Biosecurity
Working to protect Queensland sugarcane farms from pests and diseases
Australia’s biosecurity system is fundamental to the success of agriculture. CANEGROWERS advocates at local, state, and federal levels, for an innovative, adequately resourced and efficient system that:
- minimises the risk of incursion by new pests or diseases,
- ensures any incursion is detected quickly, and
- has plans and agreements in place to ensure collective responses to an incursion is rapid and effective.
CANEGROWERS also recognises that biosecurity is a shared priority for governments, industry, and the broader community, and that our industry must have a proactive approach to identifying the priority biosecurity threats and having strategies in place to inform eradication or containment of any incursions.
Key areas of work:
CANEGROWERS participates in national and state committees and agreements that improve our preparedness for any new pest or disease, including arrangements for the management and funding of eradication programs. CANEGROWERS is a member of Plant Health Australia and is the industry signatory to the Emergency Plant Pest Response Deed.
CANEGROWERS supports and oversees eradication programs for pests or diseases that are a threat to sugarcane crops. For example, CANEGROWERS supports and oversees the eradication program for red witchweed, a parasitic plant that is currently contained to several farms in the Mackay region. Eradication should occur by the end of 2025.
CANEGROWERS worked with other peak industry bodies to successfully combat the proposed introduction by the Federal Government of a new biosecurity levy on all farmers. This was actually a new tax for shifting the cost of national biosecurity systems onto the agricultural sector. CANEGROWERS continues to lobby for a levy on shipping containers to ensure adequate funding, as importers create much of the risk of pest and disease incursions.
CANEGROWERS works closely with Sugar Research Australia to ensure industry priorities for biosecurity research, communication and training are identified and resourced. For example, SRA is conducting field trials in PNG to ensure we are prepared for an incursion of moth borers, a major pest of sugarcane crops in other countries. This work is evaluating the impact of soil-applied systemic insecticides to ensure we have integrated control methods available in case these borers do enter Australia.
CANEGROWERS has ongoing advocacy work in relation to the eradication of fire ants, and cost-effective management of feral pigs.
