CUTTING-EDGE technology is set to secure jobs at Wickham Farms Killarney and drive the business into the future.

A $205,619 State Government grant will be invested into a new automated processing line at the Southern Downs facility.

Wickham Fresh Cuts manager Kerri Lamb said she was excited to bring the best technology to optimise production and keep the 35operational staff members safer.

"We are committed to continual improvement and had the need to automate some of our production lines for quality and efficiency, as well as minimising risk to staff by having a lot of the repetitive work done by machines,” Mrs Lamb said.

"We have a good relationship with the State Development department, who brought the grant to our attention, and we decided to put in for it.

"By introducing this sort of technology we can increase the volume and quality of our output, which will make us more competitive and sustainable into the future.

"This won't get rid of any jobs and will actually allow us to employ more people.”

Wickham Farms Killarney is a fourth-generation family-owned and operated company.

The business also has operations at Warwick, Gatton and the Atherton Tablelands, allowing the company to harvest year-round.

Mrs Lamb said the move to automated optical sorting marked one of the largest upgrades in the Killarney facility in recent years

"We started off in Killarney and have diversified into other areas such as freight services, but my focus is farming and value-add product,” she said.

"The machine will pick up on flaws in the product, working as an optical grader for our potatoes,” Mrs Lamb said.

"We have a machine for onions that uses similar technology as it optically orientates onions for peeling.

"This technology isn't new in the international industry but it is cutting-edge in Australia and it's where we wanted the money to go.

"It's a big commitment for the company as the technology isn't cheap, so you have to be sure it will work and each machine has to be individually manufactured for the end product you're looking for.”

The business specialises in producing and supplying potatoes to supermarket and restaurant chains and fresh cut, packaged vegetable products to the manufacturing and wholesale markets.

"The value-add industry is really growing because there's a lot more food manufacturers who want that product,” Mrs Lamb said.

"Value-add means just that, adding value to the product, such as taking the skin off or taking out an imperfection so it's worth more, or providing fresh cut or pre-packaged food.

"A lot of farmers derive their value-add product from otherwise imperfect product - a potato with skin imperfections is worth more peeled up and cut into quarters for example.”

Minister for State Development Dr Anthony Lynham said the $20million Made in Queensland program was part of a bid to bolster the state's manufacturing sector.

"The combination of Wickham Farms' vision and this investment means the company is set for significant growth and new market opportunities,” DrLynham said.

The program offers matching grants of between $50,000 and $2.5million to manufacturers looking to adopt innovative processes and technologies to generate highly-skilled jobs and become more internationally competitive.

Manufacturers also have to go dollar-for-dollar with the government to fund business improvements.