Riverina Winegrape Growers

07/02/2026

The wine industry is facing tough times - again - ABC listen

Australia has built up a reputation for producing high quality wine and in many parts of Australia it's a big part of the economy.

28/01/2026

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Wine grapes are one of the biggest industries in Griffith.
They underpin jobs, businesses and families right across the town. In fact, wine makes up 44 per cent of Griffith’s economy.

Right now, growers are losing around $1,000 per hectare just to keep vines in the ground.

It now costs roughly $4,500 to $5,000 per hectare to grow wine grapes. With prices collapsing to $200–$250 a tonne and average yields of about 15 tonnes per hectare, growers are bringing in less than it costs to produce. The maths simply does not work.

A major driver of these losses is the price of water.

Temporary water prices have surged to around $300 per megalitre, a jump of about 50 per cent in a single year. Many growers have already been forced to sell their permanent water entitlements just to survive, leaving them completely exposed to a volatile temporary market.

This is not a coincidence.
The ongoing “just add water” buybacks approach is stripping water out of productive regions like Griffith, shrinking supply and pushing prices higher for the farmers who actually grow food and wine.

If you apply a $1,000 per hectare loss across the Riverina’s vineyards, you are looking at tens of millions of dollars drained from the local economy in a single season, with even bigger flow-on impacts for main street businesses, tradies and local services.

That is why I am calling for a Royal Commission into water — to expose what has gone wrong, who benefits, and why productive communities are paying the price.

Read more and support the call here:
https://www.helendalton.com.au/royal-comission-into-water

21/01/2026

Which generation spends the most money on alcohol? And how much...?

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16/01/2026

Documentary on the Riverland. There's lots of parallels with the Riverina.

The Riverland, Australia's wine heartland, is in crisis. Growers are paid $100-$200 per ton for grapes that cost $400 to produce. After 100 years of success,...

05/01/2026

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'They are putting on a band aid where a bandage is needed.'

21/12/2025

Long-awaited wine industry mandatory code of conduct too late for growers - ABC News

After 20 years, three senate inquiries and an independent review, the sale of wine grapes will be regulated by a mandatory code of conduct, but growers say it might be too late.

13/12/2025

Wine grape growers in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area are bracing for another tough vintage, with newly released prices showing further falls across red and white grape varieties.

Prices have dropped $25 to $50 a tonne, at a time when irrigation water prices are high and demand for wine continues to slump.

Riverina Winegrape Growers CEO Jeremy Cass says growers are at breaking point.

"It is extremely significant, growers were already making below the cost of production and many just cannot hang on any longer,” Mr Cass said.

The Riverina has already lost about 5000 hectares of vineyards since 2022, and the decline is accelerating.

"We are now seeing vineyards being abandoned because people have run out of options,” he said.

10/12/2025

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