Research grants up to $150,000 available for 2026
The Council of Grain Grower Organisations Limited (COGGO) is again offering grants of up to $150,000 over two years for innovative research and development projects commencing in 2026.
COGGO will consider projects that target any part of the Western Australian grain supply chain and returns benefit to WA grain growers.
This year the COGGO Board would especially welcome Expressions of Interest (EOI’s) that seek to improve the testing of starch quality of cereal grains (improving on the current falling number test). Specifically, proposals that target either or both:
- A test that is quick to perform at grain receival sites (substantially quicker than the current falling number test)
- Alternative accurate measures/proxies to test for the desired quality characteristics for wheat and barley
COGGO is open to co-funding a suitable project in conjunction with other organisations or investors interested in addressing these issues.
Mr Chris Wilkins, COGGO Chairman, said “COGGO has a long history of providing catalytic funding for innovative R&D projects in WA that focus on addressing constraints and improving the profitability and sustainability of growers and the growth of the WA grains industry. The COGGO Research Fund has helped finance R&D projects to the value of over $6 million since 2013.”
Funding for projects ranges from $20,000 to $75,000 per annum over a project life of one or two years, to a maximum of $150,000.
In February this year, COGGO announced four projects that successfully received funding through the grant process and would be commencing this year. They are:
- Sakura Mudiyanselage and Chengdao Li, Murdoch University: “Developing high nitrogen use efficiency barley lines”
- Gaofeng Zhou, Murdoch University: “Screening early growth vigour germplasm to enhance the adaptive response to early drought in narrow-leaf lupin”
- Michael Lamond, SLR Agriculture: “Emerging biological crop growth enhancers evaluated in an independent field based format”
- Ben Whisson, ConsultAg: “Control of cockchafers”
Expression of Interest applications for prospective 2026 projects are available at www.giwa.org.au/industry-projects/coggo. For further enquiries please call (08) 6262 2128 or email coggo@giwa.org.au.
The closing date for initial EOI applications is Friday 4 July. Accepted EOIs will be invited to submit a full project proposal for projects ready to commence in 2026.
ENDS
For Interviews
Chris Wilkins, Chairman COGGO
M 0427 940 925
E cwilkins@synergyco.com.au
Media Contact
Dean McKenzie, Company Secretary COGGO
M 08 480 0406
E admin@coggo.net.au