TEN WA grain growers have recently returned from an eight-day tour of the Middle East.
The tour, organised by CBH and conducted last month, included visits to Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar.
CBH head of marketing Tom Puddy said the aim of the trip was to provide growers with a first-hand insight into the international marketplace for WA grain.
By all accounts the journey was enlightening from a business, cultural and exporting perspective, but it was the group's time in Saudi Arabia that was the biggest eye opener, according to Mr Puddy.
While the Saudis made the decision to cease imports of Australian sheep when the controversial Exporters Supply Chain Assurance System came into effect last year Australian grain is quite a different story.
Demand for Australian grain in the Middle East is high, and as Saudi Arabia edges away from growing its own, the opportunity for Australia to step in as a major supplier appears both possible and probable.
The group visited the Grain Silos and Flour Mills Organisation one of the leading grain storage and processing companies in Saudi.
They also met with the National Agricultural Development Company, which is one of the largest agricultural and food-processing companies in the Middle East and North Africa.
Calingiri grower John Young said the businesses that met with the CBH group in Saudi Arabia were extremely concerned about food security.
"One of their biggest concerns is how they will access food if the Persian Gulf gets closed off," Mr Young said.
"There was a strong emphasis on this throughout our time spent there."
Mr Young said it was clear that the region had a clear vision about where it was heading in terms of both food and business, over a long time frame.
"They're looking at things from a long-term perspective and relationship building is key to this," he said.
"They want to keep buying from Australia and know that if anything was to happen they would be secure."
Moora farmer Kristen Lefroy said the visit to NADEC farm one of the largest dairy farms in the world with 65,000 Holstein milking cows, producing 1.5 million litres per day highlighted the incredible amount of opportunities available to Australian producers.
"The farm is 75km long by 5km wide, growing wheat at a yield of 7t/ha in rotation with Lucerne and Rhodes grass, all under a pivot irrigation system," Mr Lefroy said.
"NADEC processes a range of products including milk, cheese, yoghurt and fruit juices and have a huge demand for raw materials including grains, hay and fruits.
"It's amazing to think that by 2016 this will all need to be sourced externally."
According to Neville Welke from Esperance, the CBH brand was well recognised and trusted by Saudi customers.
"This is crucial as their importation requirements for wheat are forecast to increase by 3.6mmt per year after they cease domestic grain production in 2016 due to a government mandate on water usage," Mr Welke said.
"Saudi Arabia is already the largest feed barley importer in the world, requiring 7.5 to 8mmt per year.
"Their growing population and increasing living standards means this is set to rise, with better diets meaning more wheat consumption and higher protein intake creating greater feed barley demand for livestock."
But Mr Young warned that in order for Australia to stay in that market, it must be competitive with both quality and price.
"While they like the quality of Australian wheat, wheat coming from India, the Black Sea, Russia and the Ukraine is becoming competitive," he said.
"Both the quality and storage is getting better and it is a lot quicker to get the wheat from those markets.
"It takes around 32 to 35 days to get from Australia to Saudi Arabia, whereas it only takes three days from India and around 15-17 days from Russia."
Mr Puddy said the growers had a unique opportunity to understand the local grain quality requirements for specific end products and learn about Middle Eastern consumption trends and demands.
"The growers were told they were the first grain grower delegation to visit the country and felt extremely privileged to be provided with such a unique opportunity," Mr Puddy said.
