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Project Status

Status: Draft
Source file: 00 Project Management/project-status.md
Sensitivity review: Completed
Purpose: Provide a publishable summary of the current project state.

Snapshot

Item Current position
Current phase Phase 2 - Secondary Research
Phase 1 Scoping Complete
Phase 2 Secondary Research Broad scan synthesised; targeted gap closure, Senate inquiry submission mining, producer economics, product-pathway economics, economic confidence, supply chain and regional suitability pages underway
Phase 3 Primary Research Not commenced; flattened numbered staged roadmap prepared
Phase 4 Strategic Analysis Not formally commenced; interim Phase 2 analysis exists
Phase 5 Business Case Final findings and recommendations not drafted
Publishing layer Local MkDocs draft; Cloudflare deployment not approved

Recent Progress

Area Status
Phase 2 synthesis Broad secondary research has been synthesised in the Phase 2 Summary Report. Further general desktop scanning is likely to have diminishing returns for the moment.
Senate inquiry submissions Initial targeted mining has added market-validation leads and sentiment themes from public submissions. These are stakeholder evidence, not proof of demand.
Producer economics Draft page updated. AgriFutures gross-margin figures now provide a grounded national budget scaffold for grain, biomass and dual-purpose scenarios, but do not prove Granite Borders profitability.
Product pathway economics A draft rough guide now separates rough benchmark figures, minimum budget fields and conservative/base/upside scenario structure by product pathway.
Product pathway register The register has been checked for omitted pathways and expanded so seed-derived ingredients, planting seed/genetics, lower-specification fibre uses, hurd/horticulture uses, building materials, panels/packaging/composites, dual-purpose production, bioenergy/biochar, cosmetics, animal feed/pet food and cannabinoid/medicinal exclusions are explicit.
Source traceability A separate Claim And Data Extracts register page now records priority source claims and data with stable sub-IDs such as S001-001, plus page-level back-references to where each item is used. Source Register rows link to the relevant extract anchors where pilot extracts exist.
Economic confidence review A secondary-only process now concludes that targeted primary validation is justified, especially for grain / seed food, while evidence remains insufficient for promotion, investment or grower recommendation.
Supply chain Draft actor and pathway table added with direct contact details redacted and locality-level fields suitable for later mapping.
Regional suitability Draft page added using BoM station indicators for Tenterfield, Stanthorpe and Applethorpe plus Stanthorpe trial evidence.
Agronomy profile AgriFutures Australia's 2023 BMP manual has been incorporated as the national agronomy checklist for variety choice, sowing, soil, nutrition, water, crop protection, harvest, storage and farmgate cost categories. It remains national guidance, not proof of local suitability.
Regulatory follow-up NSW low-THC hemp licensing, Queensland industrial cannabis licensing, Food Standards Code Standard 1.4.4 and APVMA chemical-use pathways have been reviewed at desktop level.
Interim analysis PESTLE, Porter's Five Forces, SWOT and synthesis pages have been checked against the latest secondary research and updated to reflect the economic confidence review, AgriFutures gross-margin scaffold, grain / seed-food validation priority and named-processor test for fibre, hurd, biomass and dual-purpose pathways. They remain provisional.
Phase 2 Interim Case A Business Case subsection now contains draft session material for the June 2026 Granite Borders Landcare discussion, including a unified Markdown presentation with compact keyword-style slide content and presenter notes, participant handout, SWOT summary, evidence-and-gaps summary, potential GBLC role options, neutral print-ready survey drafts and QR code assets linking to the live evidence trail. The presentation sequence now frames the session as supporting careful discussion, separates welcome from John Muir's participant check-in and includes a dedicated Industrial Hemp 101 by John Muir slide. The presentation handout now follows the current Presentation page structure and matching SWOT, gaps and GBLC role wording. A 21-slide PowerPoint review draft has been rebuilt from the unified Markdown presentation so the visible slide text follows presentation.md. The deck now uses the supplied Granite Borders Landcare PowerPoint backgrounds, places text directly on the background artwork without generated white keyword boxes, and uses Interim Case in the footer treatment.
Publishing navigation Home, Project Overview, Scoping and Registers now have structured landing pages in the MkDocs navigation. Secondary Research navigation now uses workflow groups, with Phase 2 Gaps and Risks and Phase 2 Summary Report retained as separate top-level items at the end. A top-level Registers section now sits above Site Notes and includes the Source Register and Product Pathway Register.
Primary Research roadmap The published Primary Research section now sets out a flattened numbered roadmap for 3.1 Initial Primary Research, 3.2 Scoping and Resourcing, 3.3 Funded Parallel Research and research safeguards. The 3.2 page incorporates funding, partner, capacity, delivery-model, research-extension, product-pathway and sensitivity-control detail. No interviews or form-based engagement have commenced.
Publishing quality control Published pages have been reviewed to remove conversation-style and other process-oriented wording. The published layer now uses neutral project-record language for progress notes and change records, compact front-matter tables for page metadata, and print-specific CSS for direct site printing.

The current recommended direction is targeted gap closure and staged Phase 3 primary research planning, subject to approval.

The remaining decision-critical questions are mainly practical, commercial and local.

Priority question Why it matters
Buyer demand The project needs verified demand, not general market interest.
Processor access Farm production is not viable without realistic intake, processing and logistics pathways.
Product specifications Each product pathway has different quality, testing and handling requirements.
Freight-adjusted returns Prices need to be tested after transport, storage, drying and compliance costs.
Grower economics Producers need realistic margins under local or comparable conditions; the AgriFutures scaffold now needs local yield, freight, buyer-price and processor-access testing.
Product pathway economics Each pathway needs separate financial assumptions so grain, oil/protein, fibre, hurd, dual-purpose and biomass uses are not collapsed into one generic hemp budget.
Economic confidence Secondary evidence now justifies targeted primary research, but primary research must remain focused on prices, specifications, intake terms, freight-adjusted returns and local budgets.
Local agronomic suitability Regional climate, soil, water and frost risks remain central.
GBLC strategic fit Organisational involvement needs member value, governance clarity and risk control.
Funding and partners A larger funded research program would require genuine funding fit, delivery capacity and partner appetite.

Current Priority Areas

  • Phase 3 primary research design based on the Phase 2 gap review.
  • Phase 3 staged primary research design, including initial evidence collection, indicative sampling, scoping and resourcing, and possible funded agronomy, agri-business, market, environment and community streams.
  • Senate inquiry submission leads and sentiment themes to shape Phase 3 interview questions.
  • Senate submission validation to separate stakeholder claims, lived experience and repeated barriers from verified market evidence.
  • Funding, partner and organisational-capacity validation for any larger research program.
  • Review and later update the interim PESTLE, Porter's Five Forces, SWOT and synthesis analyses after primary research.
  • Review the Phase 2 Interim Case presentation and handouts after the Granite Borders Landcare session and adjust them if discussion identifies corrections or additional context.
  • Buyer, processor and market-demand evidence.
  • Producer economics, including freight, machinery, labour, water, drying, storage, buyer prices and processor-access assumptions.
  • Product-pathway financial scenario modelling using the rough guide as a template, starting with grain / seed food.
  • Targeted primary validation of grain / seed food as the strongest current commercial pathway lead.
  • Stanthorpe trial extraction and transferability assessment.
  • Regional climate, soil, land-use and comparator enterprise baselines.
  • GBLC member, leadership and strategic-fit evidence.
  • Current funding pathways and possible GBLC/NELN delivery models.
  • Eligibility checks for the most realistic funding pathways and partner-led research options.

Important Limits

Limit Meaning
No primary research findings yet Interview-based evidence has not been collected.
No final strategic assessment yet Interim analysis is an organising tool, not a final Phase 4 conclusion.
No business-case recommendation yet Recommendations should wait until evidence gaps are closed.
No deployment approval The publishing layer remains local draft material unless deployment is separately approved.

Detailed internal status is maintained in the working file 00 Project Management/project-status.md.