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…
Time to mend fences in the sugarcane industry
The simmering frustrations in Queensland's sugarcane industry boiled over recently, as growers and millers locked horns over an issue that’s been dragging on for years – the difficulty of getting the crop crushed on time.
Bright spots in a frustrating season
Once again, Queensland’s sugarcane growers are battling through a challenging season, marked by harvesting delays and frustrations with mill performance.
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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…
Next election vital for our regions
The 2024 Queensland State Election is now less than a year away and already we’re seeing some soft campaigning by the major parties. We can expect these campaigns to ramp up markedly over the coming months as the pollies vie to secure your vote. However, it’s not just the political parties who will have plenty to…
Free trade should include a fair go for farmers
As I write this column, Australia’s trade minister is preparing to meet with his European counterpart to discuss, and possibly even agree, a free trade agreement with the EU. Unfortunately, I don’t have a crystal ball, so I can’t foresee the outcome of those discussions. However, if the whispers filtering out from…
Working together we can achieve much
Disunity is death - it’s a phrase you often hear bandied about, especially in politics. And it’s true, of course, in all aspects of life. Since humans first started battling each other with clubs and stones, the importance of presenting a unified front has been clear. Whether it’s warfare, politics, disaster…
Time for sugar marketers to step up
Earlier this month, a ship loaded with Queensland sugar sailed up the River Thames to the Tate & Lyle Sugars refinery in London. It was the first tariff-free shipment of Australian sugar exported to the United Kingdom in half a century, making it a pretty big deal. As a result, plenty of newspaper column inches,…