Enterprise

Agriculture

Travel through open farmland vistas that change with the grain growing seasons.
Yellow fields of canola and green fields of wheat, oats or barley in winter and spring give way to the golden hues of early summer and the patchwork quilt of ploughed fields in the autumn.
You will see that the Wheatbelt’s primary enterprise is the growing and transport of grain.

Broad acre dry land farming is the backbone of the Central Wheatbelt. The CBH Grain Storage and Transfer Depot at Merredin is capable of storing up to 600,000 tonnes of grain while most towns have wheat silos and horizontal storage infrastructure.

Research into wheat varieties, agronomy, and agricultural pests and diseases is a continuing process. The 100-year-old Dryland Research Institute at Merredin operated by department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, is the major agricultural research organisation in the region.

The region holds many heritage sites and museums that illustrate the evolution of the grain industry, the machinery used and the dedication of generations of farmers and railway workers in establishing the efficient industry there is today.

A drive through the industrial areas of Merredin and other country towns will illustrate the supply industries that rely on the growing of grain. These include silo manufacturing, fabrication, machinery sales and servicing, chemical and fertiliser supply, and seed cleaning.

One of the largest machinery field days in the State, The Dowerin Field Day is held in August each year.

Green Power Generation & Mining

Collgar Wind Farm

South east of Merredin is one of the largest wind farms in Australia.
Collgar Wind Farm is a site of 18,000 hectares and contains 111 turbines which generate enough power to supply 125,000 homes.
It will displace 700,000 tonnes of carbon which is equivalent to taking 160,000 cars off the road each year.
Visitors are invited to stop at the interpretive shelter located on Bulls Head Road.

Merredin Solar Farm

Merredin is the largest operating solar farm in Western Australia with a total of 354,452 panels spread over 460 hectares and expected annual renewable power generation of 274 GWh.
This is enough green energy to power approximately 42,000 homes in Western Australia. Operational since August 2020, Merredin is connected to the Western Power Merredin Terminal Substation at 220 kV.
The project has also obtained development approval to deploy up to 20MW / 40MWh of a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) onsite which will help stabilize the grid system in Western Australia and create additional revenue streams.

MINING

Although there were reports in early days of small amounts of gold found in the Eastern Wheatbelt, it was really the Yilgarn, Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie goldfields that led prospectors in the 1880’s to travel through the Wheatbelt region following the freshwater lakes, rock water catchments and later, the pioneer wells along the way.

The Edna May mine at Westonia was first opened in the early 1900’s and has been an active mine several times since. It is currently a fully operational gold mine, having reopened in 2010.
Just 1km north of the town, the mine lookout at the Edna May provides spectacular views of the open cut mine and mill in operation.A number of the old prospecting areas including Westonia and several Yilgarn fields at Bullfinch, Koolyanobbing and Marvel Loch are still operating with an additional employment base from some Wheatbelt communities.

 

 


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