From the Chair

BY OWEN MENKENSChairman, CANEGROWERS

CANEGROWERS ’ Policy Council members met in Brisbane last month to discuss some of the big challenges and opportunities facing our industry, and to receive updates on the work being undertaken on behalf of growers.

There were plenty of informative sessions, and lively debates were had on issues like load restraint laws, biofuels, Smartcane BMP, and mill performance.

One of the biggest topics of discussion centred on how CANEGROWERS promotes itself, and how we inform members and others about what we are doing.

In today’s world, fewer people are watching local news or reading local newspapers. Instead, they are getting their news and information from social media, whether that’s Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, X or Tik Tok.

This is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, social media is an inexpensive way for organisations to get their messages out directly to members and the wider community. Anyone with an internet connection can chime in, and they do, often with incorrect, misleading, or outright false statements.

One thing that became clear from the discussion around communications is we need to do better at communicating our actions, initiatives, goals, and achievements to growers.

Communication is a team sport. As an organisation we regularly post information on social media about what we are working on, the benefits of membership, etc.

But as district directors we often don’t share those messages with growers on the ground as well as we could or should.

One of the quickest and simplest ways we can do this is to ensure we ‘like’ and ‘share’ social media messages from our local district office and CANEGROWERS Queensland.

But we also need to ensure we’re spreading the positive messages about our organisation in person, whether that’s face-to-face or over the phone with our fellow growers.

If we, as elected grower representatives, can’t or won’t talk up our industry body, how can we expect anyone else to.

Since becoming Chair of CANEGROWERS Queensland, I try to get to meetings at every district every year, to inform growers as much as possible. We also do a lot of TV, radio and newspaper media, as well as member emails and, of course, this magazine.

But a yearly meeting is not enough. District directors need to ensure they are informed about what their organisation is doing at local and state level, and they need to constantly share those messages.

The issues discussed at the Policy Council are always varied and detailed, and we have achieved some wonderful outcomes in many areas.

One of the best outcomes was the work done in the transport space. As many of you know, in April this year the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) took over as regulator for many of our cane transport haulage.

There was concern that there would be a crackdown on haulage equipment due to load restraint. Fortunately, following a lot of discussions with NHVR representatives, we have reduced a lot of pressure on our industry.

Growers still need to be vigilant and make sure there are no spilled billets on the road, otherwise fines will come.

Taking a whole of industry approach to this problem by including millers, growers and contractors is the best way to take the pressure off our industry.

There is still more work to do in this space and we will continue to work with authorities, but reducing spillage is the main priority going forward.

The other issues we discussed were the current industrial issues, the electricity tariff changes, and the immense amount of work we have undertaken in the education sector.

This work is all about getting into schools and providing teachers with positive, curriculum-aligned material about our industry and the many families it supports.

The other major issues which we have worked on is mill viability, mine development on agricultural land, and Smartcane BMP Module 4. We will continue to work with all parts of the industry and government to get results in these areas.

I would also encourage all growers who are STL shareholders to fill in the recently received Member Status Declaration to prove they active growers.

STL is finally doing something about their dry shareholders, and it is important all active growers fill in these forms.