Your Levy at Work

Chestnut LEVY

Chestnuts 2019/20
R&D program investment – $ 35,000.00
Marketing program investment – $ 37,000.00

What is the chestnut levy?

The statutory chestnut levy is money gathered from growers across Australia to fund

  • research and development (R&D) projects with the objective to improve growers’ productivity and profitability and ensure the long-term sustainability of the industry
  • marketing activities to promote chestnuts to the consumer
  • biosecurity activities through the Emergency Plant Pest Response Deed

A TOTAL of 11 cents per kilogram levy is payable on all commercially grown chestnuts and is collected on a per kilogram basis at the first point of sale on domestic and exported nuts.

The chestnut levy has an

  • R&D component of $0.05 cents with $0.0.5 cents of the R&D levy used to pay for the Plant Health Australia membership, and
  • $0.05 cents for Marketing, and
  • An Emergency Plant Pest Response levy set at $0.01 cent

During 2019/20 your levy helped fund an investment of almost $83,000 in chestnut industry R&D and Marketing projects. In addition, the 1 cent Emergency Plant Pest Response levy was used to pay the chestnut industry’s 20% share of the chestnut blight eradication program.

Who manages the chestnut levy?

The levy is collected by the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, and investment of these R&D and Marketing funds are managed by Horticulture Innovation Australia (Hort Innovation), a not-for-profit, grower-owned Research and Development Corporation (RDC) for Australia’s $9 billion horticulture industry.

The Emergency Plant Pest Response Levy is managed by Plant Health Australia.

Chestnuts Australia Inc. works with industry to determine the split between Marketing and R&D. The R&D allocation attracts dollar for dollar matching contributions from the Federal Government.

Where is the levy invested?

To help ensure R&D and Marketing investment decisions are prioritised by the needs of the chestnut industry, Hort Innovation has established Strategic Investment Advisory Panels (SIAP’s).