There is an adage to encourage endeavour that says, ‘fortune favours the brave’. The anticipated benefits are touted to stir into action those ambitious enough to invest or to be early adopters. But a more accurate wording of the saying is that ‘good fortune may favour the brave’ because experience reveals the exact opposite also is possible: ‘bad fortune can visit the brave’. Unleashing an entrepreneurial spirit does not unambiguously lead to unquestioned benefit. The implication is that joining the vanguard of proponents is not always a guaranteed recipe for sizeable financial success. Conducting due diligence that establishes a clear understanding of the risks and opportunities ahead is a requirement for sober decisions.

Take the case of oats. Historically oats were primarily grown as an animal feed with a portion also used as a food, mostly a breakfast cereal. However, many decades ago the move away from literal farm horsepower that partly relied on oat-feeding of draught animals towards farm mechanisation and the emergence of other more competitive feed grains gradually eroded the feed grain market opportunities for oats. Also as the nation’s sheep population dwindled and farms became increasingly crop dominant then the sheep industry’s demand for supplementary oat feeding lessened.

Fortunately, over the last decade or so, the human health advantages of oat consumption have become more widely appreciated and new oat-based foods (oat milk, oat rice, oat noodles, oat-based snacks) have been developed. Gradually emerging through population growth and some dietary change is enhanced food consumption of oats, whilst feed uses of oats continue to face the strain of substitution by other feed grains like feed barley. These divergent market forces in feed and food markets place farmers in an unenviable position. Should they stand under the banner ‘fortune favours the brave’ and more strongly commit to oat production in the hope of a burgeoning food demand for oats; or is disappointment just around the corner?

To support the growth of the oat industry in Western Australia over the next 20 years, the State Government is providing $10.1 million to the Western Australian Agricultural Authority (WAAA) to manage the industry-led Processed Oats Partnership (POP) Program. Industry partners are co-contributing cash, technical expertise, and other in-kind support.

This report is provided as a component of Output 1 of the AEGIC based POP activities within the project titled "Economic lens to capture increased market value for oats through industry innovation and better targeted industry investment”. The purpose of this report is to provide the POP steering group with information on the economy-wide ramifications of an enlarged oat production and processing sector in Western Australia. It complements other work to be completed by AEGIC including information on the rates of growth in demand for oats and oat products in key and emerging markets. Collectively this knowledge will give useful market intelligence to oat marketers, oat producers, and oat processors to aid their strategic decision-making.

To support the growth of the oat industry in Western Australia over the next 20 years, the State Government is providing $10.12 million to the Western Australian Agricultural Authority (WAAA) to manage the industry-led Processed Oats Partnership (POP) Program. Industry partners are co-contributing cash, technical expertise, and other in-kind support.

This report is provided as a component of Output 2 of the AEGIC based POP activities within the project titled "Economic lens to capture increased market value for oats through industry innovation and better targeted industry investment”. The purpose of the project is to provide the POP and in turn Western Australian industry with a better understanding of the rates of growth in demand for oats and oat products in key and emerging markets. This knowledge will give useful market intelligence to oat marketers, oat producers, and oat processors to aid their strategic decision-making.

To support the growth of the oat industry in Western Australia, both in value and volume, over the next 20 years, the State Government is providing $10.12m to the Western Australian Agricultural Authority (WAAA) to manage the industry-led Processed Oats Partnership (POP) Program.

This report is provided as a component of Output 2 of the AEGIC based POP activities within the project titled "Economic lens to capture increased market value for oats through industry innovation and better targeted industry investment”. The purpose of the project is to provide the POP and in turn Western Australian industry with a better understanding of the rates of growth in demand for oats and oat products in key and emerging markets. This knowledge will give useful market intelligence to oat marketers, oat producers, and oat processors to aid their strategic decision-making.

To support the growth of the oat industry in Western Australia, both in value and volume, over the next 20 years, the State Government is providing $10.12m to the Western Australian Agricultural Authority (WAAA) to manage the industry-led Processed Oats Partnership (POP) Program.

This report is provided as a component of Output 2 of the AEGIC based POP activities within the project titled "Economic lens to capture increased market value for oats through industry innovation and better targeted industry investment”. The purpose of the project is to provide the POP and in turn Western Australian industry with a better understanding of the rates of growth in demand for oats and oat products in key and emerging markets. This knowledge will give useful market intelligence to oat marketers, oat producers, and oat processors to aid their strategic decision-making.

To support the growth of the oat industry in Western Australia, both in value and volume, over the next 20 years, the State Government is providing $10.12m to the Western Australian Agricultural Authority (WAAA) to manage the industry-led Processed Oats Partnership (POP) Program.

This report is provided as a component of Output 2 of the AEGIC based POP activities within the project titled "Economic lens to capture increased market value for oats through industry innovation and better targeted industry investment”. The purpose of the project is to provide the POP and in turn Western Australian industry with a better understanding of the rates of growth in demand for oats and oat products in key and emerging markets. This knowledge will give useful market intelligence to oat marketers, oat producers, and oat processors to aid their strategic decision-making.

The Western Australian Agricultural Authority (WAAA) has received $10.12 million from the State Government to support the growth of the oat industry in Western Australia (WA) over the next 20 years. To facilitate this, an industry-led Processed Oats Partnership (POP) program has been established, with industry partners contributing cash, technical expertise, and other in-kind support.

A Steering Committee, composed of representatives from across the oat supply chain, manages the POP. This includes participants from processing, oat production, breeding, market intelligence, product innovation, and the State Government.

This report has been developed as part of Output 2 in the AEGIC-led POP activities, within the project titled "Economic Lens to Capture Increased Market Value for Oats through Industry Innovation and Better Targeted Industry Investment”.

The purpose of this report is to provide a snapshot of the global oat market, particularly factors relevant to Australia in terms of production, use and trade. This is part of a series of reports produced by AEGIC, see appendix.

Detailed information on the global production and trade of raw oats and processed oat trade is now contained in the AEGIC Grain Market Insights Portal. Portal access is currently limited to Australian stakeholders and available via the AEGIC website - see link in the Appendix.

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