The Yorke Peninsula is a peninsula located
north-west and west of Adelaide in South
Australia, between Spencer Gulf on the west
and Gulf St Vincent on the east. Yorke
Peninsula is separated from Kangaroo Island to
the south by Investigator Strait. The most
populous town in the Yorke Peninsula region is
Kadina.

Yorke Peninsula is a major producer of grain,
particularly barley and the Peninsula's grain
crops are worth more than $290 million
annually. Historically this has been sent out by
sea because there are no rail services. Most
coastal towns on Yorke Peninsula have
substantial jetties. In the past these were used
by ketches, schooners, and later steamships, to
collect the grain in bags, and deliver fertiliser
and other supplies. As roads in the region
improved, and freight-handling techniques
changed from bags to bulk, this became
obsolete. A deep-water port was opened in
1970 near the south-eastern tip at Port Giles to
export grain in bulk, and almost all the other
ports ceased to be used for freight in the 1950s
and 1960s. The only other ports with bulk-
handling facilities are Wallaroo at the north-
western side, and Ardrossan at the top of Gulf
St Vincent, also used to ship dolomite from a
nearby mine for OneSteel. Maitland has a
grain-receiving depot operated by AWB,
serviced only by road.

Wine production commenced on the Yorke
Peninsula during the 1990s taking advantage of
the rich grey, limestone-based soil.