Harvest winds down

The final countdown has begun, with Queensland’s 2023 sugarcane crush rapidly winding down across the state.

Bundaberg was first to cross the line, with Millaquin Mill tipping its final bin on 7 November, followed closely by the Isis and Maryborough districts the next day.

At the time of writing, the Northern and Burdekin regions had both cut and crushed more than 90% of their crops, with the central region just over 80% complete.

More than 25 million tonnes of a 29 million tonne crop have now been crushed, and, weather permitting, the industry is on track to complete the harvest well before Christmas.

This is an improvement on last year, when wet weather, workforce shortages, and poor mill performance saw the crush extend into mid-January for the first time ever.

Unfortunately, the earlier finish this year is also a result of last season’s late finish, as the crop had less time to grow and we had between one and two millions tonnes of cane less to cut.

Despite this, 2023 has generally been a good year for the industry. Sugar prices have continued their record-breaking climb, while sky-high fertiliser prices have dropped back to more reasonable levels.

The industry’s best management practice program, Smartcane BMP, has continued to build momentum, with over 42% of Queensland’s total sugarcane land now accredited in the program.

To those outside agriculture it may be unclear just how significant this is. To put it in into context, many other ag industry BMP programs, which have been running much longer than Smartcane BMP, are still struggling to make it into double digits.

It hasn’t all been good news this year, however. At opposite ends of the industry, sugar mills are struggling to stay afloat.

In the south, Rocky Point Mill is only halfway through its crush, which was delayed for month’s due to problems with the mill’s co-generation plant. This perennial problem is a source of great frustration and anxiety for local growers, who are also dealing with the scourge of fire ants.

Meanwhile, Queensland’s northernmost mill, Mossman, announced this week that it was going into voluntary administration. Negotiations are underway to try to find a suitable lifeline for the mill, but right now, its future remains uncertain.