When Crops Are Lost, Recovery Should Mean More Than Just Cleanup
Flooding across North Queensland has left many communities facing a long and costly recovery. Homes, businesses, roads, and farms have all been affected, and getting back to normal will take time.
Crushing end to the season
Another crushing season has ended, and once again, Queensland’s sugarcane growers are counting the cost of a broken milling sector.
Time to bring the cane back to Queensland classrooms
There’s something truly special and iconic about sugarcane. Grown along 2000km of Australian coastline, from Grafton in northern New South Wales to the fringes of the Daintree in the tropical far north, it’s been a cornerstone of Queensland’s…
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Sugarcane at the heart of many regional communities
There has been much talk in the news recently about the struggles of Mossman mill and what the mill’s closure might mean for the local community. Thankfully, the mill has been given a lifeline, with a mystery investor stepping in at the eleventh hour with a plan to save the factory and, in turn, the sugarcane…
Worker shortage threatens season success
It’s hard to believe we’re almost into March. It seems like only yesterday we finished the 2023 sugarcane harvest, yet here we are, just 13 weeks out from the 2024 crush. While officially a quiet period in the industry, there is still plenty of work underway. Maintenance is the primary activity, with machinery being…
Better planning needed to protect prime farming land
Turn on the news these days and without fail you’ll hear reports on either the cost-of-living crisis or the housing crisis, or both. In many respects they are related. Prices are going up and whether it’s buying groceries or paying rent, people are struggling to make ends meet. For many people, especially in our…
Councils must do more on pest management
Footage of ‘rafts’ of Red Imported Fire Ants being swept along by floodwaters in the Rocky Point district and news reports of a nest being discovered near Wardell, 100 kms south of the Queensland border, has left the general public considering something they don’t often think about – biosecurity. For farmers,…
Sadly, fairness is something we must fight for
Happy New Year! I hope readers had a peaceful and relaxing break over the Christmas period and are feeling motivated for all those New Year’s resolutions as we head into 2024. It’s shaping up to be a big year on the agricultural advocacy front, with local government elections looming in March and the state election…