Riverland gem named Ag Town of the Year
One of the state’s most prized food bowl regions won top accolades at an awards event backed by InDaily last night, with judges praising the community’s resilience. See the video.
Waikerie was named The Agricultural Town of the Year Award last night at the 2026 Regional Showcase Awards event at Peter Lehmann Wines in the Barossa Valley.
The Riverland town was recognised for its promotion and support of agriculture, which has evolved and strengthened since the town’s previous finalist appearances in the 2023 and 2022 Ag Town of the Year competitions – where it made the Top 10 and Top Five, respectively.
Judges talked about Waikerie’s resilience, while Loxton Waikerie District Council Mayor Trevor Norton told of the town having diversified its agriculture and horticulture after the predominantly citrus-planted region was hit by challenges, particularly the Millennium Drought.
He also credited programmes at the local high school for taking the community of around 5000 people on the River Murray forward.
Illalangi Gourmet Food’s Keryn Gorman described the benefits of the region, saying it gave her company “access to so much produce” ranging from citrus to tomatoes and capsicum in making the business a success.
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Meanwhile, Date Farms Australia’s Kym Pfeiler said “businesses are looking at diversification, looking for something else to grow” outside the traditional citrus and grape crops famed in the Riverland region, including growing seed canola and seed potatoes, saying they wanted to “control your own destiny”.
The Ag Town award is an initiative of the Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA), delivered in partnership with InDaily, with the event last night also seeing the 2026 Regional Showcase Awards presented to the people behind six story categories among more than 100 regional articles published across InDaily and SALIFE.
Primary Industries Minister Clare Scriven praised Waikerie for proving itself to be a stand-out country town in the eyes of our independent judging panel.
“Waikerie has received well-earned recognition for its passionate, committed and future-focused community that lives and breathes agriculture, food and wine,” she said.
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“This community put so much heart into their submission and seriously impressed the judges when they visited.
“This year’s Top Three Ag Towns of the Year put in an enormous amount of work to make their case for being named the state’s number-one country community, and Burra and Cummins are well deserving of recognition alongside Waikerie.”
The independent judging panel praised Waikerie for its strong vision for the future and willingness to continue to grow and evolve, including looking beyond its own borders for ideas and opportunities.
Judges Kris Lloyd AM, Professor Simon Maddocks and Joyce Ceravolo praised the depth and quality of the town’s award submission and the panel’s exceptional experiences from what they described as “one of the best visits ever” to a country town.
They were particularly impressed by the way the town involved young people and students in telling Waikerie’s story, giving the next generation an opportunity to shape the current and future narrative of their town by sharing their own experiences and perspectives.
Waikerie was selected from 91 nominated towns from across South Australia, with Burra and Cummins named as the other two finalists.
As this year’s winner, Waikerie will receive a trophy, a special town entrance sign, a community celebration event and sign unveiling ceremony, media exposure and stories published by InDaily and SALIFE magazine.
Waikerie joins an elite line-up of Ag Towns of the Year: Lameroo (2025), Penola (2024), Wudinna (2023), Mypolonga (2022), Kimba (2021), Pinnaroo (2020) and Cleve (2019).
Now in its eighth year, the Ag Town of the Year Award recognises South Australian towns that excel in agricultural practices and are great places to live and work, while highlighting the vital role that agriculture plays in regional development.
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