Rice growers are set for a significant boost after the NSW government pledged to allow them to negotiate their own export agreements and bypass the market controlled by a single multinational.
Farmers in the state's Northern Rivers region are currently forced to send their produce approximately 800km south to the Riverina, where Australia's main rice player Sunrice is based.
But the new legislation unveiled by Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty on Monday will allow growers to directly access export markets, opening the $219 million per year sector up to major expansion prospects.
