Funding commitment recognises hard work and an exciting future

OWEN MENKENS, CANEGROWERS CHAIRMAN

FOR the best part of a decade, Queensland’s cane growers have been working hard to improve farming practices, making their businesses more profitable, efficient, sustainable and improving environmental outcomes.

Those efforts have resulted in 40 per cent of Queensland’s total cane-growing area now being independently accredited as farming at or above industry best standards.

It’s a figure that many other agricultural sectors would love to replicate, but that doesn’t mean cane growers are resting on their laurels.

The industry-led best management practice program, Smartcane BMP, the driving force behind this remarkable achievement, recently received Phase 4 funding from the Queensland Government.

This $4.47 million cash injection over the next three years is a recognition of the tremendous results this program, and participating growers, have achieved to date.

Growers across the industry have embraced the program, which validates the changes they are making on-farm to provide positive environmental outcomes while improving their bottom line.

And while 40% might be the official figure, the actual figure would be much higher when you consider the number of growers implementing best practices on their farms but have yet to seek accreditation.

But Smartcane BMP is much more than an effort to meet environmental targets. It is one of the cornerstones of the industry’s future sustainability strategy.

Global sustainability frameworks have recognised the program as meeting their rigid standards for sustainably produced sugar.

This means that a significant and growing percentage of Queensland’s sugar can now be marketed as sustainable. This is hugely important in a world where consumers increasingly demand sustainably produced products.

To assist with this effort, CANEGROWERS, in conjunction with KMPG, has developed and trialled a blockchain platform allowing Australian sustainable