QUEENSLAND cane farmers have their eyes firmly set on meeting increasing market demands for sustainably produced sugar.
CANEGROWERS chief executive officer Dan Galligan said 80 growers, managing 16,000 hectares of cane land, gaining accreditation under the industry’s Smartcane BMP program in 2017. Another 50 growers planned to undertake accreditation in the first few months of 2018.
Mr Galligan said the accreditation showed the buyers of Australian raw sugar, and our communities, that farms were operating at or above best practice standards, benefiting the environment and ensuring productivity and profitability for farmers.
“More than 70 per cent of Queensland’s cane farming land is now part of this program and 248 growers are accredited in the three modules which are most relevant to water quality outcomes for the Great Barrier Reef,” Mr Galligan said.
“With the 2017 harvest wrapping up in the second week of January, many more Queensland growers are now spending this traditional quiet, growing time collating the farm records needed to meet the accreditation requirements.”
Queensland’s growers produced close to 31.5 million tonnes of sugarcane in the 2017 season. The average CCS (cane sugar content reading) across the state was a respectable 13.4.
“It was indeed a challenging season particularly for those areas impacted by Cyclone Debbie – Proserpine, Mackay, Bundaberg and Rocky Point,” Mr Galligan said. “I thank the harvesting crews who worked to cut the damaged cane and deal with the flood debris littered through paddocks.
“The loss from Debbie was at least 800,000t of cane and 0.5 units of CCS which means a loss of income of around $50 million to these regions.
“Reasonable weather conditions after the cyclone softened the impact somewhat but this is still a significant hit in one season.”
Mr Galligan said the weather, world sugar market volatility and crop performance will, as always, be the big determinants of success for growers in 2018.
“We are closing in on some important market milestones as food manufacturers commit to purchasing sustainably sourced sugar,” he said. “Some of these commitments are as close as 2020 and CANEGROWERS is working to ensure Queensland farmers and their sugar are ready.
“The Smartcane BMP program content is already full aligned with the international sustainability standard, Bonsucro, and we are talking about Smartcane BMP with major world food manufacturers.
“We are the world’s most trade exposed sugar industry with no price supports and 80pc of what we produce is sent to export. CANEGROWERS members know their future viability depends on meeting what the market demands and Smartcane BMP is our most effective way to demonstrate sustainability, setting the record straight on how our quality Queensland sugar is grown.”
