A month after Australia's largest rice processor, SunRice, laid off nearly 80 workers in southern New South Wales, the town of Deniliquin is feeling it. The mill there — the largest in the southern hemisphere — shed 68 jobs, another 10 went at Leeton and 13 staff were redeployed, in a town of 7,500 where the Edward River mayor, Ashley Hall, says one in five jobs is tied to rice.

SunRice chief executive Paul Serra said the cuts follow low crop production caused by dry seasonal conditions and the government's purchase of water entitlements for the environment in the Murray-Darling Basin: one in every three litres available for irrigation a decade ago is no longer available, which pushes water prices up and makes crops such as rice less economic. Last year's harvest of 180,000 tonnes was the smallest in six years and a 22% fall is predicted this summer.

The industry and local MP David Farley are calling for Commonwealth environmental water to be unlocked for agriculture, with the proceeds used to fix the river — 'a working river' that is also environmentally sustainable, in Mr Serra's words. He hoped there would be no further cuts to processing but would not rule them out.

The pain runs downstream. Downes Rice Hulls, which turns the milling by-product into bedding for intensive livestock, has had to mix in straw at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars and has already let staff go, said Jenny Downes. Vinnies Services manager Meghan Fisher said some laid-off workers were already struggling to pay rent in a town short of affordable housing, and families feared further redundancies.

SunRice has a $70 million plan to modernise its 50-year-old plant and move into higher-value products such as rice cakes, high-protein rice and snacks — 'the more profit we make from selling high-valued rice around the world, the more we can afford to pay for rice in Australia,' Mr Serra said. The federal government says it is considering SunRice's application for co-investment in a rice-cake facility and working with the NSW government, the United Workers Union and the community to support the affected workers.

Source: ABC Rural