Tuesday, 29 Sep, 2020 | Agriculture, Irrigation & Water, Sugar Industry
Water pricing is shaping up to be a key election issue for irrigators in North Queensland, with the sugar industry backing a call for prices to be dropped by 25 per cent.
The Australian Sugar Milling Council said a 25 per cent reduction in state government irrigated water tariffs could add $220 million to Queensland’s economy over the next four years, while supporting thousands of jobs in the regions.
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Hinchinbrook MP Nick Dametto rose in parliament on Tuesday to query Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk about the economic boost hosting the AFL grand final would give Queensland, versus addressing water costs.
“It is estimated that hosting the AFL grand final will generate 80 jobs and give a $17 million boost to our economy,” Mr Dametto said.
“A 25 per cent reduction in state water tariffs will add $220 million to the Queensland economy, supporting jobs over the next four years-the equivalent of 11 AFL grand finals.
“The government has done it’s best to rip the guts out of agriculture in this state through its farm-destroying vegetation management legislation and new reef regulations.
“The layering up of legislation and regulation has stripped farmers of their full yield potential, the least they could do is provide financial relief through water tariff reduction.”
Mr Dametto asked Ms Palaszczuk whether she would meet with Katter’s Australian Party and members of the sugar industry to discuss their plan to reduce water prices by 25 per cent.
Ms Palaszczuk committed to the meeting, saying she was ‘always happy to meet with members of the Katter party.’https://83385638acfbe9dbe277ade93abc7004.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html
KAP Leader and Traeger MP Robbie Katter said agriculture and mining would continue to prop Queensland’s economy up but it could not afford to continue being constrained by high water prices.
ASMC chief executive officer David Pietsch said the KAP commitment and its offer to broker talks with the Premier on the critical issue of water prices was a positive development.
The LNP has also committed to cut irrigation water prices by 20 per cent.
“The Queensland sugar industry has hung tough through this pandemic and we’re calling on the government to invest in our sugar industry’s capacity to generate more jobs and more economic benefits for regional Queensland,” Mr Pietsch said.
Mr Pietsch said the Queensland sugar industry generated more than $4 billion to the Queensland economy each year and supported more than 23,000 jobs throughout the state yet faced significant challenges from higher input costs and government charges, increasing overseas competition and depressed global sugar prices.
“We can help Queensland back on the road to recovery and support the Premier’s focus on job creation, but not without a reduction in water charges,” Mr Pietsch said.
Tuesday, 29 Sep, 2020 | Agriculture, Great Barrier Reef, Sugar Industry
Battle-lines are being drawn in North Queensland ahead of the state election with farmers launching a grassroots campaign to force agriculture into the spotlight.
Cattle and cane farmers from the Burdekin to the Tablelands have banded together to form Farmers United, as they seek political commitments to repeal legislation they say is damaging agriculture.
Farmers United director and third-generation Burdekin farmer Russell Hall, who grows cane and soybean on his 340-hectare property at Clare, said the campaign was necessary to save the future of farming in Queensland.
“Farmers United is a proud network of Queensland farmers passionate about providing locally grown food for Queenslanders, which in the midst of a global pandemic, has never been more important,” Mr Hall said.
He said science should be at the centre of policy making, which he believes is currently being driven by hysteria and politicians keen to secure the inner-city green vote.
The group formed on the back of controversial reef regulation and vegetation management policies, which were rammed through parliament during this sitting term.
They are calling for those policies to be repealed and for a scientific quality authority to be installed to deliver scientific rigour to all future policy decisions which impact farming, agriculture and other essential industries.
“We are hoping to either convince the current government to look at the science behind their decisions and basically not make decisions based on green preference voting.
“We are hoping to crank up to be a bit of a powerhouse organisation for those critical times, where we can bring the science together with farmers across the state.”
ourth generation Burdekin cane and crop farmer Mark Vass said current legislatoin was crippling the farming industry and would ultimately impact every single Queenslander.
“We will get to a point before long where local produce simply won’t be available on supermarket shelves,” Mr Vass said.
“There are hundreds of small communities across Queensland who are already being heavily impacted; the unnecessary regulations being put on farmers means less crops, which results in less money going into our communities.
“Like every farmer, I live, breath and spend my entire working life in the environment and take its sustainability extremely seriously. I’ll back science sense every day of the week but at the moment, we’re just not seeing that implemented in the decision-making process.”
Tuesday, 29 Sep, 2020 | Agriculture, Great Barrier Reef, Sugar Industry
Farmers facing a rising tide of red tape based on the Reef Regulations Amendment Act 2019 are demanding the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) step up for a head-tohead debate on its home turf of Townsville, North Queensland.
They have taken the unprecedented step of taking to the local airways to ask the community to join the call by voting in an online poll.
AIMS CEO Dr Paul Hardisty was invited to the debate by Marine Geophysicist Dr Peter Ridd and the Pioneer Cane Growers Organisation (PCGO) on 3 September.
“AIMS has still not said whether or not it will attend the event at 4.30pm on 8 October despite contacts by phone and email direct to Dr Hardisty and his office,” said PCGO Director Max Musumeci.
Two weeks on from the initial invitation, the PCGO took to the airwaves of Townsville to ask the local community to add its voice to the demands for Dr Hardisty or a suitable scientific delegation to step up to the debate, which is being held on 8 October at 4.30pm.
“We put out a poll on local Townsville radio which asked the community whether AIMS, as the pre-eminent science organisation based on the Great Barrier Reef, whether they wanted AIMS to join Great Barrier Reef Expert Dr Peter Ridd in a scientific debate about the Great Reef,” said Mr Musumeci.
“There have been 300 responses to the poll so far, and growing, and a resounding ‘yes’ is coming out loud and clear.
“AIMS has no excuse not to step up to this a live-streamed debate for the whole community on October 8. The topics should be familiar to Dr Hardisty and his team – they are the issues that were covered in the 2017 Scientific Consensus Statement on which the 2019 Reef Regulations Amendment Act is based.”
The 2019 Act has caused a storm of controversy since it was pushed through the Queensland Parliament by the Labor Palaszczuk Government in September 2019, with protests that the legislation – which is adding layers of red tape for farmers – is based on unchecked science.
Dr Ridd and farmer organisations across Queensland are seeking the establishment of an Office of Science Quality Assurance to check the science being used to make political decisions, and a public petition demanding this of government raised more than 5,400 signatures in less than 100 days.
Mr Musumeci said: “The Reef Regulations Amendment Act is based on unchecked science. This debate will bring into the community a robust discussion between AIMS and Dr Ridd over the facts around farming and the Great Barrier Reef. “As Dr Ridd has said time and again, farming is NOT damaging the Great Barrier Reef, and as a farmer in the region adjacent to the Reef I can state quite categorically that we are the most committed custodians of the land and oceans on which we work, live and spend our leisure time.
“The use of unchecked science to drive political decision-making and legislation, including the 2019 Reef Regulations Amendment Act, is massively impacting ALL farming sectors – the farmers that Australians rely on for 89% of all food and drink on our tables today.” He added: “As Queensland goes to the polls on 31 October, the community needs to understand the truth around the Great Barrier Reef and the risk being posed by unchecked science to our farming industry
Tuesday, 15 Sep, 2020 | Agriculture, Electricity, Energy, Sugar Industry
By CANEGROWERS Mackay
A cane farm at Seaforth near Mackay could see increased production yields and major energy cost savings, thanks to recommendations of an audit conducted by CANEGROWERS Mackay through the Energy Savers Plus Program Extension.
The audit is one of 180 farm energy audits completed on farms throughout Queensland under the Queensland Farmers’ Federation (QFF) program funded by the Queensland Government.
CANEGROWERS Mackay Chairman, Kevin Borg, said the energy audit program had been a great way for growers in the Mackay and Plane Creek regions to identify ways to reduce their farms’ energy consumption and costs at a time when energy and water prices are continuing to rise.
“With the help of CANEGROWERS Mackay’s agricultural economist, John Eden, and electrical engineer, Ron Coomer, the recommendations have been tailored to the needs of each particular cane farming business and have included a mix of more efficient equipment, introduction of solar energy and a tweaking of farm management practices,” said Mr Borg.
“Cash is tight in the industry at present because of low world sugar prices, and the cost of electricity and water, but some recommendations, such as checking that a pump is working efficiently or changing a tariff, are relatively inexpensive and can achieve impressive cost savings.
“Moreover, in this particular case, through purchasing new and second hand equipment and working to improve yields through more effective use of water and some farm management changes – to increase returns, not just reduce energy costs – the payback period for the total investment can be reduced to under two years.”
QFF Chief Executive Officer Dr Georgina Davis said the Energy Savers audits delivered options for farmers to reduce their energy consumption and Carbon emissions as well as make important bottom line savings and productivity gains with the assistance of a co-contribution grant.
“More positive results are expected as the program moves to an implementation phase. We encourage participants to consider their farm audit and take up the available rebate to make improvements and realise energy savings.”
Mackay cane farm audit
Harvesting 9500 tonnes of cane a year, the 144 ha Mackay farm is statistically above the zonal average for the region. However, interrogation of the available farm data found that even though yields in this zone have remained consistent over the past 10 years, there has been a slight decrease on this particular farm due to the crop mix being weighted towards older ratoons. Changes in rainfall distribution across the district in recent years have not helped, and the irrigation infrastructure on the farm has proved unable to meet crop demand at critical times.
The grower had been using a 10 cm (4 inch) winch irrigator driven by two dam pumps which delivers water at a constant high pressure. The audit recommended introducing two variable speed drives (VSDs) on the pumps as well as replacing one of the pumps with a more efficient pump with a higher flow rate to enable the operation of two low pressure booms working in tandem.
For a total investment of around $47,000 to purchase two second hand low pressure booms and install the VSDs, the estimated energy savings are expected to be 30,710 kWh per year at a cost saving of $7,979 per year, paying back the investment in under six years.
In addition, the audit recommended a 30 kW ground-mounted solar system to provide an offset against running the pumps continuously on the grid and to increase savings because of the ability to irrigate during the day. The audit factored in the export of energy to the grid when the farmer is not irrigating, further lowering his energy bill.
This investment of around $21,000 (after Small-scale Technology Certificate rebates) would be paid back within 3.5 years thanks to energy savings of 60,000 kWh and cost savings of $6,002 per year. The audit also recommended an immediate tariff change from T62 to a combination of T20 and T33, saving a further $1,635 per year.
Due to the restructure of the irrigation infrastructure and improved efficiencies there is now the ability to increase water use from 159 ML to 265 ML. Water Use Efficiency has improved from 7.7 t/ML to 8.8 t/ML. The grower has the added benefit of irrigating the crop up to the sixth ratoon profitably. This compares with the situation prior to the audit, when irrigation returns were negative after the third ratoon.
By following all recommendations of the audit, pumping costs across all systems would be reduced on average from $117.73 per ML to around $37.89 per ML, even with the increase in water use from 1 ML/ha to 2 ML/ha.
Best of all, thanks to the productivity gains, the expected payback period for the total estimated costs of all improvements decreases from 4.7 to 1.6 years, and with a Return on Investment of 64 per cent.
For more information about the Energy Savers Plus Program Extension program or how to improve your on-farm energy efficiency, visit the website: www.qff.org.au/energysavers or contact the energy savers team by email: energysavers@qff.org.au.
The Energy Savers Plus Program Extension is delivered by the Queensland Farmers’ Federation with support and funding from the Queensland Government.
Tuesday, 15 Sep, 2020 | Agriculture, Great Barrier Reef
JOINT STATEMENT
Premier and Minister for Trade
The Honourable Annastacia Palaszczuk
Minister for Environment and the Great Barrier Reef, Minister for Science and Minister for the Arts
The Honourable Leeanne Enoch
The Palaszczuk Government today announced a $10 million Reef Assist funding boost to create regional jobs and support environmental projects in the Great Barrier Reef catchments.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the program – announced as part of Queensland’s Economic Recovery Plan – would support 11 projects and create around 130 regional jobs.
“Our plan is all about creating jobs to steer our economy as we recover from the global pandemic and the communities and industries that rely on the Reef are the ones who will benefit from this $10 million Reef Assist program,” the Premier said.
“This program will fund 11 on-the-ground projects in partnership with local governments and natural resource management organisations and create around 130 local jobs.
“The Wet Tropics Management Authority, NQ Dry Tropics and the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council will deliver five projects providing training and over 50 job opportunities through landscape restoration, restoring critically endangered species’ habitat and remediation works.
“In addition, almost 50 jobs will be generated by Jaragun Ecoservices, Reef Catchments NRM, Terrain NRM, and Douglas Shire Council which will deliver four projects that repair and restore riparian areas, control invasive species, improve natural ecosystem condition, and improve coastal resilience from the Wet Tropics to the Whitsundays.
“Two projects from the Townsville City Council and Reef Catchments NRM will generate around 25 jobs by growing conservation and nature-based tourism and improving land management of coastal areas.”
Minister for Environment and the Great Barrier Reef Leeanne Enoch said these successful projects will also draw on the skills and knowledge of our First Nations peoples to create improved environmental management skills that cover both cultural and scientific practices.
“As Queensland recovers from the financial impacts of COVID-19, the Palaszczuk Government is the only government committed to creating job opportunities and these projects will provide a much-needed boost to our regional economies while protecting the Reef,” Minister Enoch said.
“Our total Reef investment is now $340 million since 2015 and the casual, short-term and full-time positions created from Reef Assist projects will also result in contractors, tourism providers and other local businesses benefiting from the flow-on effects of the projects.
“The Reef Assist program is all about investing in land management activities that provide environmental benefits, while also supporting regional Queensland and regional jobs.”
Dennis Ah-Kee, a Wanjuru-Yidinjii Elder and Director of Jaragun Ecoservices, said that he is thrilled for people of the Russell River catchment.
“The Reef Assist funding means eight new jobs will be created for Aboriginal people, enabling them to undertake catchment restoration while reconnecting and working on country,” Mr Ah-Kee said.
“This funding will also provide a welcomed economic boost to the township of Babinda, which has experienced some of the highest rates of unemployment in the region during the past decade.”
More information about the Reef Assist Program is available at: https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/coasts-waterways/reef/reef-assist
ENDS
Media Contact: Debbie Turner 0437 859 987 More info: Reef Assist
Tuesday, 15 Sep, 2020 | Agriculture
Jesse Bowman grew up on the north coast of northern New South Wales. Surrounded by both natural rainforest and agriculture, he developed a passion for environmental management and sustainability.
Shortly after completing his Bachelor of Environment Science/Marine Science and Management in 2019, Jesse was successful in gaining a place with 15 other graduates in the Queensland Farmers’ Federation’s (QFF) Agricultural Extension Work Placement Program.
Jesse was placed with Sugar Research Australia (SRA) in Brandon as part of a new adoption team, located in the Burdekin Shire in Queensland and was paired with mentor Anthony Curro.
Jesse was involved in the Cane to Creek 2.0 (C2C 2.0) program which aims to support sugarcane growers to achieve changes in practice that result in improved nutrient, chemical, pesticide, and sediment runoff at the paddock and sub-catchment level.
The practice change is facilitated by ‘grower-led’ water quality monitoring trials whereby the grower elects a change in their farming system to test an alternate practice that may increase productivity, profitability and sustainability.
“Throughout my studies, I have been interested in water quality, and I think the Cane to Creek 2.0 project has provided an excellent avenue for me to learn more about water quality in a reef management and agricultural context, while gaining hands-on practical experience,” Jesse said.
“With extension activities, it is not only the workshop or training itself that takes a lot of effort, but also the planning and organising that goes into each event. I have been fortunate enough to be involved with a variety of sessions of this kind during my graduate program.”
Jesse’s role also includes supporting other SRA projects and program activities such as the SRA/Burdekin Productivity Services bi-annual grower shed meeting, the Soil Health Project’s Legume 101 workshop and Improved Irrigation Efficiency and Management workshops run by the University of Southern Queensland/SRA. He also undertook the Burdekin Regional Scan Project with the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.
“The QFF graduate program has enabled me to undertake many extension and technical related workshops and training sessions. I have attended and participated in sessions ranging from soil, nutrient and water management, GIS, farm business, economics, sugar pricing and marketing, to workshops on refining facilitation and enabling change,” Jessie said.
“I believe this graduate program is an amazing opportunity for me to develop professionally and build a career as an extension officer, project manager or field agronomist.”
The Agricultural Extension Work Placement Program is delivered by the Rural Jobs and Skills Alliance (led by QFF) and funded by the Queensland Government’s Reef Water Quality Program and the partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.
