On a cotton farm near Emerald in central Queensland, something unusual is taking root. Among the cotton, mung beans and peanuts that typically fill the rotation, a small but mighty crop is showing its potential to change the face of Australian agriculture: sesame.
This is no ordinary sesame. These are elite varieties, introduced to Australia in 2017, that don't shatter at harvest and can be machine harvested, innovations that have opened new possibilities for a crop once considered unviable.
Farmers leading the way
Cotton grower and Queensland Farmers' Federation President Aaron Kiely has been trialling sesame on his 1,500-acre irrigated property in the Central Highlands. For him, the attraction lies in sesame's fit with the local climate and its potential as a profitable rotation crop.
"Sesame is something different and I think it could suit our climate here in the Central Highlands," he explains.
"There's plenty of opportunity with sesame into the future if we can get processing facilities. Right now it's about understanding what yields we can get, the best way to plant and how it fits in with our system."
Kiley has worked closely with CQUniversity researchers, experimenting with planting configurations and timings.
"As a grower, I love to learn from agronomists coming onto the farm," he says. "It's just great to watch an industry grow and to be part of producing a new variety that could suit our climate."
Meeting domestic demand and eyeing exports
Australia currently imports around 10,000 tonnes of sesame each year, mostly from Asia and Africa. The opportunity to substitute imports with a homegrown product is significant and the clean, green reputation of Australian agriculture could also secure a premium in international markets.
Daniel Weinstock, chairman of the Australian Sesame Industry Development Association (ASIDA), says the industry has its sights set high.
"The world price of high-quality sesame is excellent and stable and we can compete," he says.
"Our clean, green, fully tested crop enables us to achieve a premium price for export. If we replace 10,000 tonnes of imports here, we can then expand to 200,000 to 400,000 tonnes for export. But we don't just want to export seed - we want to encourage value-added processing here in Australia, from tahini to protein extractions for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical uses."
New genetics sparking opportunity
In the early 2000s, attempts to establish sesame in northern Australia faltered. Shattering varieties meant up to 75% of yield was lost at harvest. The breakthrough came when seed company Agriventis Technologies partnered with global breeders Equinom and Sesaco to bring in elite non-shattering varieties.
Andrew MacDonald, Agriventis' technical operations manager, recalls the turning point: "I'd seen the crop before, but they were old shattering varieties. In 2017, new genetics became available. We put them through quarantine, trialled them and they proved suitable for our climate. Both the white and black varieties now available have really good attributes."
Research driving commercialisation
The introduction of these varieties sparked investment in sesame research, including AgriFutures Australia's $2 million Sesame Program of Research and the Cooperative Research Centre for Northern Australia's $4 million Great Northern Spices project.
CQUniversity's Associate Professor Tineke Trotter leads many of these trials across regions from Kununurra to Kingaroy. She says the research is vital to equip growers with the knowledge needed for successful adoption.
"Sesame is unique compared to our other crops. It offers diversification and resilience, but we don't yet know everything about commercially growing it," she says.
"Our research covers everything from crop protection and nutrient management to the mechanics of planting and harvest. Even the tiny seed shape presents challenges for precision planting."
From trials to supply chains
While commercial production is still in its infancy, small trial harvests are already finding their way into value chains. Kingaroy-based Plenty Foods has produced Australian sesame oil for several years, sourcing seed from Queensland trial crops.
Founder Josh Gadischke says it's a specialty product with potential.
"We produce a raw sesame oil, cold-pressed from unroasted seeds. It's a small line, but we've got the capacity to scale up. The opportunity is there if raw material supply and consumer demand grow together."
A gradual but promising build
Despite the excitement, industry leaders stress the need for steady progress. "Nobody likes a failure," says Trotter.
"We'd rather carry those through research and provide growers with solid information to succeed."
MacDonald agrees, pointing to the importance of building infrastructure and market confidence. "One of the next steps is purpose-built grading facilities. We're not a commercial business, so it will take investment from companies to step into that space. But once structured properly, sesame could fit the Australian farming system very well."
He also sees sesame's potential to follow the path of other once-niche crops. "I've seen mung beans grow from a cottage industry to a 100,000-tonne crop with good genetics. Sesame could do the same. It loves the heat and it flowers in tough years when other crops struggle. That's a big advantage."
The seed of a new industry
With elite genetics, committed researchers and an enthusiastic grower base, sesame is edging closer to commercial reality in Australia. If infrastructure and markets develop as expected, the tiny seed could soon become a big player - not just in diversifying farm rotations, but in creating new value-added industries at home and opening premium export opportunities abroad.
As MacDonald puts it: "We're probably at the point now where we've got enough seed to start small-scale commercial crops. From here, it's about working out the best systems so growers can achieve the highest yields. The potential is huge."
