Mrs Herrmann received the Ricegrowers' Association of Australia's honorary councillor award at the organisation's recent annual conference.

The award recognises positive and ongoing contribution to the Australian rice industry, something Mrs Herrmann and generations of her family have been doing for many years at their Murrami property.

Mrs Herrmann's grandson Peter was on hand to accept the award on her behalf.

The conference included many other award winners, guest speakers and presentations, but one of the key elements to come from the event was the announcement of a new rice breeding program.

The program aims to fill the gap created in the research area as a result of the Department of Primary Industries initiative at Yanco being wound up after more than 100 years at the end of June.

Rice Breeding Australia chairman Dr Steve Jefferies launched the new rice breeding entity to growers at the conference.

Rice Breeding Australia will drive the development of new varieties for the Australian rice industry, with an increased focus on water productivity improvements and acceleration of rates of genetic gain in rice breeding in Australia.

The program will be based in the Riverina, possibly once again at Yanco, but this has yet to be confirmed.

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The initiative is a joint venture between AgriFutures Australia, the SunRice Group and the RGA.

It is a not-for-profit entity that will embed a commercial focus and introduce state-of-the-art breeding technologies to accelerate the development of new varieties that meet the needs of discerning consumers and market requirements, with increased water productivity and improved cold tolerance.

"Rice Breeding Australia is committed to the long-term future of the Australian rice industry and as such it plans to remain based in the heartland of the Australian rice industry in the Riverina region in southern NSW," Dr Jefferies said.

"The company will continue to develop new rice varieties for all Australian rice production areas and will do this from this base."

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