Goulburn Valley Invest in Victorian agriculture and food August 2018 Fertile Internationally renowned Connected ~50% OF THE VALUE OF VICTORIA’S FRUIT* PRODUCED IN GOULBURN >$1.4BN IN GROSS VALUE OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION GENERATED IN GOULBURN *excluding grapes invest.agriculture.vic.gov.au interactive mapped data; industries; regions Why invest in Goulburn Valley agriculture and 01 food processing? A large food processing industry Victoria’s largest horticulture producing region The region has a long history in food processing, especially dairy and fruit The region is known for producing processing with companies such as SPC quality assured, fresh fruits, especially Ardmona, Unilever and Freedom Foods apples, pears and summerfruit. It choosing to process in the region. accounts for over 50 per cent of Victoria’s table tomatoes and almost 50 per cent An integral part of Victoria’s of the value of Victoria’s fruits, excluding food bowl grapes, worth $337 million. The region has irrigation-based A strong dairy region industries including dairy, horticulture and viticulture, as well as dry land Dairy is one of Goulburn’s most valuable farming operations. These are supported export commodities, with growth driven by agriculture-related industries such as from both domestic and international food processing, packaging, transport, markets such as Asia. The industry’s and specialist engineering and electrical gross value of production in 2015-16 trades, and provides employment for was $332 million. many of the region’s workforce. Abundant natural resources Goulburn has fertile alluvial soils and reliable water from the Murray and Goulburn rivers that has led to the development of significant agricultural industries and food production. invest.agriculture.vic.gov.au interactive mapped data; industries; regions 02 Well connected to domestic Access to modern irrigation and international markets systems and technology Goulburn has direct access to the Hume The region has benefited from recent Highway and the Melbourne-Sydney investments of over $2 billion in irrigation rail. This provides transport connectivity infrastructure upgrades in 2016-17 via for produce, especially for high-value the Goulburn Murray Water (GMW) export dairy and perishable horticulture Connections Project. This is contributing products. A major intermodal transport towards a sustainable future for hub is being planned for the City of agriculture in the region. Greater Shepparton. Government investment for connectivity and growth The government is investing in improving transport of produce, with $43.5 million committed to additional rail services and $10.2 million for the Shepparton bypass to improve east-west road transport connections. invest.agriculture.vic.gov.au interactive mapped data; industries; regions Goulburn – for rewarding investments Goulburn is Victoria’s ‘inland water playground’ and considered a ‘food bowl of Australia’. 03 Cobram Numurkah KEY Shepparton Non-agricultural land Major food processing Agricultural areas Grains Fruit Road network Tatura Beef Rail network Sheep Regional boundary Goulburn farms produce Euroa 48.5% of Victoria’s fruit* Seymour 12.6% of Victoria’s Dairy Pyalong Yea 10.6% of Victoria’s Beef Wallan 6.8% of Victoria’s sheep meat Kinglake Goulburn’s economy and agriculture sector at a glance Goulburn Gross Regional Product: $6.6 bn Victoria’s Goulburn Valley (‘Goulburn’) is able to produce a diverse range of agricultural products due Population: 156,350 to access to both irrigated and dryland agriculture. Its modern irrigation systems and fertile flood plains from rivers such as the Murray and Goulburn have Agricultural production: $1.5 bn1 led to the development of significant agricultural and food production industries. The region generates Food processing: $2.5 bn approximately $1.5 billion in gross value of agricultural production or over 10 per cent of Victoria’s total gross * Except wine grapes value of agricultural production. 1 Unless otherwise stated, all dollar values refer to The region has strong connections to road and freight gross values in this publication. networks via the Hume Highway, to send produce Sources for this page: map, Victorian Government; to both domestic and overseas markets. A major ABS Census 2016, ABS 7121 2015-16; agriculture production, Victorian Government analysis using 2016 intermodal transport hub is also being developed for ABS Agricultural Census data; food processing value, the City of Greater Shepparton. 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. invest.agriculture.vic.gov.au interactive mapped data; industries; regions Goulburn’s competitive advantages 04 Goulburn is a corridor for growth. Abundant natural resources Deloitte Access Economics has Goulburn has plenty of suitable land for assessed data on numerous factors agriculture, with over 70 per cent of land of competitive advantage relating to currently available for agricultural use. agriculture and food at the regional It has fertile alluvial soils and significant water assets which include the Goulburn, and industry levels. Broken, Murray, Campaspe and Ovens Rivers, and Broken Creek. The region has good quality pastures allowing for Excellent access to markets dairy and cattle farming, as well as Goulburn’s location in central Victoria high levels of sunshine with 7.4 hours means the region has excellent average sunshine a day, compared to access to Australia’s largest domestic Melbourne’s 6 hours. markets, Melbourne and Sydney. The region also has access to major 25%+ of all truck logistic centres located along the registrations Access to modern Hume Highway. Over 25 per cent of all in Victoria irrigation systems 429GL truck registrations in Victoria are from are from of water saving and technology the Goulburn region and the area is the Goulburn per year upon home to key freight hubs, most notably region Investments of over $2 billion completion in the regional city of Shepparton. into the Goulburn Murray Water (GMW) Connections Project, which upgrades irrigation to automated technology and repairs outdated channel systems, have significantly improved water delivery and efficiency.2 This project will reduce water loss by 50 per cent, saving 429 GL of water per year upon completion, and providing environmental benefits.3 Innovative work force The region has great access to education and training facilities. Major institutions use the region as an agricultural base, such as the University of Melbourne’s Dookie agricultural college and the Goulburn Ovens Institute of TAFE. The region is also home to the Centre for Excellence in Horticulture. Goulburn has a young workforce. The average worker is younger than Victoria’s average regional worker by an average 2 Goulburn Broken Catchment Authority (2015), Farm Water Project. of two years. 3 Goulburn Murray Water (2015), Water Savings GMW Connections Project. invest.agriculture.vic.gov.au interactive mapped data; industries; regions Goulburn’s supersectors Goulburn specialises in horticulture, dairy and beef. 05 Fruit Dairy • Goulburn produces 30.1 per cent of the state’s • Dairy is one of Goulburn’s most valuable fruit production by value, and almost 50 per cent export commodities, with growth driven from both of the state’s fruit production by value excluding domestic and international markets such as Asia. grapes. • The industry’s gross value of production in • The gross value of fruit produced in the region in Goulburn was $332.4 million, and accounts for 2015-16 was $337 million. 12.6 per cent of Victoria’s dairy production. • Goulburn is significant for pome fruit (apples • Goulburn is home to some of Australia’s largest and pears) and stone fruit. dairy processors such as Bega Cheese, Tatura • The suitability for pome and stone fruit production Milk, Freedom Foods, Unilever and Saputo 4 is expected to increase substantially over time. Dairy Australia. Vegetables Beef • The gross value of vegetable production • Beef cattle’s gross value of production was in Goulburn was $62.6 million. $237 million, which accounts for over 10 per cent • Tomatoes are one of Goulburn’s major products. of the value of Victoria’s beef cattle. Goulburn produces over 50 per cent of Victoria’s Food processing table tomatoes. • The value of food processing in Goulburn is • The region has seen the growth of hydroponic $2.5 billion, which accounts for 18 per cent of the farming with companies such as Tatura Fresh value of regional Victoria’s food processing. and Katunga Fresh producing premium truss • The main types of food processing in Goulburn tomatoes for domestic and export markets. are dairy, fruit and vegetables, and beverages. • The main food processing locations in Goulburn are Shepparton, Cobram, and Broadford. Figure 1: Goulburn value of agricultural production Note: The data is for agricultural Food processing production in 2015-16. Dairy *excluding grapes. **grains includes cereals, pulses, Eggs legumes and oilseeds. Poultry Sources for this page: agriculture production, Pigs Victorian Government analysis Beef cattle using 2016 ABS Agricultural Census data; ABS 7121 and 7503 Wool 2015-16; food processing value, Sheep meat Victorian Government estimate based on 2016 REMPLAN data Grapes (wine) and 2011-12 RISE data. Grapes (other) Nuts Fruit* Vegetables Grains** 0 100 200 300 400 2500 2600 $ million 4 Goulburn Broken Greenhouse