Industry News
Sugarcane and the Creation of Carbon-Negative Hydrogen
Professor Damien Batstone speaks to AZoCleantech about his game-changing research on how sugarcane can be used as a clean energy source to produce hydrogen. What drove your research into sugarcane as a clean energy source to create hydrogen? We had previously researched the conversion of sugarcane...
Grant helps secure sugarcane farms and jobs
CANEGROWERS has welcomed the announcement of a Federal Government grant for a crucial piece of infrastructure to help Maryborough and Sunshine Coast growers get their sugarcane to Childers for crushing this year. The Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack and local Federal MP Keith Pitt have...
Reef health improving as farmers reduce fertiliser use
The need for draconian reef regulations being forced on the agricultural sector has been called into question following the release of a reef health report. The Reef Water Quality Report Card 2019, released last week, shows dissolved inorganic nitrogen rates on the reef had dropped by more than 25...
Cane grower reduces fertliser use on the Burdekin
After more than 60 years growing cane on the Burdekin, and following in the footsteps of his father before him, Jim Richardson knows a thing or two about land management. Mr Richardson, who has 72 hectares under cane on the Burdekin Delta, began reducing his fertiliser use almost 10 years ago....
QSL 2021-Season March Guaranteed Floor Pool
The QSL 2021-Season March Guaranteed Floor Pool is open for nominations. Here are a few key details. This is a QSL-Managed PoolNominations open up to 4pm on 5 March 2021Minimum of 10 tonne nominationsParticipants receive a guaranteed minimum return ($420/mt Actual or better)In...
Isis Mill builds facility to cater to Maryborough cane
A $2.5 million Federal Government grant will boost the sugarcane industry allowing cane from Maryborough and further afield to be processed at the Isis Central Sugar Mill. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Michael McCormack said the funding...
NSW Sugar Season Wraps Up
In what has been a tumultuous year across the globe, the sugar industry in NSW has successfullymanoeuvred its way through a crush season filled with challenges and opportunities. Despite the many hurdles presented by the COVID pandemic, the cane growing and harvesting communityof the Northern...
Elders and Maize Australia working on battling Fall armyworm threat
AS the threat of Fall armyworm continues to trend south, agronomists and industry bodies are exploring ways of limiting the pest's potential damage. Elders is among those on the frontlines and has enlisted the help of Toowoomba-based technical services manager Maree Crawford to help find an answer...
Cane farmers told to demolish sheds twice in 30 years to make way for Bruce Highway upgrades
https://www.youtube.com/embed/7sHD9erYx-k An Edmonton family has been told to vacate sheds on their property for the second time in less than 30 years to make way for upgrades to the Bruce Highway. Ken Hardwick, 86, knows the price of progress, having farmed cane on the southern outskirts of...
MSF Sugar’s Maryborough mill closes down
MSF Sugar's Maryborough mill has crushed its last cane with the company announcing it was decommissioning the facility. Instead, contracted sugar cane will be crushed elsewhere from 2021. The decision comes after Rural Funds Management purchased 5409 hectares of MSF Sugar's cane growing land in...
Sugar mills crush out for 2020
More than 29 million tonnes of sugar cane has been crushed in Queensland this year with the season set to close this week. The last bins will be tipped at Mackay Sugar's Farleigh, Marian and Racecourse mills, signalling an end to the 2020 season. While weather conditions have varied across growing...
Grower Floor Price Contract
QSL's new Grower Floor Price Contract is now available within the QSL Direct portal and QSL App. This new grower-managed pricing option gives QSL growers the best of both worlds – letting them lock in a sugar price with the potential for higher returns should the market rise...
After 82 years, Mackay’s Bonaventura family harvest the last cane field
As his cane fields went up in flames for the final time, Mackay councillor Laurence Bonaventura reflected on 82 years of his family's farming legacy. "It's a bit of a sad occasion, but it's about knowing when is a good time, and I believe this is the time to finish cane growing," Cr Bonaventura...
Local Cairns family plans 162-unit retirement village for site of sugarcane farm
Plans have been submitted to develop the retirement village in Gordonvale, a small town approximately 25km south of central Cairns. The plans were submitted by Gilvear Planning on behalf of the family of the late Rose Straguszi, a prominent Gordonvale resident who passed away late last...
New TAFE course focuses on cane farm profitability
CANEGROWERS are being encouraged to participate in a TAFE Queensland course aimed at improving farm profitability. The new course aims to develop the skills and understanding necessary for growers to make informed decisions about sugar pricing. Canegrowers chief executive officer...
North Queensland sisters Jess and Emily Garland follow in dad’s tracks as train drivers
Amid the high-vis, hard hats and machinery at the Plane Creek Sugar Mill in Sarina, south of Mackay, two young sisters are showing they're not afraid to get behind the controls of a sugarcane train. It's all in the family for Jess and Emily Garland, who both got their...
Australia’s complaint against Indian sugar subsidies to be heard at World Trade Organisation
Two-and-a-half years after lodging a complaint to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) against India, Australian sugar cane growers will finally have their concerns heard in the international court. The formal dispute against India was initiated by the Australian, Brazilian and Guatemalan...
Threat of further Indian subsidies weighs on sugar price
The Global Sugar Alliance has called on India to drop its controversial sugar subsidies, adhere to international trade rules, and meet the obligations and commitments it has made as part of its membership of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The Global Sugar Alliance, which represents 85% of the...
World events conspire to squeeze sugar profits from NSW milling co-operative
This year's annual general meeting of the NSW Sugar Milling Co-operative, held at Ballina on Friday, was a puritan affair thanks to COVID-19, with social distancing measures in place and no refreshments available of any kind - not even a cup of sweet tea. It set the mood for a sober assessment of...
Raising Burdekin Falls Dam could create environmental disaster, say expert and farmer
Queensland Government plans to raise the Burdekin Falls Dam could have a drastic effect on the environment and threaten vital habitats, an oceanography expert has warned. But a lack of replenishing sand reaching the Coral Sea from the nearby Burdekin River means erosion is threatening the bay's...