereals, pulses, legumes and oilseeds.Sources for this page: agriculture production, Victorian Government analysis using 2016 ABS Agricultural Census data; ABS 7121 and 7503 2015-16; food processing value, Victorian Government estimate based on 2016 REMPLAN data and 2011-12 RISE data.

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Investment opportunities in Ovens Murray

Ovens Murray is investment friendly and there are plentiful investment opportunities to meet the strong domestic and global demand growth. This page summarises just a few of the numerous opportunities in the region.

2. Expanding dairy production

Investing in agritourism such as farm, meal or winery experiences can exploit the synergies between agriculture and tourism.

Strong long-term demand and supply prospects• The home of Victoria’s alpine resorts, major waterways, and popular

historic towns, the Ovens Murray region maintains a strong tourist economy, which presents an opportunity to invest in promoting the regional brand.

• The growth of agritourism offers significant growth potential for this area, demonstrated by the rising popularity of food markets and microbreweries across the region.

• Markets, microbreweries and other agritourism experiences are popular with travellers and provide producers in the region an avenue to establish their brand.

Ovens Murray dairy is the second largest agricultural supersector with significant growth potential.

Significant long-term growth potential• Dairy is one of the most important agricultural sectors and contributes

to the lifestyle, amenity and economy of the region.

• Ovens Murray is able to leverage the research and development capabilities of the state to grow dairy within the region.

• The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences indicates the demand outlook for Australian dairy is positive, reflecting rising incomes, changing diets and growing populations in Australia’s major dairy export destination markets.

1. Agritourism

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3. Hop farming

The Ovens Murray is one of Australia’s leading regions for the production of hops – just one example of an emerging crop industry with high growth prospects.

The craft beer movement is creating opportunities in the region• Craft beer in Australia has evolved from a small, niche industry to

a large and rapidly growing one.

• This presents an opportunity for hop producers, since craft brewers demand specialised varieties of hops to create a differentiated product.

• Hop farming operations in the Ovens Murray region are expanding to produce larger volumes and different varieties of hops including more aromatic and specialty regional varieties.

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Sources include: Victorian Budget 2018/19; Victorian Infrastructure Plan 2017

Victorian Government – committed to agriculture and food processing in Ovens MurrayThe Victorian Government is committed to building and improving infrastructure in order to enhance the competitiveness of Ovens Murray’s agriculture sector.

Inland rail freightThe Federal Government has committed $9.3 billion to develop a national high capacity freight rail network between Melbourne and Brisbane. The line will vastly improve the region’s connection to domestic and international markets.

Improved transport infrastructureThe Victorian Government has committed $941 million to upgrade regional roads statewide, including $7.9 million for the Kiewa Valley Highway between Wodonga and Mount Beauty.

Digital infrastructureAn investment of $45 million will improve digital connectivity for regional and rural communities, run an on-farm internet-of-things trial, and fund the Wodonga Business Innovation Cluster and Wangaratta Digital Hub. The Victorian Government is also spending $11 million to improve regional mobile coverage across Victoria, and the Federal Government is spending $45 billion on the national broadband network.

Statewide and national infrastructureThe Ovens Murray region is also benefitting from billions of dollars of government investment in statewide and national infrastructure. This will improve: digital connectivity; regional roads and rail; logistics and export facilities; water security; energy productivity; research and innovation; workforce development; traceability and biosecurity, and many other areas relevant to agriculture and food processing. See the Victorian overview report for details.

$9.3b

$21m

$45m

IN FEDERAL FUNDING FOR HIGH CAPACITY FREIGHT RAIL PASSING THROUGH OVENS MURRAY

TO SUPPORT IMPLEMENTATION OF ELECTRONIC IDENTIFICATION TAGS FOR SHEEP AND GOATS IN VICTORIA

TO IMPROVE DIGITAL CONNECTIVITY ACROSS REGIONAL VICTORIA

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The Victorian Government can facilitate your next investment

The Victorian Government provides local and international investors with the information needed to establish or expand their business.

What the State Government of Victoria can provideThe Victorian Government’s investment team provides free confidential services and professional advice to both existing and new investors. Invest Victoria is the first point of contact for new clients. It provides support to international investors, and can direct domestic clients to investment advisors specializing in Melbourne (Metropolitan Investment) or regional Victoria (Regional Development Victoria), including a dedicated Agribusiness Facilitation service.

Services include:

1. Help with your market-entry business case. Our dedicated team will supply you with up-to-the-minute information on market potential, existing companies, research and development capabilities, labour market skills and costs.

2. Introductions to our great industry contacts and local suppliers.

3. Confidential expert advice to help support your choice of investment. Our experienced team can help you work through the formal approvals you might need and even visit potential sites with you and speak to estate agents on your behalf.

4. On-ground support for existing and local investors seeking assistance for their business expansion plans through our metropolitan or regional engagement teams. Support for international investors in their home market through our extensive network of international offices.

5. Introductions to contacts across all levels of government. Financial support to attract projects of strategic significance may also be available.

6. A large team of experienced local and overseas officers ready to give you the practical support you need to maintain your new project’s momentum.

7. Investment facilitation specialists who can work with you in relation to sites, infrastructure connections and project approvals.

See the ‘Who to Contact’ section, on the next page, or visit: invest.vic.gov.au

Grants for businessesThe Victorian Government offers a range of grant programs to help grow Victoria’s agriculture and food processing industries, infrastructure and supporting systems. To identify the programs most relevant to your project, contact us directly using the details on the following page, or browse the links below.

• Grants for the agriculture and food industries: agriculture.vic.gov.au/agriculture/food-and-fibre-industries

• Grants directed at strategic priorities, including food and fibre: invest.vic.gov.au/how-we-can-help/planning/incentives-grants-and-programs

• Grants focused on regional development: rdv.vic.gov.au

• Financial incentives offered under the Latrobe Valley Economic Growth Zone: lva.vic.gov.au/economic-growth-zone/

• Targeted programs to support business growth: business.vic.gov.au/support-for-your-business/future-industries

• Programs to support infrastructure or innovation: rdv.vic.gov.au/programs-and-grants

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Who to contactInvest VictoriaThe State Government of Victoria’s investment promotion agency

[email protected]

invest.vic.gov.au

Regional Development Victoria, Wodonga111-113 Hume Street, Wodonga VIC 3690

+61 2 6059 0200

[email protected]

rdv.vic.gov.au

Regional Development Victoria, Wangaratta1/62 Ovens Street, Wangaratta VIC 3677

+61 3 5722 7110

[email protected]

rdv.vic.gov.au

Further InformationThis document is one of 16, which describe the investment opportunities in each of Victoria’s agriculture and food processing industries and regions. The following documents are especially relevant to Ovens Murray: Food Processing, Beef and Sheep, Dairy. These are available at the website below. This website also has an interactive map providing access to data on rainfall, production, processing, infrastructure, and other factors relevant to agriculture and food processing.

invest.agriculture.vic.gov.au

Authorised and published by Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources, 1 Spring Street, Melbourne. August 2018.

The content in this document is provided for information purposes only. No claim is made as to the accuracy or authenticity of the content in this document. In no event will the State of Victoria, its agents, instrumentalities and employees be liable for the accuracy of the information contained in this document nor its use or reliance placed on it. The information in this document is provided on the basis that all persons undertake responsibility for assessing the relevance and accuracy of its content.

This document is also available in an accessible format at invest.agriculture.vic.gov.au.

This document is produced and maintained by Agriculture Victoria.

ISBN 978-1-925734-43-0 (Print) ISBN 978-1-925734-44-7 (pdf/online/MS word)

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agriculture.vic.gov.au

ovens murray - victoria · 2018. 8. 28. · logistics centres the region has excellent road access...

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