Industry News
Sugar crush reaches quarter-way milestone for Wilmar
Wilmar Sugar has reached a significant milestone for the 2020 crush having processed over a quarter of their estimated crop. The company's eight mills have now processed 3.93 million tonnes of cane, out of the 15.07 million tonnes they expect to...
Farmers launch class action over failed Paradise Dam
Frustrated Bundaberg farmers are in the process of launching a class action against the Queensland Government over the failure of Paradise Dam. Bundaberg lawyer Tom Marland, Marland Law, said the class action focused on the alleged negligent management of Paradise Dam and deceptive and...
Cane farm losses expected from macadamia takeover in sugar town Maryborough
More than 5,000 hectares of sugarcane farmland in Maryborough will be converted into a macadamia orchard and space for other crops. It has been revealed that Rural Funds Management (RFM), a specialist agricultural fund manager with 1,500 investors, entered a deal to buy MSF Sugar's land holdings...
RFM buys MSF Sugar’s Maryborough cane land for $81.1 million
Rural Funds Management has emerged as the buyer of 5409 hectares (13,366 acres) of farmland around Maryborough, owned by Thai-owned company MSF Sugar. In a statement issued to the ASX today, RFM (ASX: RFF) said it had contracted to buy the farmland, plant and equipment and 8060 megalitres of water...
Bundaberg farmers take Queensland Government to court over Paradise Dam
Farmers in the Bundaberg region are launching a class action against the Queensland Government. They're alleging "negligent management and deceptive and misleading conduct" in relation to the handling of Paradise Dam on the Burnett River. Last September, dam operator Sunwater and State Government...
Farmers say environment minister’s Great Barrier Reef claim is 10 million times wrong
QUEENSLAND farmers say Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch has again made the fake claim that 10.5 million tonnes of nitrogen is flooding into Great Barrier Reef receiving waters each year as a result of fertiliser used on farms. Bundaberg Canegrowers manager Dale Holliss said the fake claim was...
Canegrower leaders blast ‘flawed’ Great Barrier Reef regulations
CANE industry leaders have pointed to key failing in policies designed to protect the Great Barrier Reef at Senate hearing being held in Brisbane this week. Grower representatives from eight Canegrowers district organisations along with state Canegrowers chairman Paul Schembri say the Palaszczuk...
Reef regulations inquiry hears from scientists
ONLY three per cent of the entire Great Barrier Reef has been negatively impacted by agriculture, according to scientists who gave evidence at a Senate inquiry into the state government's controversial reef regulations this week. The inquiry, which was held in Brisbane on Monday and Tuesday, was...
Biosecurity webinar 1 – Epidemics are inevitable: learning from past events
https://youtu.be/U6ZCBuX-shQ Dr Rob Magarey presents the webinar of this three part series on Biosecurity.
Soil Health Extension Toolkit (SHET)
https://www.facebook.com/sugarresearch.com.au/posts/3306316576099711
Managing soil health: how soil health is prioritised on a dryland sugar cane farm
https://youtu.be/ORnNYtvHA2Y With inputs to growing becoming more expensive, finding ways to become more efficient is at the front of every growers mind. By managing and improving soil health, water can be retained in the soil, fertiliser inputs decrease and yields can increase. This short video...
QSL Grower Rep Members announced
The 2020 QSL Grower Representative Member election process is now complete, with the following growers appointed for the new three-year term: QSL Managing Director and CEO Greg Beashel thanked all those cane growers around the state who had participated in the elections, either as a candidate or...
Report reveals $1.3b cost of misguided Reef policies
A new analysis reveals the State Government risks an economic hit to Queensland of $1.3 billion over ten years with its misguided push to cut nitrogen applications on sugarcane crops by up to 30% below industry best practice levels. “We are doing all we can to reduce the risk to Great Barrier Reef...
Sunshine Sugar Takes Out International Award
The winners of the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards for 2020 have been announced and Sunshine Sugar is proud to be a recipient of a Silver Award for Innovative Management in Consumer Product & Service Industries in the category of ‘Innovation in Management.’The Stevie® Awards were created in 2002 to...
Webinar: Value adding: converting bagasse into animal feed
Sugar Research Australia (SRA) and Queensland University of Technology’s (QUT) Dr Mark Harrison provide this update on converting bagasse into animal feed. SRA has invested in the development of new technologies to transform sugarcane bagasse and trash into nutritious animal feed ingredients....
Fall armyworm detection in western Queensland sparks pasture concerns
The fall armyworm, an exotic agricultural pest, has been detected in outback Queensland and experts say it may be impossible to eradicate. Fall armyworm were initially detected in far north Queensland in February, but have now been found hundreds of kilometres away in the Longreach area. The...
Reducing fertiliser use on cane farms in North Queensland
A THIRD-GENERATION cane grower who is transitioning his farm to be less reliant on artificial fertilisers says soil health is key. Ingham cane grower Robert Bonassi has focused on fallow crops and using mill by-products to slash his fertiliser rates without affecting yield. Mr Bonassi cut his...
How to brand regenerative agriculture?
IT WAS a question from one of the more than 400 visitors to Agriwebb's 'The Future of Farming series: Regenerative Agriculture' that exposed an unresolved quandary. How do you create a brand consumers can relate to, and retailers can use as a stamp of assured quality, so regenerative farmers can...
From sugarcane ashes to clean beauty: Meet Aprinnova’s latest ingredient
Aprinnova, the leading supplier of high performance, clean beauty ingredients is commercialising a plant-derived silica made from sugarcane ashes. Silica is used widely in personal care and cosmetics. It is traditionally sourced from non-renewable sand dredging, which requires significant energy...
Help name Mackay’s newest bridges
The call is out for the Mackay community to help name four bridges being built as part of the sugar city’s largest-ever road project: the $497 million Mackay Ring Road. With more than 90 per cent of the project now complete, the Palaszczuk Government today announced submissions are being sought to...