From paddock to port, accurately identifying grain quality and variety is critical to delivering value for growers and customers alike.

In 2023, GrainCorp Ventures co-led a $9 million investment round into ZoomAgri, a global agtech company bringing AI and machine learning to varietal recognition and quality testing to the Australian market.

Since then, GrainCorp has invested in more than 40 ZoomAgri devices that test barley for varietal purity, with these devices located at GrainCorp sites and ports across the east coast of Australia.

Grain Trade Australia has recently endorsed ZoomAgri’s ‘Zoom One’ technology as a method of assessment for specific barley varieties for compliance with Varietal Purity specifications in Barley Trading Standards.

This is an important step as traditional methods rely on visual assessment of the grains and then DNA testing to certify the variety, taking time and additional resources.

This endorsement means that for the 2026/27 season, barley of the Bass, Maximus Cl, Commodus CL, RGT Planet, La Trobe and Spartacus CL varieties can be certified and priced accordingly based on the Zoom One device’s results.

ZoomAgri recently released a new iteration of the device that, in addition to varietal purity, also measures physical quality of both grains and oilseeds via computer vision and machine learning.

Unlike the Zoom One, the new device uses cameras instead of scanners enabling it to process a larger sample, which is key to validating physical quality.

GrainCorp has acquired two of these new devices, located at our Geelong and Port Kembla ports.

GrainCorp’s Head of Quality Mat Samin says the new devices are an exciting development in quality assessment technology.

“Being able to identify the correct variety at the receival point assists with stock segregation and ensures that we have higher varietally pure malt segregations,” says Mat.

“By having purer malt segregations, we’re able to deliver a better product for our customers.”

Supporting the continued modernisation of the grains industry with the use of AI is a key focus for GrainCorp Ventures says Strategy and Ventures Manager Zack Atlas.

“We’re excited to be trialling the new iteration of ZoomAgri devices to see how AI and machine learning powered physical quality assessments improve speed and accuracy,” says Zack.

“Beyond ZoomAgri, we’ve made several investments in companies that are driving better outcomes for growers and the industry as a whole,” Zack says.

Learn more about our Ventures portfolio here.