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Monday, 11 February 2008

The impact of global warming and new technologies on the Australian wine industry will be the focus of an international workshop being hosted by the University of Adelaide tomorrow.

Senior economists from Australia and the US will meet with grape and wine delegates at the National Wine Centre to debate the industry's future in the next 20-25 years.

Global agricultural R&D trends will be analysed, along with the anticipated effect of water policy developments, disease outbreaks, altered wine trade barriers and subsidies, tax changes, exchange rate movements and climate change on the wine industry between now and 2030.

Professor Christopher Findlay, Head of the University's School of Economics, says the workshop is designed to gain a better understanding of the economic consequences of supply and demand in the grape and wine industry over the next two decades.

"Using national and global economic models, we will develop a baseline scenario through to 2030, drawing on past trends," he said.

The two key speakers will be Australian-born professors Julian Alston and Phil Pardey, who are both based in the United States and recognised as world experts in agricultural economics.

Professor Pardey, from the University of Minnesota, will summarise trends in public and private investment in agricultural R&D globally and the expected impact on Australia and the US. He will also brief delegates on a research project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which involves developing new economic tools to evaluate the profitability of agricultural crops.

Professor Alston from the University of California, Davis, will discuss key ways to analyse the market and the consequences of adopting new technologies in Australia.

The seminar is part of the Australian Wine 2030 project, a University cross-faculty program of wine research.

WHAT: Ex Ante Economic Evaluation of Grape and Wine R&D
WHERE: National Wine Centre
WHEN: Tuesday 12 February, 2008, 9am-1.30pm