From the Chair

BY OWEN MENKENS, Chair, CANEGROWERS

Christmas has come and gone, and I hope everyone had a fantastic festive season.

Unfortunately, in some districts the holiday season didn’t quite live up to its name, with harvesters still out the paddocks cutting cane across a number of districts. This is deeply concerning for growers. We simply should not be harvesting at this time of year.

With the wet weather setting in, farmers and harvesting crews are being forced to push and pull machinery through muddy paddocks.

But rain is not the only problem. In many regions, mill performance remains a major obstacle, preventing growers from completing their harvest.

Late ratoons and harvesting in wet conditions ultimately reduces cane production in the long term, impacting growers, millers, and local communities.

The costs of standover cane and lower CCS levels are borne directly by growers, who rely on the crush being completed in a timely manner.

Mills understand that longer crushing seasons will inevitably reduce cane availability in the long term, so why do some regions continually experience these extended seasons?

Mills are highly technical operations that require skilled, dedicated personnel and regular capital investment to maintain efficiency and reliability.

This has been true since the first sugarcane was grown in Australia and remains the case for sugar mills worldwide, many of which face similar challenges.

Workforce shortages are a significant issue in Australia, however, our industry offers a lifestyle advantage, given the regions and communities in which our mills are located.

We must continue to promote our industry and regions to attract the best and brightest people.

However, the question remains – what can CANEGROWERS do about mill performance?

While performance clauses in cane supply agreements can provide some compensation, most growers would prefer an earlier finish to a small payout.

We continue to work with mills at both local and state levels to find solutions.

Sharing information about costs on both sides could help address these challenges, and benchmarking mill reliability across regions has already provided valuable insights.

Moving forward, we hope to improve mill performance for the long-term viability of our industry.

2024 was a busy year for CANEGROWERS and we look forward to tackling the challenges ahead in 2025.

Let’s hope world sugar price remains strong so the industry can continue to prosper.