Lawn clippings and old palm fronds are being transformed into compost by one of Australia’s largest farming organisations in an attempt to reduce its carbon footprint.
A new state-of-the-art compost facility in Bundaberg, south-east Queensland, is accepting garden waste to be converted to nutrient-rich compost designed to provide an alternative to chemical fertilisers and help farms decrease nutrient run-off.
Green Solutions Wide Bay was created by Australia’s largest producer of sweet potatoes, Greensill Farming, to expand the company’s composting program and involve locals disposing of their green waste in an environmentally beneficial way.
Nathan Freeman is head of planning, infrastructure and projects for Greensill Farming, which also grows sugar cane and peanuts around Bundaberg.
Protecting soil health while lessening environmental impacts is important to the farming organisation and worth the investment in the futuristic composting facility, according to Mr Freeman.
Nathan Freeman with the green waste grinder.(ABC Wide Bay: Brad Marsellos)
“We have to start looking at this, reducing the amount of fertilisers and synthetic products we do use,” he said.
“This is a really natural product we can punch back into the soil.
Creating compost from waste
Turning green waste into compost takes 120 days.
The dumped organic matter is fed into a large grinder that uses scanners and magnets to remove any material not suitable.
Piles of shredded material are left to break down and undergo a “pasteurisation period” where the temperature reaches between 55 and 65 degrees killing off weeds and seeds while also allowing beneficial microbes to grow.
A robotic-looking turning machine with extendable legs then patrols the piles turning the compost, and water is added to keep the mix cool throughout the process.
The last part of the process involves screening the compost before it is applied to the farms.
Although the compost facility has only been open to the public for 10 weeks, Mr Freeman says trials have shown the compost is making a big difference in the health of the soil, which will mean better crops and a longer farming life for the soils.
“We are already seeing the benefits from the products we are putting out on the farms now,” he said.
“It’s a good opportunity to basically turn what used to be landfill into a usable product that can help sustain our farms.
“We really want to increase our soil biodiversity. Some crops can be a little hard on the soil, so if we can help and put this back in it will really help prolong the life of our farming activity.”
Large sediment dams have also been created to prevent any run-off from the compost to the waterways in the area.
Security monitors dumping
Trailers full of garden offcuts and lawn clippings roll past over 30 security cameras installed around the complex as Bundaberg residents take advantage of the free waste disposal.
There is no human contact at the complex, the cameras record your licence plate details and if you leave material that is not plant-based, an alert will notify staff when you next visit.
Mr Freeman believes most people will do the right thing.
“We’ve spent a lot of time and money getting the technology right here,” he said.
“We don’t want people to be scared off by that technology.
“Everybody is welcome, anybody can come along and put their green waste here. The only time you aren’t welcome is if you put contaminants in there.”
Green Solutions Wide Bay officially opens Saturday, June 5, 2021 after a 10-week ‘soft trial’.
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.
After first participating in the RP20 Burdekin Nitrogen Trials, Mr Richardson then teamed up with NQ Dry Tropics to take part in the Reef Trust Tender project between 2016 and 2018.
As a result of the two programs, Mr Richardson is using less fertiliser and saving money, without impacting his yield.
“We had some trials with RP20 and they were very precise trials, fertiliser was weighed and put on accurately,” Mr Richardson said.
“From that we found that putting excess fertiliser on over and above the ‘six easy steps’ in our case was a complete waste of money – the crop didn’t grow any bigger and it had less sugar.”
Mr Richardson said he believed farmers were the best land stewards who would willingly participate in best practice programs to both protect the environment and increase productivity, without the need for strict regulations.
“It doesn’t make sense to put too much fertiliser on if it’s proven that it doesn’t need it,” he said.
“It’s a waste of money – you might as well dump it on the road somewhere.
“There’s a happy medium and that’s what we’ve got to.”
Mr Richardson said a recent reef health report showing nitrogen runoff was reducing, was evidence that farmers were keen to do their bit.
“We’ve got the runs on the board as farmers go, there’s been a 25 per cent reduction in the nitrogen going out and that’s a considerable amount of fertiliser being saved all round,” he said.
“I think we as farmers are being blamed for things on the reef that I don’t think are caused by farming.
“It is my view that the reef has been able to overcome a lot of things, like weather events, that have occurred over time.”
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 fertiliser rates by up to 20 per cent over four years – moving from 160kg of nitrogen per hectare to 120-130kg for plant cane and 145kg for ratoons.
He said maintaining healthy soils was essential.
“We’d always taken soil samples but now we target every block we fallow on a yearly basis,” Mr Bonassi said.
“You’ve got to keep the soil healthy when you’re reducing nitrogen and phosphorous.”
The Bonassi family grows cane on 180ha over four parcels of land, with 25ha under fallow crops at any given time. They moved to mounded rows and zonal tillage to solve waterlogging issues, manufactured a zonal ripper and mounder, and bought a bean planter last year.
They are also sold on mill mud and mill ash for its nutrient and soil conditioner properties.
“We apply sub-surface mill mud and ash in the fallows. Slowly, it is building our soils up and helping us with reducing our fertilisers,” Mr Bonassi said.
“We spread zonally at the end of every year, using about 80 tonnes to a hectare.
“Within five years we’ll have gone across the whole farm with 80 to 100 tonnes per hectare of mud and ash and we should start seeing results. Then we’ll look at halving that and see if we can still meet the nitrogen levels.”
His farm is 6km from the ocean as the crow flies. Two of the parcels of land have three creeks running through them and one shares a boundary with national park.
“It’s all about getting a good balance – good returns on the soil while minimising run-off to the very best of our ability,” he said.
Mr Bonassi is one of 39 growers to take advantage of the Australian government’s Reef Trust IV program, delivered through the Wet Tropics Sugar Industry Partnership.
This month, federal authorities finally announced an upcoming ban on mercury-containing pesticide in Australia. We are one of the last countries in the world to do so, despite overwhelming evidence over more than 60 years that mercury use as fungicide in agriculture is dangerous.
Mercury is a toxic element that damages human health and the environment, even in low concentrations. In humans, mercury exposure is associated with problems such as kidney damage, neurological impairment and delayed cognitive development in children.
But Australia is yet to ratify an international treaty to reduce mercury emissions from other sources, such as the dental industry and coal-fired power stations. This is our next challenge.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison visiting a sugar cane farm in 2019. Mercury-containing pesticides will be banned. Cameron Laird/AAP
A mercury disaster
Mercury became a popular pesticide ingredient for agriculture in the early 1900s, and a number of poisoning events ensued throughout the world.
They include the Iraq grain disaster in 1971-72, when grain seed treated with mercury was imported from Mexico and the United States. The seed was not meant for human consumption, but rural communities used it to make bread, and 459 people died.
In the decades since, most countries have banned the production and/or use of mercury-based pesticides on crops. In 1995 Australia discontinued their use in most applications, such as turf farming.
Despite this, authorities exempted a fungicide containing mercury known as Shirtan. They restricted its use to sugar cane farming in Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
According to the sugar cane industry, about 80% of growers use Shirtan to treat pineapple sett rot disease.
But this month, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority cancelled the approval of the mercury-containing active ingredient in Shirtan, methoxyethylmercuric chloride. The decision was made at the request of the ingredient’s manufacturer, Alpha Chemicals.
Shirtan’s registration was cancelled last week. It will no longer be produced in Australia, but existing supplies can be sold to, and used by, sugar cane farmers for the next year until it is fully banned.
Workers and nature at risk
Over the past 25 years, Australia’s continued use of Shirtan allowed about 50,000 kilograms of mercury into the environment. The effect on river and reef ecosystems is largely unknown.
What is known is that mercury can be toxic even at very low concentrations, and research is needed to understand its ecological impacts.
The use of mercury-based pesticide has also created a high risk of exposure for sugar cane workers. At most risk are those not familiar with safety procedures for handling toxic materials, and who may have been poorly supervised. This risk has been exacerbated by the use itinerant workers, particularly those from a non-English speaking background.
Further, in the hot and humid conditions of Northern Australia, it has been reported that workers may have removed protective gloves to avoid sweating. Again, research is needed to determine the implication of these practices for human health.
To this end, Mercury Australia, a multi-disciplinary network of researchers, has formed to address the environmental, health and other issues surrounding mercury use, both contemporary and historical.
Australia is yet to ratify
The Minamata Convention on Mercury is a global treaty to control mercury use and release into the environment. Australia signed onto the convention in 2013 but is yet to ratify it.
Until the treaty is ratified, Australia is not legally bound to its obligations. It also places us at odds with more than 100 countries that have ratified it, including many of Australia’s developed-nation counterparts.
Australia’s outlier status in this area is shown in the below table:
Accession, acceptance or ratification have the same legal effect, where parties follow legal obligations under international law.
Mercury-based pesticide use was one of Australia’s largest sources of mercury emissions. But if Australia ratifies the convention, it would be required to control other sources of mercury emissions, such as dental amalgam and the burning of coal in power stations.
If Australia ratified the Minamata Convention, it would provide impetus for a timely review and, if necessary, update of mercury regulations across Australia.
Emissions from coal-fired power stations in Australia are regulated by the states through pollution control licences. Some states would likely have to amend these licences if Australia ratified the convention. For example, Victorian licences for coal-fired power stations currently do not include limits on mercury emissions.
Australian environment authorities have been examining the implications of ratifying the convention. But progress is slow.
The issue of mercury emissions does not attract significant public or political attention. But there is a global scientific consensus that coordinated international action is needed.
The pesticide phase-out and ban is an important step. But Australia still has a way to go.
AN Innisfail sugar cane farmer has reduced his fertiliser use by 20 per cent, without affecting yield.
Third-generation cane farmer Sam Spina, who farms alongside brother Michael, said implementing simple changes had both increased profitability, while providing beneficial environmental outcomes.
Mr Spina started making changes two years ago, planting bean fallow crops and varying fertiliser application rates across his paddocks.
The results have been pleasing, with the brothers reducing fertiliser use from 160kg per hectare to 120kg per hectare – a reduction of 20 per cent.
Mr Spina said he had started planting bean fallow crops two years ago with the help of a new tractor partly financed through the Reef Trust IV program.
He said as a small farm, they would not have been able to do so without the program delivered by the Wet Tropics Sugar Industry Partnership.
“As a small farm we couldn’t have afforded it otherwise,” he said. “We re-plant cane on
four to five hectares and plant beans on the same number of hectares each season to
increase the nitrogen in our soil in a more natural way.”
He then accessed an all-of-farm nutrient management program, also developed by WTSIP officers last year as part of a free service to growers.
“We had a really good look at the soil tests and matched the fertiliser blend to those tests,” Mr Spina said.
“We changed fertiliser and reduced it, and experienced no productivity losses.
“We’re still up around 90 tonnes (of cane) per hectare, depending on the weather and the season.
“We saw in the soil tests that some paddocks needed more super phosphate in the ratoons so we also changed that.
“Our fertiliser box is on GPS now so we can automatically adjust the rate as we go.”
The family’s farm is about 1.5km from the Johnstone River and 8km from the ocean, and Mr Spina said they had also laser levelled their land and reshaped drains to help improve water quality.
“Laser levelling helps to produce a more even crop and it’s also helping with water quality,” he said.
“With the grassed headlands and drains as well, when the water runs off the paddock it moves slowly and goes into the spoon drains first so any sediment can settle.”
Mr Spina said changes that began as cost-saving initiatives had become much more as growers became more environmentally aware.
“Over the years cane growers have become a lot more aware environmentally – we’re grassing our headlands, trash-blanketing, applying fertiliser underground, getting water samples.
“If there is fertiliser coming off our paddocks, we want to know about it so we can fix it.”
The Spinas are one of 39 Wet Tropics growers to receive tenders to reduce fertiliser use on their farms.
WTSIP chair Joe Marano said one the main benefits of the system was that growers could choose the practice changes they believed would be most effective on their farm.
“They’ve been trialling a range of different ways to reduce nitrogen – from using controlled-release fertilisers or applying mill mud to growing legumes as a source of nitrogen and buying specialised equipment,” Mr Marano said.
“These growers have been able to reduce their use of nitrogen fertiliser without affecting their yields – a good result for profitability and for water quality.”
