New England - North West
BACKGROUND ON THE NEW ENGLAND-NORTH WEST
The New England – North West region of NSW has a diverse range of climates, topographies and soil types. Its strengths are in the agricultural, technological, tourism and educational sectors. It also has fine examples of operators in the aviation, engineering and construction, mining, manufacturing and transport sectors.
Narrabri and Moree are Australia's two richest shire areas in terms of gross value of rural production.
The NE-NW (map 1) is situated in Northern New South Wales and includes 13 Local Government Areas (LGAs). It has an area of more than 98,000 sq km and a population of more than 175,000.
Within the New England - North West there are sub-regions following geographical lines, areas such as New England Tablelands, North Western Slopes, Peel Valley, Namoi Valley. The main regional centres are Tamworth, Armidale, Glen Innes, Tenterfield, Inverell, Moree, Narrabri and Gunnedah.
The New England - North West is enriched with a diverse range of natural wilderness resources including waterfalls, wild rivers, gorge country, spectacular landforms such as the Kaputar ranges, Gibraltar Ranges, Washpool Wilderness area, open plains and tablelands. These attributes mean that the scope for ecotourism development into the future is significant.
The soils in the region are characterised by the fertile black cracking clays on the plains, the fertile red and black basalt soils of the tablelands, and the fine granite soils of the remainder. All are highly productive for different enterprises and help define the New England North West as one of Australia's premier and most diverse agricultural regions.
The New England North West region produces approximately $1.9 billion worth of agricultural products on a local gross value of production (GVP) basis (ABS 1999/2000).
It is a well-known area world wide for the production of superfine wools, high protein bread and durum wheats, premium cattle and lamb meat products. The region is at the forefront of livestock research with most Australian cattle breed societies located in Armidale due to connections with the Agricultural Business Research Institute (ABRI) and the University of New England. The Poultry, Beef and Sheep Cooperative Research Centres are based in Armidale.
In descending order of value of production (basis ABS 1999/2000 survey data), the range of rural products produced in the New England - North West include:
Cotton $590 million
Cereals for Grain $521 million
Cattle and Calves $326 million
Wool $132 million
Poultry $60 million
Grain Legumes $42 million
Sheep and Lambs $37 million
Oilseeds $35 million
Pigs $25 million
Eggs $24 million
Pastures and Grasses $10 million
Vegetables $6 million
Fruits and Nuts $3.6 million
Honey $3.3 million
Crops for Hay $1 million
Grapes for Wine $1 million
As well as the traditional products from the region, there is a diverse range of non-traditional food and wine industries in our region, including:
Aquaculture: smoked trout, yabbies, Barramundi, Silver Perch, Murray Cod and eel.
Value-added meat products: lamb, free-range and lot-fed beef, pork, goat meat products, buffalo meat and rabbit meat.
Poultry products: chickens, ducks, free range eggs, pheasant, quail, ostrich, and emu.
Grain products: organic flour, semolina and pasta, popcorn etc.
Culinary and medicinal herbs.
Berries and berry products.
Pome fruits (apples and pears).
Viticulture: at present some 51 vineyards growing 508 ha, with 22 cellar door operations (and another 3-4 in development), 4 winemakers in the region, representing some $14 million worth of investment, at least 30 full time jobs and up to 120 casual jobs.
Other products: olives and olive products, pecan nuts, indigenous foods, citrus products, honey, cherries, organic vegetables, preserves, blended coffees, vine-ripened tomatoes, boutique beer, bakery products and angora rabbit fur.
Some emerging agribusiness industries.
Because of its agricultural base and natural resource endowment, the region boasts the ability to value-add on traditional and new agricultural products, develop new rural-based industries, and to combine tourism with these industries to develop food and wine marketing trails and opportunities.
Viticulture, Aquaculture and other niche food products are some of the sectors with the potential to expand significantly under the direction from the Food and Wine Development Project for the region, being driven by the Northern Inland Regional Development Board (NIRDB) and the NSW Department of State and Regional Development (DSRD).
The New England-North West has been identified as a potential large citrus growing region (by the release in 2002 by the NSW Citrus Industry Strategy), taking advantage of long warm summers and appropriate soil types, to produce large quantities of quality fruit for the fresh juice and fresh fruit markets.
Aquaculture has also been identified (by NSW Fisheries) as a growth sector in the region, especially for Silver Perch as well as other endemic and non-endemic freshwater species. A marketing officer project for the NSW Silver Perch Association has recently been supported to help the industry develop. The New England North West should benefit from this project.
Quality olive production is an expanding sector in the region, with thousands of trees expected to become productive in the next 2-3 years. This will see an expansion of processing facilities and production around the region and will represent a marketing challenge for producers in finding new markets for their products.
Viticulture has been identified as a real opportunity in the region.
The New England – North West has a diverse range of climates and topographies meaning it can also produce a wide range of wine types: from high-altitude, cool-climate wines through to full bodied wines from the warmer areas.
Results of a survey indicate that this area is likely to at least double in the next 5-10 years.
In recent years there has been a surge in wine investment interest in the region.
This has coincided with a decline in some of the more traditional agricultural industries and the growth of the Australian wine industry in general.
“Viticulture: A Handbook for Investors and Regional Strategy” has recently been released to be used by all stakeholders to provide information, and some guidance, on how to proceed. Copies are available free of charge by phoning the Northern Inland Regional Development Board on (02) 6771-3284.
The challenges ahead for the regional industry include:
Producing quality wines consistently;
Raising the profile of the region as a premium wine growing area;
Gaining critical mass, and tapping into the wine tourism market.
The completion of an application defining "New England" as a Geographical Indication (GI) area for the region.
To achieve this the industry must encourage further investment through a regional marketing strategy and ‘investment orientated' information.
The handbook provides a solid foundation to drive this investment.
The major grape varieties grown in the region are:
1. Shiraz
2. Cabernet Sauvignon
3. Merlot
4. Chardonnay
5. Semillon
6. Riesling
Highlighting the region's food alongside the wines has huge potential in the marketing of the New England - North West wine industry. This can be achieved through cross promotion of restaurants, wineries and food & wine events.
Other potential emerging agribusinesses in the region include: pasta and semolina manufacturing, oilseed crushing, gourmet food production, value-added meat products, rabbit meat products, food and wine tourism ventures.
Return to top of page
|
