LNP primary industries spokesman Ray Hopper believes Mr Mulherin is "ripping-off Queensland farmers".

"[He is] selling assets that should be retained and selling the Leslie Research Centre at Toowoomba that was paid for by graingrowers and he’s refusing to recognise that it was growers’ money that paid for the centre," he said.

"There’s nothing fresh about this approach because he’s grabbing the jewels and heading to Cash Converters."

Mr Hopper said the past decade had seen Bligh and Labor pull the rug out from grains research in Queensland.

There’s been a clear agenda to dump grain research, he said.

Key research staff have been lost, many encouraged to go, and now the Minister is "flogging-off" research stations, Mr Hopper said.

Mr Scanlon also made the point that producers bought and paid for facilities like the Leslie Reseach Centre "under a regime where there was a large amount of trust" between farmers and the QDPI.

"That just doesn’t exist anymore, today," he said.

While the Queensland grain industry concedes that some of the under-utilised assets probably could be divested - in line with the run-down in staffing levels – the concern centres on the emergence of new centres of excellence.

That aside, Mr Scanlon remains concerned at the Queensland Government’s seemingly unchecked rationalisation programme being without any recognition of grower equity in key grain industry facilities.

He says the risk is of long held linkages being broken forever with growers no longer able to pursue claims down the track.

Mr Scanlon said the situation was at "a pretty desperate stage" with the Government refusing to take into account any of the contributions put in by growers over the past 40 years or so.

But Mr Mulherin said: "Whilst the Leslie Research Station received grower funds for establishment, over the past 47 years it has been funded by a combination of state and commonwealth government, industry, and other external funds."

He said under the proposal Hermitage Research Station would be retained while a single Central Queensland facility at Emerald would be developed.

"The proposal will include a change in focus for Kingaroy, Biloela and Roma facilties to become predominantly Agribusiness Service Centres," he said.

"Those centres will focus on business development and extension services.

"There will be no change to our R&D in the grains industry, which includes enhanced genetics for field crops, crop protection and new farming technology and new products.

"The continued location of the genetic resource centre at Biloela will be retained - it will become a business and extension centre.

"We're focusing on developing world's best research programs for the benefit of Queensland growers."