Carlton and United Breweries will relaunch its Crown Lager brand in Australia to tighten the company’s grip on the nation’s premium beer sector.

The company has recruited Rupanyup farmer and Grain Producers Australia chairman Andrew Weidemann and his farm to be part of a new campaign to bring the beer back into the spotlight, and connect the label to production and creation.

“We’ve been providing barley to Carlton and United Breweries for nearly 30 years,” Mr Weidemann said.

“It’s been an ongoing relationship over a long time.”

Mr Weidemann said Carlton and United Breweries wanted to re-engage Crown Lager as a premier beer and make it a point of difference in the market.

“To do that, they are focusing on the raw materials and where they come from,” he said.

“They want to make people aware that Crown Lager is the finest beer, made from the finest barley.”

Mr Weidemann said a new grade of barley, known as CA1, was created for the beer.

“I am hoping that other growers will be able to deliver it as well in the future,” he said.

“We are investigating ways that could happen, so others can also produce this barley, but it comes down to having the right conditions for it.

“It is not the common grade barley, it’s actually a grade higher.”

Mr Weidemann said he had become the ‘pin-up boy’ of the campaign.

“They are using me as their media tool,” he said.

Mr Weidemann said he was more than happy to be part of the campaign.

“The reason why I wanted to be involved was to make sure the consumer was aware that grain farming is a sophisticated business that has evolved remarkably in the past 10 to 20 years,” he said.

“We now use GPS, and we have since 1996 for yield mapping, we use auto-steer and other farming systems that have made farming more sustainable.

“It’s a good story about the agriculture industry.”

Mr Weidemann said the biggest winner out of the campaign was the Wimmera.

“We have already had 25 film crew here plus all their staff, and they have put lots of money into the Wimmera,” he said.

“I’m really pleased about that.

“It’s also about putting a Wimmera face to a national campaign.”

Carlton and United Breweries started filming commercials at Mr Weidemann’s property last week.

“In two and a half days they shot about 20 hours of film,” he said.

“That in itself was an unbelievable experience.

“I’ve had a bit of experience doing Win TV but this was a whole new game.

“There was a personal interview, which was more taxing but besides that, they were just filming us doing what we normally do.

“It’s certainly been a good experience.”

The campaign follows a relaunch of the brewery’s VB brand.