In one of the biggest marketing shake-ups for the rice industry in nearly a century, there has been a mixed reaction from growers.
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For some it is exactly what they had been asking for, while for others change will be confronting.
The single desk arrangement for Australia's largest rice exporting region will end on July 1, 2025 under a bill being introduced to parliament next month.
It will change how NSW growers market their rice for the first time since vesting was introduced in 1928 under the marketing of primary products act.
"There has been times in the rice industry where what is being proposed has been unthinkable," Rice Growers Association (RGA) president Peter Herrmann said.
Mr Herrmann said the policy of RGA, supported by the majority over time, had been to retain vesting in its current form.
"Now that policy cannot be sustained in these times and if we are going to have a transition, that transition needs to reflect the commercial reality," he said.
"The water policy has a lot to do with the change ... in the old days, not so long ago, you could plant a crop of rice, get a ball park on the figures from the crop and move on.
"Now, commercial realities when growing at a larger scale often means we can't do that."
Mr Herrmann's initial reaction when asked by ACM about the change was: "It's maybe good, it's maybe bad, it's hard to tell."
"For some this could be confronting and for others just what they asked for," Mr Herrmann said.
"Maybe history will show that orderly system (vesting) was a very useful tool for the time it was in place but it isn't allowed to be in place in the future.
"The industry has a great future, some say the past is the past, these rules will be adapted to and we will no doubt adapt and come out stronger as an industry.
"We are looking forward and not back and we are assisting all growers to move through this transition process to a bigger brighter future."
He said next week SunRice would hold a round of meetings, which would be followed by RGA branch meetings to deliver details about the "possibilities and fears' that could be expressed.
SunRice Group chairman, Laurie Arthur, said although the company had previously advocated for the NSW rice vesting arrangements to remain in their current form, the government's proposal for a partial deregulation between southern and northern growers, over a prolonged timeframe, would have created uncertainty for the industry.
Mr Arthur said the government's decision to end vesting was the right decision for its growers, the SunRice business and the future of the NSW rice industry as it provided greater certainty into the future.
"These new structures should enable both large and smaller rice growers to participate in the industry in a way that better suits each grower's circumstances while ensuring more consistent supply," Mr Arthur said.
With the finalisation of the ABARES report last year, he said the industry's operating environment was expected to undergo substantial change.
"We are now facing the impacts of the Federal Government's Restoring Our Rivers Act 2023, which became law in December 2023, increasing the likelihood of significant water recovery before the next proposed vesting review date," Mr Arthur said.
"The impact of this reform is likely to have an unfavourable impact on the availability and cost of water in southern NSW and accordingly on the Riverina rice industry.
"Without some of the regulatory constraints of vesting, we believe that SunRice will be able to work more directly with growers to give the industry the best chance of long-term sustainability as we navigate through new challenges, including water reform, that have accelerated the need for the industry to transition."
He said SunRice was now able to assess new contracting and pricing options for growers, which should enable the business to be able to better match supply with demand from premium markets.
