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June–July 2016 Australian Sugarcane — 1

JUNE–JULY 2016

COVER Australian SugarcanePO Box 766, Toowoomba, 4350. Phone: (07) 4659 3555. Fax: (07) 4638 4520. Email: [email protected] – www.australiansugarcane.com.au DELIVERY ADDRESS: 120 Herries Street, Toowoomba, Qld. 4350

EDITOR: Brian O’Connell PRODUCTION MANAGER: Mick Allan ASSOCIATE EDITORS: David Dowling ACCOUNTS: Deb Meddleton Lloyd O’Connell NATIONAL ADVERTISING MANAGER: Michael Cook (0428 794 801)

ADVERTISING: Phone (07) 4659 3555 Fax (07) 4638 4520 E: [email protected]

CONTENTS OF ADVERTISEMENTS are the responsibility of the advertisers. All statements and opinions expressed in Australian Sugarcane are published after due consideration of information gained from sources believed to be authentic. The following of advice given is at the reader’s own risk, and no responsibility is accepted for the accuracy of the matter published herein. No portion in whole or part may be reproduced without permission of the publisher. Copyright 2016.

Published by Berekua Pty. Ltd., 40 Creek Street, Brisbane, Queensland. Registered by Australia Post Publication No. PP100008014. ISSN 1442–5157.

PUBLISHED: FEBRUARY, APRIL, JUNE, AUGUST, OCTOBER, DECEMBER. AUSTRALIAN SUGARCANE ANNUAL

Applying liquid imidacloprid to ratoon cane on the Burdekin. Growers can protect their crops from canegrub damage and minimise imidacloprid in runoff water by applying liquid

imidacloprid products to ratoon cane only as required, and strictly according

to label directions.

See article on 5.

Digital agricutureand big data

Imidacloprid in waterways of concern

Cheap energy for farm businessesIN

SID

E

Print Post Approved Publication No. PP100008014

JUNE–JULY 2016Volume 20, No. 3 $7.70

Contents… 2 Editorial

4 ACFA commentary

8 Digital agriculture and big data in Australian farming

12 SCHLOT to deliver big data on cane harvesting

15 Imidacloprid in waterways of concern

17 A new solar option: Cheap energy for farm businesses

19 Marketing: Crystallising Australia’s sugar flow into Asia

Water Efficiency Feature…

20 Extracting biogas from cane processing waste water

21 Solar hybrid pumping system

22 Modern Machinery Matters: Service sets up flat-out harvesting season

24 Classic Tractor Tales: Safety last

27 News & New Products

29 District Reports

34 Fishing: Phil gets a little ‘crabby’

www.australiansugarcane.com.au

Eight page Next Gen Farmer Issue 20 in the centre of this

magazine.

YOU will have noticed that there are some nice sugar prices out there – tantalisingly close but yet so frustratingly distant

when it comes to locking some in. The Cane Supply Agreements that have been the focus of attention for the industry for so long remain far from ‘agreed’ in many instances.

Sugar has been one of the best performing commodities this year, with the price rise largely attributed to a significant supply shortage together with political upheaval in Brazil, the world’s largest sugar-producing country.

Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff was suspended and faces impeachment over accusations she broke budget accounting rules.

It seems that with the country in recession, the vote to remove Ms Rousseff was welcomed by currency traders. That’s given the Real some upward movement and this in turn gives some upside to the sugar price.

And when they say the country is in recession – they mean it’s up to its proverbials in recession!

The hosting of the Olympics has put Rio – and by extension Brazil – under the international media spotlight. It’s not enough that our para-olympians in training get mugged; or that the mossies are carrying a rare but very, very nasty virus; or that you get body parts washing up on the beach next to the volley ball arena – there’s more.

If you thought the local police or municipal service could be doing something about this then you would be disappointed to learn that, such is the depth of the recession, these instrumentalities apparently can’t afford to put fuel in their vehicles!

And speaking of viruses – which I have been a victim of lately and not just in this editorial – you sometimes forget

what an impact technology has had on our lives and our workplaces.

We have an article on Big Data in this issue – well we were lucky to have any data at all, big or small in the magazine because we had a virus! It wasn’t the one with lots of sneezing, it was more the one with lots of swearing!

A computer virus is an enthralling thing, just talk to your local IT specialist and he or she will wax lyrical for many gigabytes of hours about the cleverness of the many different species. But

try and work when you have one and the thrill rapidly chills.

As I write I’m struggling with every aspect of getting words onto the page. My computer is at the shop, Therese’s computer is different to my computer, her operating system is different to my operating system (and that’s not just a ying and yang thing), and frankly I had trouble turning it on – the computer that is.

It’s been a timely reminder of how dependent we have become on the technology that drives our lives. My diary is – or at least was – an electronic one. Where it, and the schedule that was to be my life in the coming months, have gone, I do not know – my life is now a clean slate! And I can remember when a slate was the height of modern technology in the classroom. Well I think I can remember, because I can’t find my diary where I’m sure to have written, or at least typed, it down.

So if you wish to take issue with anything in this edition please remember I had/have a virus. Well at least you won’t be able to email me with your concerns, and the way my Telstra reception is you won’t be able to call me either, and forget about snail mail, it takes a week to get anywhere. Anyway I think I might fly to Rio, my Mortein, my body bag and my jerry can of fuel in hand.

2 — Australian Sugarcane June–July 2016

Delivering big data on cane harvestingA new online tool is giving growers, harvester operators and millers access to new and detailed information to help inform discussions around optimising harvesting efficiency.

See article . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 12

Water Efficiency FeatureAustralian industry has been very concerned in response to environmental challenges and willing to take action to ensure environmental viability where technologies such as waste water-to-energy can be proven to work.

See articles starting . . . . . . . . 0

Safety lastI recently had occasion to be at the premises of a tractor dealership and observed the hot tap in the kitchen had a sign above it stating Danger – hot water! Another sign stated Danger – floor may be wet! Yet another sign, this time near the workshop exit, alerted everyone to the fact that they should Beware of Tractors! Gosh!

See article . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 24

In this issue...

Editorial… by Brian O’Connell, Editor

For generations New Holland has been part of the Australian landscape and in true Aussie spirit we are offering

True Blue Deals across our entire range of T-Series Tractors. Included as standard is our attractive low rate finance and a

3-year peace of mind warranty. Plus with the RTK option bundle you can upgrade to the IntelliSteerTM guidance package.

ON ALL T-SERIES TRACTORS FROM NEW HOLLAND

So for a fair go visit your local New Holland Dealer.

THE 2016 crushing season is underway in stop-start fashion after two east-coast

lows opened the floodgates over cane fields along the coast. With large areas of lodged cane, southern Queensland and northern NSW wait nervously for the cold weather to pass without frost events. Precious harvest time has been lost and with promising crops in the field, we need favorable conditions to avoid a late finish.

The implementation of Grower Choice in sugar marketing is still in progress as we move to put contracts in place for the 2017 season and beyond. The current high sugar prices have increased the pressure on everyone to put in place On Supply Agreements between mills and QSL in order for farmers to price their Economic Interest sugar.

Sugar priceThe sugar price has risen to dizzying heights with the October

2016 reaching 20.22 c/lb – a level not seen since mid-2012. At the height of the rise, information circulated that the demand for sugar has declined in some markets, which served to slow the price upsurge.

Energy pricesThe Queensland Competition Authority (QCA) has just

delivered this determination, which applies for small businesses, farmers and irrigators.

According to QFF, Electricity prices are set to climb again from July 1, 2016 by between 11.2 and 15.8 per cent, with irrigators on transitional tariffs facing increases of the order of 12.3 per cent. Queensland irrigators and farmers cannot continue to sustain significant yearly price increases for electricity. Tariffs for irrigators have risen by 120 per cent since July 1, 2007 representing almost a decade of double-digit price increases.

Bonsucro AmbassadorsBonsucro has appointed two ambassadors: Robert Quirk and

Dr. Gopinathan M.C.Robert has recently retired from the Board of Directors after

seven years of formal service to Bonsucro (as first Chair in 2009, until retirement in 2016) and was appointed by the Board as the first Bonsucro Ambassador to Australia in March 2016.

Dr. Gopinathan M.C. currently works as a consultant to the Farmer Support Program in India and plays a pivotal role in bringing 14 mills and 200,000 farmers into Bonsucro. He consistently works to increase the profile of Bonsucro in India, and coordinated the consultation on the revised Production Standard in India in March 2014, which brought together a large number of stakeholders from all areas of the

R&DSRA will receive a major research investment boost,

thanks to a new $5.5 million announcement as part of the Commonwealth Government’s Rural R&D for Profit Program. Losses from mechanical sugarcane harvesting have been conservatively estimated to cost the Australian sugarcane industry $150 million per year. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Agriculture, Barnaby Joyce, announced a new project to address this major issue as part of round two of the Rural R&D for Profit Program.

SRA Chairman Dr Ron Swindells said that the industry already understood that significant amounts of sugar was lost during the mechanical harvesting process, with further issues associated with future ratoon crops of cane, and overall sugar quality. SRA has identified reducing the losses from mechanical harvesting as one of four priority Impact Areas of research investment.

BiosecurityThe Biosecurity Act 2014 will come into effect on July 1,


ACFA COMMENTARY

Crushing season off in stop-start fashion

O By Stephen Ryan, General Manager ACFA

Stephen Ryan.

Visit www.qsl.com.au to register online or call 3004 4400 to make an appointment to discuss our 2017-Season products.

REGISTER NOW FOR 2017 MARKETING CHOICE WITH QSL

Your Trusted Partner

SINKER® fungicide from Crop Care controls primary infections of sugarcane smut and pineapple disease in sugarcane.

Developed in conjunction with industry research body, BSES Limited, SINKER contains fl utriafol, a highly soluble and systemic active ingredient in an easy to use formulation, with excellent activity against these two diseases.

SINKER® is compatible with Chlorpyrifos 500EC, Shirtan®, Senator® 700WG and Astral® 250EC which provides fl exibility with disease and insect pest management.

Reduce the detrimental impact on sugarcane yield from sugarcane smut and pineapple disease today.

For further information, contact your Crop Care sales representative or Crop Care Customer Service on 1800 111 454.

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2016. It is constructed to ensure a consistent, modern, risk-based and less prescriptive approach to biosecurity in Queensland.

The Queensland Biosecurity Regulation has now been made public. The Queensland Sugar industry is working with the Queensland Government and the NSW sugar industry to implement procedures for the approval of varieties and also the transfer of plant material and machinery between biosecurity areas.

Agriculture Minister Leanne Donaldson has revealed next week’s State Budget will include $10.8 million over four years to begin to implement the 32 recommendations of the Biosecurity Capability Review.

Vegetation management lawsThe Vegetation Management Bill is currently before the

Queensland Parliament. QFF has recommended that the Bill be rejected outright in its current form and that Government should lead an open and constructive consultation process.

QFF has highlighted concerns about a number of aspects of this Bill, and potential impacts on the rights of landholders and the opportunity to stimulate the economic development and the growth of jobs in rural and regional Queensland. They assert that the Bill goes considerably beyond reinstatement to introduce new requirements and prohibitions on landowners.

Agricultural industries and rural communities deserve to be properly consulted on this legislation in order to achieve a workable outcome that has positive triple bottom line outcomes and therefore does not threaten the viability of our rural industries and communities.

Great Barrier ReefThe Australian Institute of Marine Science reports that mid

and outer-shelf reefs within the Townsville Sector of the Great Barrier Reef continue to show signs of recovery, five years after suffering significant damage during Cyclone Yasi in 2011. The latest Long Term Monitoring Program surveys report that the key coral reef health indicator, live coral cover, has increased on 11 out of the twelve reefs surveyed since the previous surveys in 2014 and 2015. Coral cover on seven of these reefs is the highest it has ever been since they were first surveyed by ‘manta tow’, over 30 years ago.

Despite this upward trend, the surveyed reefs did not escape recent warm ocean conditions that affected the Great Barrier Reef. Bleaching was apparent on all reefs and was highest on the outer reefs, where between 10 to 30 per cent of the coral community has bleached. This level of bleaching is consistent with other reefs surveyed in the central sector of the GBR. Coral loss (mortality) as a result of bleaching was, at the time of the surveys, very low.

The Palaszczuk Government will use recommendations from Great Barrier Reef Water Science Taskforce to allocate its $90 million over four years to deliver cleaner water for a healthy Reef. The Taskforce, chaired by Chief Scientist Dr Geoff Garrett, has recommended a greater focus on innovation, education support for farmers and expanded monitoring of water quality.

On May 29, the Queensland Government announced that it would provide $3 million to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation over the next three years, provided the private sector and philanthropists match it dollar for dollar to fund projects that will boost the resilience of the Great Barrier Reef.

Wishing you all a safe and profitable harvest season. O


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Improving nitrogen use efficiency: cane growers beating the odds in the face of some of the most unpredictable rainfall on the planetIn Australia’s cane belt – one of the toughest areas in the world to manage nitrogen – ENTEC® Enhanced Efficiency Fertiliser is gaining a firm foothold among forward-thinking growers and the agronomists who advise them.

IPF 2016 PRODUCTIVITY REPORT

“We’re under pressure and have to lift our game” 45-year veteran cane grower Graeme Blackburn shares his experience …

Now in his fifth year using ENTEC, Graeme couldn’t be more serious about its benefits and importance.

“In my eyes, it’s a clear choice. If you want to reduce the risk of leaching and denitrification, this is the product to consider.

“I’m getting a great response. Every year my crops are getting better, more consistent. I can’t say for certain that’s all due to ENTEC. But I can say this: I’m just not losing as much nitrogen. It’s a win-win – for me, and for the environment.”

IPF Technical Agronomist Rob Dwyer knows all too well the fertiliser dilemma cane growers are up against.

“Getting nitrogen into the ground is one thing,” Rob says. “Getting it into the crop is another thing entirely. With some of the world’s most extreme and unpredictable rainfall, no one can predict exactly when a rainfall event will occur

– let alone how much will fall at any one time. “Yet that’s the biggest risk factor in nitrogen

use efficiency.” Rob continues. “An extended dry stretch or a single rainfall event can potentially derail nitrogen uptake – and crop yield – for an entire season.”Nitrogen loss to the environment is also a worrying issue. So the growing body of evidence suggesting Enhanced Efficiency Fertilisers (EEFs) are one of the best available protections against nitrogen loss is big news for growers and environmental stewards alike.

2013 Herbert EEF Trial: Top Line Results*

UREa BLEND(150kgN/ha) as ‘Standard Practice’

ENTEC UREa BLEND(150kgN/ha)

Cane yield tc/ha 54 82Additional Return $/ha relative to Standard Practice** $0 $671

*Less harvesting, levies & fertiliser costs. Calculated at sugar price $450, harvesting and levies cost $9 per tonne of cane, fertiliser cost $650/t for urea blend, $800/t for ENTEC blend.

**a) 150 kgN/ha as determined the the ‘Six-Easy-Steps’ guidelines b) as an NPKS blend without EEF c) determined by banding & incorporating into the soil.

Herbert ‘Sustainable Farming Systems Group’ + DSITIA (QG ) + HC PSL Evaluate effectiveness range EEF fertilisers. T9 x R4, small plot, randomised CBD. 4 x Products, IPF PCU3, Urea, ENTEC, Agrocote. 2 x N rates, 110 & 150 kgN/ha. Zero N (control)

Calculations and data provided by Herbert Cane Productivity Services Limited (2013). Incitec Pivot Fertilisers does not represent and warrant the accuracy of this information. Incitec Pivot Fertilisers

makes no representation that the yield improvements achieved in these trials are applicable to every farming situation, on all occasions. As local soil, climate and cultural practices vary considerably Incitec Pivot Fertilisers makes no representations or warranties as to the reliability, completeness or suitability for any particular purpose of the information provided. Before using these products, users should consult their local agronomic advisor. To illustrate the potential significance of the results certain assumptions were made about sugar price, harvesting and fertiliser costs to give an indicative revenue per hectare. There are obvious limitations to these assumptions since they do not reflect all labour, land holding costs or other expenses. Actual results may vary. Factors such as weather and environmental conditions, soil condition and other variables will impact the results growers obtain.

2013 Herbert Trial: Bracing against the ‘perfect storm’

ENTEC does one simple thing that can make a dramatic difference to nitrogen use efficiency: it keeps nitrogen stable in the soil for longer.This offers the possibility of a reduction in nitrogen loss and the potential for cane and sugar yield gains.

In one soon-to-be published trial of an ENTEC treated blend v. an untreated urea blend, the trial area received no rain for two months after fertiliser was applied

– then a single rainfall event saturating everything. ENTEC produced 51.8% greater yield than untreated urea.

“With EEFs, farmerscan happily stick to the6 Easy Steps rate andmaximise the potentialfor enough nitrogen toget into the crop”Farmacist Director and grower/government consultant Rob Sluggett provides his perspective …

With almost five years of nitrogen use efficiency research and field trials under his belt, Rob has seen some clear results and opportunities.

“We saw significant and consistent reduction in nitrogen loss with both polymer coated urea and ENTEC. But ENTEC has consistently been the best performer.

“I think farmers have a real opportunity to use EEFs to reduce nitrogen losses – not just from run-off, but from leaching and denitrification too”

®ENTEC is a registered trademark of EuroChem Agro GmbH. Incitec Pivot Limited is licensed to distribute ENTEC in Australia Incitec Pivot Fertilisers is a registered trademark of Incitec Fertilisers Limited ABN 56 103 709 155. Incitec Pivot Fertilisers is a business of Incitec Pivot Limited ABN 42 004 080 264.

To find out more about ENTEC’s potential to reduce nitrogen loss and increase yield, see your local accredited ENTEC dealer or IPF representative, or visit entecfertilisers.com.au

Improving nitrogen use efficiency: cane growers beating the odds in the face of some of the most unpredictable rainfall on the planetIn Australia’s cane belt – one of the toughest areas in the world to manage nitrogen – ENTEC® Enhanced Efficiency Fertiliser is gaining a firm foothold among forward-thinking growers and the agronomists who advise them.

IPF 2016 PRODUCTIVITY REPORT

“We’re under pressure and have to lift our game” 45-year veteran cane grower Graeme Blackburn shares his experience …

Now in his fifth year using ENTEC, Graeme couldn’t be more serious about its benefits and importance.

“In my eyes, it’s a clear choice. If you want to reduce the risk of leaching and denitrification, this is the product to consider.

“I’m getting a great response. Every year my crops are getting better, more consistent. I can’t say for certain that’s all due to ENTEC. But I can say this: I’m just not losing as much nitrogen. It’s a win-win – for me, and for the environment.”

IPF Technical Agronomist Rob Dwyer knows all too well the fertiliser dilemma cane growers are up against.

“Getting nitrogen into the ground is one thing,” Rob says. “Getting it into the crop is another thing entirely. With some of the world’s most extreme and unpredictable rainfall, no one can predict exactly when a rainfall event will occur

– let alone how much will fall at any one time. “Yet that’s the biggest risk factor in nitrogen

use efficiency.” Rob continues. “An extended dry stretch or a single rainfall event can potentially derail nitrogen uptake – and crop yield – for an entire season.”Nitrogen loss to the environment is also a worrying issue. So the growing body of evidence suggesting Enhanced Efficiency Fertilisers (EEFs) are one of the best available protections against nitrogen loss is big news for growers and environmental stewards alike.

2013 Herbert EEF Trial: Top Line Results*

UREa BLEND(150kgN/ha) as ‘Standard Practice’

ENTEC UREa BLEND(150kgN/ha)

Cane yield tc/ha 54 82Additional Return $/ha relative to Standard Practice** $0 $671

*Less harvesting, levies & fertiliser costs. Calculated at sugar price $450, harvesting and levies cost $9 per tonne of cane, fertiliser cost $650/t for urea blend, $800/t for ENTEC blend.

**a) 150 kgN/ha as determined the the ‘Six-Easy-Steps’ guidelines b) as an NPKS blend without EEF c) determined by banding & incorporating into the soil.

Herbert ‘Sustainable Farming Systems Group’ + DSITIA (QG ) + HC PSL Evaluate effectiveness range EEF fertilisers. T9 x R4, small plot, randomised CBD. 4 x Products, IPF PCU3, Urea, ENTEC, Agrocote. 2 x N rates, 110 & 150 kgN/ha. Zero N (control)

Calculations and data provided by Herbert Cane Productivity Services Limited (2013). Incitec Pivot Fertilisers does not represent and warrant the accuracy of this information. Incitec Pivot Fertilisers

makes no representation that the yield improvements achieved in these trials are applicable to every farming situation, on all occasions. As local soil, climate and cultural practices vary considerably Incitec Pivot Fertilisers makes no representations or warranties as to the reliability, completeness or suitability for any particular purpose of the information provided. Before using these products, users should consult their local agronomic advisor. To illustrate the potential significance of the results certain assumptions were made about sugar price, harvesting and fertiliser costs to give an indicative revenue per hectare. There are obvious limitations to these assumptions since they do not reflect all labour, land holding costs or other expenses. Actual results may vary. Factors such as weather and environmental conditions, soil condition and other variables will impact the results growers obtain.

2013 Herbert Trial: Bracing against the ‘perfect storm’

ENTEC does one simple thing that can make a dramatic difference to nitrogen use efficiency: it keeps nitrogen stable in the soil for longer.This offers the possibility of a reduction in nitrogen loss and the potential for cane and sugar yield gains.

In one soon-to-be published trial of an ENTEC treated blend v. an untreated urea blend, the trial area received no rain for two months after fertiliser was applied

– then a single rainfall event saturating everything. ENTEC produced 51.8% greater yield than untreated urea.

“With EEFs, farmerscan happily stick to the6 Easy Steps rate andmaximise the potentialfor enough nitrogen toget into the crop”Farmacist Director and grower/government consultant Rob Sluggett provides his perspective …

With almost five years of nitrogen use efficiency research and field trials under his belt, Rob has seen some clear results and opportunities.

“We saw significant and consistent reduction in nitrogen loss with both polymer coated urea and ENTEC. But ENTEC has consistently been the best performer.

“I think farmers have a real opportunity to use EEFs to reduce nitrogen losses – not just from run-off, but from leaching and denitrification too”

®ENTEC is a registered trademark of EuroChem Agro GmbH. Incitec Pivot Limited is licensed to distribute ENTEC in Australia Incitec Pivot Fertilisers is a registered trademark of Incitec Fertilisers Limited ABN 56 103 709 155. Incitec Pivot Fertilisers is a business of Incitec Pivot Limited ABN 42 004 080 264.

To find out more about ENTEC’s potential to reduce nitrogen loss and increase yield, see your local accredited ENTEC dealer or IPF representative, or visit entecfertilisers.com.au

To find out more about ENTEC’s potential to put more dollars in your pocket, see your local accredited ENTEC dealer or IPF representative.

®ENTEC is a registered trademark of EuroChem Agro GmbH. Incitec Pivot Limited is licensed to distribute ENTEC in Australia. Incitec Pivot Fertilisers is a registered trademark of Incitec Fertilizers Limited ABN 56 103 709 155.

Count on ENTEC for: Protection against leaching

Protection against denitrification

Improved crop uptake under conditions where leaching and / or denitrification potentials exist

Protection against cane climate uncertainties

Potential for improvements in your cane and sugar yield

ENTEC® is a treatment that keeps nitrogen stable in the soil for weeks, even months longer than with untreated Urea.

Nitrogen management is a constant challenge for Australian cane farmers. Some of the most unpredictable rainfall on the planet makes every fertiliser application a gamble. Plus pressure to reduce nitrogen losses makes efficiency a higher priority than ever.

Make your nitrogen work harder with ENTEC treated fertiliser.

More cane more gain

This experiment was conducted with urea in a moist acidic chromosol (Pin Gin) soil at 25˚C (pHw 4.5) (60% water filled pore space). Source: Suter et al. (2008)*Unit of Measure is micrograms (μg NH

4+ N/g soil)

This experiment was conducted with urea in a moistacidic chromosol (pin gin) soil at 25C (pHw 4.5) (60% water filled pore space). Source: Suter et al. (2008)

*Unit of Measure is micrograms (µg NH4+ N/g)

1500

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0

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

INCUBATION TIME (DAYS)

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M N

ITR

OG

EN

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NC

EN

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*

ENTEC UREA

GRANULAR UREA


AGRICULTURE has experienced two major revolutions over the past century. The first was the mechanical revolution that occurred in the years between the first and second

world wars, during which time horsepower was replaced by mechanical power, with dramatic improvements in productivity. The second was the scientific revolution (often referred to as the green revolution) which occurred over the period from the late 1960s to the late 1990s, and involved the application of well-developed science to the sector, again resulting in significant productivity increases.

And now the digital agriculture revolutionIt is probably reasonable to argue that agriculture is now

undergoing its third major revolution, the digital agriculture revolution. This revolution has been made possible as a result of the dramatic reduction that has occurred in the cost of digital and computer technology, and the adaption of this technology in farm implements and farm monitoring applications.

The recently released Australian Farm Institute research report, The implications of digital agriculture and big data for Australian agriculture, represents 12 months of investigation into digital technologies and big data for agriculture.

The research investigated how digital technologies being used in agriculture are generating large amounts of data sufficient for ‘big data’ analytics. In the early 1990s global positioning systems (GPS) technology enabled the accurate positioning and automatic guidance of agricultural implements. Rather than just positioning and controlling agricultural implements, digital agriculture relies on the recording of geo-located data tied to agricultural operations.

While there has been more development to date of digital agriculture in cropping there are rapidly increasing applications in other sectors. The main benefit of digital agriculture is the ability to make informed management decisions based on quantitative data at a much higher level of precision than was previously possible.

Significant yield gainsThe use of digital agriculture systems enables farmers to

change from paddock and herd average management, to square metre and individual animal management, with reported subsequent increases in farm productivity. Gains of the order of 10–15 per cent have been recorded in cropping systems.

OwnershipIn a very rapidly developing environment, there is much

uncertainty about the rules that govern how the new digital environment should operate. Codes of practice for data use and ownership are detailed in this report. The codes provide workable arrangements which are not overly restrictive for service providers, and which give sufficient confidence to farmers.

For the benefits of digital agriculture to be realised in the form of increased productivity, huge amounts of data need to be captured, transferred and analysed. The research looked at how this process occurred in the US and details some of the impediments currently limiting the same processes occurring in Australia.

Data transfer in the US is aided by well-developed telecommunications infrastructure, which is lacking in Australia. Poor mobile communications networks and data transfer ability in Australia in some cases makes digital agriculture technologies expensive and practically unusable.

Open data platforms have been embraced in the US which means that farmers can transfer data between implements and software platforms with very little loss of functionality. Open data platforms have also encouraged a competitive environment in data storage and management, leading to innovative new applications. These same approaches have not yet been adopted in Australia.

While Australian agriculture will undoubtedly benefit from technology spill over, some underpinning elements of the US system, such as detailed soil maps and high intensity weather data, are not available in Australia and will require dedicated resourcing and research.

Farm Institute members can download the report from the Members’ Library; non-members can purchase copies for $77 – visit: http://www.farminstitute.org.au/ O

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A NEW online tool is giving growers, harvester operators and millers access to new and detailed information to help inform discussions around optimising harvesting

efficiency. The sugarcane harvest loss optimisation tool (SCHLOT) was developed by Norris ECT with investment from SRA – the tool brings together information about harvesting practices and costs, and distils this down into a simple and readable tool for all three sectors of the industry.

How it worksSCHLOT is based on the Norris Crop Value Model, which

has been developed over more than 15 years, based on a combination of published Australian and International research, and unpublished research trials within Australia and overseas.

The model defines the ‘pre-harvest’ crop, in terms of the

physical and chemical properties of crop components, and the respective yields. The model then looks at the impact on the yield and properties of each component of each step of the harvest process or machine interaction (eg. burning, topping, basecutting, feeding, billeting and so on).

Pre-harvest burningWhen a crop is burned prior to harvest, as well as destroying

a lot of unwanted fibre (leaves), recoverable sugar is reduced. Losses are related to heat of burn, and can exceed six per cent. Burning also significantly increases the rate of deterioration of the cane after harvest.

ToppingIn an even erect crop, cane loss is minimised and up to 80

per cent of the tops will be removed with minimal cane loss. In a lodged crop, topping is usually ineffective.

Gathering and feedingGathering and feeding an erect crop results in limited damage

to the stalk as it enters the harvester feedtrain. The more heavily lodged the crop, the greater the damage: this impacts on billet quality, losses and rate of deterioration.

BilletingEvery time the stalk is cut, juice is lost. Because juice is stored

in the stalk at above atmospheric pressure, the juice actively escapes from each cut. As such, ratio of juice lost:fibre lost is higher than the ratio of juice:fibre in an uncut stalk. Billeting not only results in a loss of total mass, but also increased fibre%cane and reduced Brix/Pol in Cane and CCS. As well as the immediate loss of sugar through billeting, juice begins to deteriorate on exposure to oxygen – the shorter the billets, the more exposure, and the faster the deterioration. Similarly, the greater the damage to billeted cane, the higher the immediate losses and higher the higher the rate of deterioration. Hot weather seriously exacerbates these problems.

Based on BSES Chopper test rig work, an immediate total mass loss of up to 10 per cent can occur with ‘10 blade’ choppers at short billet length settings, with even greater losses with ‘12 blade’ systems. Subsequent BSES research, and recent International research has found that actual lost CCS (tonnes CCS per hectare) is up to double this.

CleaningCane loss through the extractor is widely recognised as the

largest source of loss to the industry in green cane, and can be significant in burned cane. Cane loss is impacted on by the amount and characteristics of leafy trash, pour rate, billet length and billet diameter, and of course, fan speed. Conditions (rainy v dry) and crop characteristics (trashiness and clinginess of trash) also have a major impact on actual trash levels in the cane being sent to the mill.

Bin-weightBin-weight is a major factor in harvesting costs, and the cost

to the mill of transporting cane is also one of its biggest costs. Low bin-weights increase costs, but across the industry bin-weights are generally reducing, despite reducing billet lengths.


SCHLOT to deliver big data on cane harvesting

The SCHLOT model looks at the impact on yield and properties at each step of the harvest process.

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MillingThe grower is paid by the miller, based on the CCS of the

delivered cane, minus a nominal crushing fee of four units of CCS. The CCS formula was initially developed for hand-cut cleaned green cane. Higher trash levels artificially inflate recoverable sucrose, as well as reduce the processing rate and recovery of both the milling house and the boiling house. SCHLOT uses the standard CCS analysis formulas on the product which is assumed to relate to different harvesting settings, to determine farmer payment. SCHLOT then used a series of other research findings to determine the impact of the different cane products on mill performance and probable recovery, as well as probable molasses production. Transport costs, milling rate, and the value of sugar and by-products impact on mill profitability

SCHLOT can be utilised by the mill in communication with harvesters and growers to assist in the management of the value chain, including allocation of bins.

Application

GrowersNegotiations with harvesting contractor – Growers and

harvesting contractors often have competing priorities. Where the grower’s return is driven by recovered yield, and more importantly, cane quality (CCS), the harvesting contractor is generally paid only on tonnes recorded at the mill, regardless of quality. As a result, the contractor does best financially when he minimises his per tonne cost of harvesting. This will rarely result in the grower maximising his return from the crop. In order to avoid this compromise, the contractor either has to absorb higher operating costs for no reward, or the grower needs to pay more for harvesting, without being able to quantify the benefit.

SCHLOT puts all the information on the table, and lets the grower and contractor jointly find a harvesting strategy and price that puts more money in both pockets.

HarvestersCalculate actual harvesting costs – Harvester operators can

calculate actual harvesting costs, and the required charge rates tailored to cover costs depending on the field, crop, conditions and instructions from the grower.

Calculate benefit of slowing down – The contractor can offer his customers a ‘premium’ or ‘value added’ service, tailored for different blocks, and at a cost which reflects actual cost differences above ‘standard practice’. SCHLOT analysis indicates that in some fields, there are limited net benefits of this option, where-as in other fields the net benefit can be several hundred dollars per hectare.

Negotiating tool – Growers and harvesters can arrive at a harvesting strategy and corresponding cost that leaves both parties better off. Finding the ‘fair’ price for an optimised harvesting strategy both maximises returns for growers, and ensures the viability of harvesting contractors.

MillersWhole value chain modelling – Millers can evaluate the

impact of different harvesting behaviours on the whole value chain, including transport costs, milling rates, sugar recovery and bagasse and molasses production.

Calculate incentives – The generic Australian Cane Price Formula does not give a good measure of the ‘value’ of cane to the mill. Because of this, many millers have established incentive programs to drive alternative harvesting strategies and outcomes.

Consultants/FinanciersTailored products for consulting and finance users are

available, and allow users to conduct detailed scenario analysis, risk assessment and reporting.

SCHLOT can be accessed via the website: www.schlot.com.au or via the SRA website: www.sugarresearch.com.au/ O


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WATER-MONITORING over several seasons by university and government agencies has shown increasing levels of imidacloprid in rivers and streams in central and

northern Queensland.No detailed studies have been undertaken to examine

or confirm the sources of stream contamination. But with widespread use of the insecticide imidacloprid for cane grub control, sugarcane fields are potentially a major contributor.

This is of concern to the sugarcane industry, which promotes retention of applied crop treatments within the farm boundary by minimising off-farm loss in runoff water – for both economic and environmental reasons.

The two main formulations of imidacloprid registered for use for cane grub control are liquid suspensions (such as Confidor Guard) and controlled-release granules (such as suSCon maxi Intel).

The liquids are applied annually for controlling canegrubs, while the controlled-release granules protect the crop for three to four years from one application to the plant crop.

suSCon maxi Intel is the latest controlled-release granular imidacloprid to be developed from a long-term research and development partnership between Crop Care Australasia and the sugar industry.

Losses from liquid vs controlled-release formulations

A two-year study from 2013 to 2015 in the Burdekin and Herbert regions was conducted by Crop Care to determine the propensity for imidacloprid to be lost in runoff water from canefields; to see if this differed between furrow-irrigated and raingrown cane; and to determine if there was a difference between liquid imidacloprid treatment vs controlled-release granules at recommended rates and application methods.

In conjunction with the Burdekin Bowen Integrated Floodplain Management Action Committee (BBIFMAC) trials were set up in plant cane and continued into the first ratoon, with concentrations of imidacloprid measured in runoff water from

both irrigation and rainfall events.Varying levels of imidacloprid were measured in runoff water

at both sites – in many cases at concentrations high enough to cause concern.

Over the life of the study, imidacloprid levels varied with the type of runoff event (rainfall or irrigation) and the form in which imidacloprid was applied:

O Runoff from rainfall contained higher concentrations of imidacloprid than runoff from irrigation.

O The imidacloprid formulation had a major influence on concentration in runoff water. Imidacloprid losses from rows treated once in the plant crop with controlled-release suSCon maxi Intel granules were substantially (5.8 times) less than losses from rows treated with liquid imidacloprid in both plant and first-ratoon crops.

O The farming system and crop-cycle stage had very little influence on results.Crop Care marketing manager

Chris Ramsey said the study provided vital information to the sugarcane industry for continuing development of its environmental credentials and best-practice, efficient cane-growing.


Imidacloprid in waterways of concern

FIGURE 1: Average imidacloprid (ppb) in run-off water per event in ratoons, Burdekin 2014–15

*Indicates rain-fed runoff.

Crop Care marketing manager Chris Ramsey.

San Dimas flumes installed by the Burdekin Bowen Integrated Floodplain Management Action Committee (BBIFMAC) to measure runoff at the Herbert site, connected to automatic-sampler recording in a covered trailer.

5.8 times more imidacloprid in runoff from liquid vs controlled-release

“This is the first study to directly measure imidacloprid levels in runoff from cane fields.

“The stark fact is that the use of a liquid imidacloprid has the potential to cause imidacloprid levels in runoff water an average of 5.8 times higher than from the use of controlled-release suSCon maxi Intel. Over the duration of the two-year study, imidacloprid levels in runoff ranged from 4 to 58 times higher for liquid formulations vs controlled-release granules.

“One of the key findings was that loss from a liquid formulation moved earlier in the run-off profile, with the highest levels consistently detected within the first 3 mm of runoff.

“By contrast, loss from suSCon maxi Intel-treated plots was much lower and relatively constant; required more runoff events to reach its peak; and was less prone to large losses from rainfall.”

Even an extended period between application and a large rainfall event did not change the outcome. “At the Burdekin site, a large rainfall event – 82 days after a ratoon-crop application of liquid imidacloprid and 438 days after application of suSCon maxi Intel to the plant crop – caused 110 mm of runoff. Losses from the liquid-treated ratoons were 4.1 times the level of losses from suSCon maxi Intel.”

He said rainfall was clearly the driver of increased losses, with up to 14 times more liquid imidacloprid lost per millimetre of runoff from rainfall, compared with runoff from irrigation.

“The volume and intensity of rain also strongly influenced the loss of Imidacloprid. The controlled-release matrix of suSCon maxi Intel was superior in retaining imidacloprid in the placement zone and preventing large imidacloprid doses being available in the soil for runoff loss, compared with liquid imidacloprid.”

Chris also highlighted that correct application of liquid imidacloprid products did not prevent significant runoff loss, as initially had been believed to be the case. Run-off losses still occurred when placement was deep in the furrow.

Recommendations to growersChris said recent years had seen the sugar industry’s

widespread adoption of best management practices (BMP) and environmental initiatives.

“The findings of this study will help canegrowers to further fine-tune their farming efficiency and environmental credentials.”

He said growers could continue to both protect their crops from canegrub damage and minimise imidacloprid in runoff water by:

O Monitoring cane fields for risk of canegrub infection prior to planting and after harvesting. Risk will depend on history of infestation; proximity to fields with damaging canegrub levels; and (in some species), the presence of grubs in the row after harvest.

O Using suSCon maxi Intel to treat the plant crop in at-risk fields. The crop will then be protected against canegrub damage for three to four years.

O Applying liquid imidacloprid products to ratoon cane only as required, and strictly according to label directions for canegrub control. O


San Dimas flumes installed by the Burdekin Bowen Integrated Floodplain Management Action Committee (BBIFMAC) to measure runoff at the Burdekin site.

Applying liquid imidacloprid to ratoon cane at the Burdekin site.

WITHIN the agricultural industry, most businesses believe that energy prices can be a burden. In these businesses where heavy machinery and equipment is required for

long hours, energy costs are a constant. So it is not surprising that businesses in this industry have been quicker than those in other sectors of the economy to realise the benefits of solar.

For Terry Burgi, owner of Burgi’s Coolstores, based in Victoria’s Yarra Ranges, the decision to go solar was an easy one. With a storage facility that requires 24 hour refrigeration, as well as an irrigation system, he was concerned about his energy costs but also interested in reducing his carbon footprint.

Since installing his system, Terry has already started to see the benefits of energy cost savings and having a positive impact on the community and the environment.

“Carolyn and I basically have a philosophy of leaving things better than we found them,” says Terry. “And part of that philosophy is to utilise something like solar energy that cuts down on the demands on the wider electricity grid – and it’s cheaper.”

No capital expenditure optionWhile Terry purchased his solar system outright, Origin has

recently launched a new service that allows business owners to access solar power at a low rate during the day without capital expenditure in a solar system.

According to Phil Mackey, General Manager, Solar and Emerging Business, Origin, “Solar as a Service provides business with a simple way to save money on their energy bills by providing them with access to low cost solar energy at a lower price than they are presently paying for their grid energy.”

“Plus the business does not have to pay for the system or


AT A GLANCE O Businesses seeking Solar as a Service have a relatively

consistent and solid base load energy requirement. Any business with adhoc or low energy requirements during daylight hours will see reduced benefits from solar. To drive the best economic return, aim to off-set energy usage rather than producing more energy than the site requires (and exporting it into the grid).

O Savings will vary based on location, roof tilt, roof orientation, amount of available roof space, the percentage of electricity they use during the day and grid electricity rates and structure (now and into the future). Essentially each system is tailored to the specific requirements of the business.

O The ideal unshaded roof would be north facing with a 20–30° tilt (location dependent).

A new solar option: Cheap energy for farm businesses

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LOOK UP FOR YOUR MATES

worry about ongoing maintenance as Origin owns the system and looks after all this. This option is ideal for companies with unshaded roof space, who plan to be in their premises for the long term and who operate during the day.”

Businesses can ensure that they keep the same rate for up to 15 years, protecting them against any future electricity price hikes, or they can choose a CPI indexed rate.

“We know from customers that being more environmentally

friendly is of concern – especially those who use a lot of energy or operate on 24/7 basis. So offering Solar as a Service is enabling companies to cross two things off their list – saving energy bill costs and doing their bit for the environment,” says Phil Mackey.

“The amount that each business can save will depend on their daytime energy needs, roof space, the size of the system installed and the length of their Solar as a Service agreement (see Tables 1 and 2).

“The service is something that adds great benefit to not only a company’s cash flow but also to their green credentials too. And, at the end of the day, it gives companies a solution for some of their biggest and ongoing considerations,” Phil said.

More information on how solar works can be found on: https://www.originenergy.com.au/for-home/solar/about-solar.html

More information on solar for business can be found on the Clean Energy Council website: http://www.solaraccreditation.com.au/consumers/purchasing-your-solar-pv-system/solar-pv-guide-for-businesses.html O


The ideal roof for solar panels faces north and depending on your location has a 20 to 30° slope.

TABLE 1: Approximate unshaded roof space requirementsSystem size (kW) Required unshaded roof space (m2)

1 1010 100100 1,000

1,000 10,000

TABLE 2: Various agribusiness scenarios and possible savings from Solar as a Service (SaaS)Sector Location System size

(kWs)Estimated

annual consumption (kW hours)

Estimated % energy

powered by solar

Current grid supplied elec

rate (cents)

Proposed SaaS rate

(with no CPI indexation)

Estimated potential

savings over 15 year term

Animal farm NSW 28 100,000 34% 21.40 cents 13.60 cents $71,000Animal farm NSW 14 52,000 31% 26.30 cents 13.60 cents $38,000Produce farm QLD 24 106,177 30% 22.50 cents 12.70 cents $74,500Animal farm NSW 50 300,000 25% 16.40 cents 10.00 cents $139,000Animal farm NSW 35 122,240 37% 21.50 cents 11.40 cents $116,111Produce farm NSW 28.5 151,960 23% 21.99 cents 11.82 cents $73,861Produce farm NSW 23.92 97,970 32% 22.00 cents 11.80 cents $71,763

*Actual savings will depend on customer’s particular circumstances, including daily consumption levels and patterns, and any restrictions imposed by local electricity distributor or network currently or in the future. Any potential financial benefit will also depend on applicable grid electricity rates during this Agreement. These rates are likely to change in amount and potentially structure over the duration of this Agreement.

Step UP! 2017

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITY Harvesting the Next Gen of farmers to step up and take the reigns

Step UP! 2017


Step UP! 2017


Issue 20

June 2016 NextGen Farmer 1

To discuss sponsorship opportunities please contact: Alicia Opajdowska – P: (07) 3839 1900; E: [email protected] or Gerard Puglisi – M: 0428 988 136; E: [email protected]

ii NextGen Farmer June 2016

EditorialBy Stephen Ryan

Next Gen is full steam ahead planning for the next biennial gathering of upcoming industry

participants. Building on the hugely successful 2015 Case IH Step UP! Conference, which attracted more than 180 delegates, Next Gen is putting together the Step UP! 2017 Conference, to support the next generation of the Australian sugar industry.

Next Gen’s Step UP! Conference will be held over three days in mid to late March 2017 in Mackay Queensland. A central location will be chosen to capitalise on the surrounding sugarcane farming regions, aiming at encouraging young farmers, millers, harvesters and researchers to gain the skills to take the reins of our industry.

With this theme in mind, we are looking for likeminded organisations to show support to the incoming generation and be on-hand to share knowledge with industry participants that will assist in the future development of their careers.

As before, the Step UP! Conference will not be your typical conference. The content will be exciting and progressive and the speakers will address topics such as:

O Best farming practise; O Precision farming; O Sugar marketing; O R&D; O Agricultural engineering and technology; and, O Succession planning and financial products and planning. O

Next Gen Farmer GPO Box 608, Brisbane QLD 4001 Tel: (07) 3839 1900 Fax: (07) 3839 1911 E: [email protected]

Delivery address: Level 3, 447 Upper Edward Street Spring Hill, BRISBANE QLD 4000

Editor: Stephen Ryan Administration: Alicia Opajdowska Next Gen Officer: Gerard Puglisi

Mob: 0412 417 717 E: [email protected]

Next Gen Farmer, Issue 20 Published June 2016 ISN 2201-7240

The Australian Cane Famers Association (ACFA) produces Next Gen Farmer. Views expressed within are not necessarily those of the ACFA.

FRONT COVER: Step UP! 2017Building on the hugely successful 2015 Case IH Step UP! Conference, we invite you to share your company’s brand and products with more than 200 young and established farmers and agricultural industry stakeholders from around the world at Step UP! 2017.Where: Mackay.When: Over three days in early 2017.

ContentsEditorial iiGenerational knowledge – sharing is critical in agribusiness iii Connecting the paddock to the plate iviGEN for the next-gen vQSL Update – Marketing GEI sugar – pricing and performance comparisons viGraduate supply for agriculture – a glimmer of hope viiiNext Gen contacts viii

Thank you to our partners

June 2016 NextGen Farmer iii

CBA’s Geoff Wearne believes the survey results highlight the value that experienced farmers bring to the sector.

Research from Commonwealth Bank shows that Australian farmers continue to seek the wisdom of their parents when learning how to run their farm businesses,

even as the sector becomes more complex and globalised.The research, part of Commonwealth Bank’s bi-annual Agri

Insights survey, finds 70 per cent of Australian farmers first learned about managing an agribusiness from their parents.

Geoff Wearne, Executive General Manager Regional and Agribusiness Banking, Commonwealth Bank, says the survey results reflect the unique generational structure of the industry and highlight the value that experienced farmers bring to the sector.

“The handing down of farm business knowledge remains critical to Australia’s agribusiness sector,” Geoff said.

“This intergenerational link is very strong and is a trait not seen to this extent across other business sectors. Our research has shown that parents are key first teachers of farm business across all states and commodity types.”

When asked about the agribusiness topics they see as most complicated to understand 41 per cent of survey respondents said risk management, while 22 per cent said financial markets and 15 per cent referred to e-commerce.

“Managing risk is a crucial part of agribusiness, but there are so many variables to consider. Strategies around foreign exchange risk, interest rate risk and commodity price risk can be very complex to understand,” Geoff said.

“Many farmers see the value in developing a deeper understanding of these topics because they can have a direct impact on their profitability and sustainability.”

When it comes to essential financial management skills, the research shows farmers have their eyes on the bottom line, with budgeting and cash flow management among the most important financial skills identified.

“Farmers recognise that setting budgets and managing cash flow is a vital part of successful business and the foundation on which more sophisticated business management strategies need to be built,” Geoff said.

Overall, 48 per cent of surveyed farmers say budgeting is important, while 41 per cent say cash flow management is important. Other essential financial management skills identified by survey respondents include strategic planning, risk management and cent respondents include strategic planning, risk management and understanding all aspects of technology.

The latest survey shows farmers continue to have positive intentions around plant and equipment, fixed infrastructure and technology. Cotton, beef, sugar and dairy producers are the most likely to be planning to scale up their operations in the next 12 months.

“There is a continuing trend to increase investment not only in farm essentials like infrastructure but in innovation and updating technology. It is a very encouraging signal that the Australian agribusiness sector continues to focus on driving efficiencies in their businesses to capitalise on market conditions in their sector,” Geoff said.Key highlights

O Plant and equipment investment intentions are at their highest since the Agri Insights program was established in 2014, with 23 per cent of farmers saying they will increase their expenditure on plant and equipment in the next 12-months.

O 22 per cent of farmers say they will increase investment in technology, an increase over the proportion who planned to boost investment this time six months ago and this time last year.

O 17 per cent of cotton farmers say they will expand their enterprise, along with 12 per cent of beef producers, 11 per cent of sugar cane growers and 11 per cent of dairy producers.Agri Insights surveys 1600 farmers in relation to 14 areas

of farm business operation, including physical, financial and people components.For more details about Agri Insights visit www.commbank.com.au O

Generational knowledge – sharing is critical in agribusinessAT A GLANCE…

O Australian farmers learn from their parents and prioritise their bottom line, with budgeting and cash flow management seen as prime skills in the sector.

O Infrastructure, plant and equipment, and new technology are the leading investment priorities for Australian farmers.

O Investment intentions positive across almost every aspect of farm operation.

http://www.commbank.com.au

iv NextGen Farmer June 2016

Attendees at the AgriVictoria – State of Opportunity Summit in June in Melbourne had the unique opportunity to hear the story of one of Australia’s up-and-coming

agribusiness innovators.Twenty-nine-year-old Airlie Trescowthick, founder and

Managing Director of The Farm Table – www.thefarmtable.com.au – an online agri-resource portal designed to connect farmers and agribusiness professionals with relevant industry information, was the closing guest speaker for the Summit.

Raised on her family’s sheep and cattle farm at Holbrook in New South Wales, Airlie has a post-graduate degree, a career as an agri-economist with Macquarie Bank’s Paraway Pastoral, and a growing string of achievements to her name – last year she was named a ‘Tomorrow Maker’ when she received a AMP Foundation Grant to continue the development of The Farm Table.Great work there but hard to find

As a young producer returning to her family farm after completing a Masters of Food and Resource Economics at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada, Airlie often turned online to research and find production information. While the information was there, it took significant time to find.

To fill the gap, in 2015 Airlie put the hundreds of relevant websites bookmarked on her computer into one place and launched The Farm Table.

“There is so much wonderful work being done across the industry, but this often results in information overload for

those accessing it. Some sites are cluttered, whilst others are not continuously updated,” says Airlie. “To sustain and grow individual enterprises takes 100 per cent of a grower’s effort and there is often little or no time to engage with local farmers, let alone across the broader sector. The Farm Table tries to make things a little bit easier by bringing together handy resources in a central location.”

The Summit was delivered in partnership by the Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF), The Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria (RASV), ANZ and PwC to provide real pathways and connections between producers and business opportunities.

VFF President Peter Tuohey said: “If Airlie’s enthusiasm and energy for Australian agriculture is anything to go by, the future of the industry is looking bright. We’re thrilled the Summit closed on such an inspiring note.”Connecting Chinese and Australian agribusiness

Online Chinese agribusiness marketing portal www.e-letsgo.com founded by Mr. Zuo Zheng (James), also showcased how it is connecting Chinese agribusiness investors, importers and food distributors with Australian primary producers, exporters and property agents – a recent example being a three year dairy heifer supply agreement between MengDe Bright Dairies in China and Victorian genetics firm TLG.

Airlie and James were among an impressive line-up of farmers and industry experts to speak at the Summit on innovation, investment and technology opportunities available to drive Victoria’s $13.14 billion agriculture industry. O

Airlie Trescowthick, founder and Managing Director of The Farm Table.

Connecting the paddock to the plate

June 2016 NextGen Farmer v

If you’re heading to the Gold Coast at the beginning of August do yourself a favour and drop into the 18th Australian Cotton Conference. Particularly on Day 2 when

iGEN for the next-gen is on the program.Supported by Monsanto, the session features a number of

interesting speakers addressing issues common to all next gen/iGEN farmers – no matter their commodity sector:Stepping Up

Alex Malley – Alex is the chief executive of CPA Australia, a multi-national business with 19 offices globally and more than 155,000 members worldwide. He is the host of the Nine Network Australia series The Conversation and author of the best-selling book The Naked CEO. He has interviewed an array of impressive people, including first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong and continues to reveal the personal stories of influential and thought-provoking leaders.

Alex Malley, The Naked CEO.

How to Tell Your Agricultural StoryLynne Strong – at its peak Lynne Strong’s award

winning family farming operation provided the milk for 50,000 Australian breakfasts every day. Lynne’s role as the powerhouse behind the business has seen her win some of agriculture’s most prestigious awards including the inaugural Bob Hawke Landcare Award and the National Landcare Primary Producer Award. Lynne has a vision for agriculture as the strong, prosperous and vibrant building block underpinning the health and happiness of Australia’s landscape and people. Under the banner of Picture You in Agriculture, Lynne has brought together a team of experts to help young people develop the innovative ideas, tools and relationships they need

to create the next exciting chapter in the future of Australia’s agri-sector.

Lynne Strong, Picture You in Agriculture.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective PeopleJulia Telford – Julia Telford is Principal at Engage & Create

Consulting. This business exists to support small businesses and community organisations with business improvement, whether this be their people, marketing or strategy. As a result Julia travels across regional Australia delivering training, developing marketing and strategy plans with clients, or remaining at home in Goondiwindi and writing funding applications. The work is diverse and rewarding, just how she likes it!

Julia Telford, Engage & Create Consulting.

For more information visit: www.australiancottonconference.com.au O

If you’re reading this you probably don’t need me to tell you that the Next Gen concept is a good one. Since its inauguration I have been impressed by the energy and enthusiasm of all involved – and I’ve told people about it. So it probably won’t come as a surprise that the cotton industry is looking to embrace the concept – at this year’s Australian Cotton Conference iGEN is being introduced to the cotton world.

iGEN for the next-gen

http://www.australiancottonconference.com.au

vi NextGen Farmer June 2016

As the Queensland sugar industry transitions to Marketing Choice, it’s important for growers considering their marketing options to be able to make a fair assessment of

each provider’s product and performance claims.Some of the key things you ought to consider when

assessing performance-to-date as well as your options moving forward include:

O Are the prices quoted in Tonnes Actual or Tonnes IPS?

O Are the prices quoted gross or net values? O Are the pools being collectively priced by a pool manager

or are they individual grower prices, or even an aggregate of these?

O What is the pricing window over which the pools were priced over and is this the same for each pool being compared?

O Are the pools being compared representative of Uncommitted Sugar or Committed Sugar? and,

O Is the risk management strategy the same for each of the pools being compared?

Let’s clarify these concepts1. Are the prices quoted in tonnes actual vs tonnes IPS?

Tonnes actual price is calculated by using the relevant ICE 11 futures rate (which is in US cents per pound) and the conversion rate from US currency to Australian dollars. Even in this relatively simple calculation there’s room for different exchange rates to be used on any given day, dependent upon the currency rate secured (ie. it’s possible to lock-in the exchange rate ahead of time or secure the exchange rate at the time of pricing).

Tonnes IPS figure takes the calculation a step further, factoring in the IPS price adjustment (based on the Queensland average), and is closer to the final rate used in a grower’s cane pay formula. Generally speaking to convert tonnes actual into an IPS value you divide the tonnes actual price by 1.037. For example, $511 AUD/MT/1.037 = $492 AUD/MT IPS2. Are the prices quoted gross or net values?

There’s a comprehensive range of costs and charges associated with marketing (selling to customers), pricing raw sugar, financing advances and operating and shipping raw sugar from the industry’s six bulk sugar terminals. Under the QSL marketing system, these costs as well as any earnings, such as premiums and corporate income, are captured in the QSL

Marketing GEI sugar – pricing and performance comparisonsBy Bryce Wenham, QSL Finance Manager – Supplier Relations

Bryce Wenham, QSL Finance Manager – Supplier Relations.

June 2016 NextGen Farmer vii

Shared Pool, which is applied to every tonne of sugar which passes through the QSL system.

When assessing a pool or pricing result, it’s important to look at the net result. While a gross price may be attractive, it’s not the full picture and it’s certainly not your final result.3. Pools vs Individual Pricing

A pool is a quantity of raw sugar from one or more suppliers that is priced collectively, with the associated costs and revenues shared proportionately amongst pool participants. In the case of QSL pools, QSL makes the pricing decisions for a pool, with participants in that pool generally receiving the same price (subject to the potential for miller-specific costs and adjustments). This collective pricing approach frees growers from having to make pricing decisions for the life of the pool while at the same time enabling them to participate in the market over a potentially longer period of time than if they priced themselves.

Individual forward pricing allows growers to make the pricing decisions themselves and requires growers to nominate a minimum tonnage to be priced within a stipulated time period. Growers currently lodge these orders with their Miller, who then passes them on to QSL to execute. The prices achieved under this system can vary significantly from individual to individual, as each grower’s results reflect their own pricing decisions and risk strategies. Clearly, both of these types of pricing mechanisms have fundamental differences and so are not an appropriate like-for-like comparison. Nor is an aggregate of individual pricing a comparable measure for a pool result, as it reflects an average of multiple growers’ individual pricing decisions rather than a pool manager’s efforts.4. The pricing window

When comparing pricing results, it is important to ensure that the pricing conducted was across the same time period. For example, it could be deemed misleading to compare the results of a pool which runs for 12 months with a pool that runs across three years. The reason for this is they have different pricing windows, with the pool which runs for a longer period having more opportunity to wait for more favourable pricing opportunities. But this same pool is more exposed in a falling market and probably required a pricing commitment long before the pool with the shorter pricing window. So when assessing a pool manager’s performance, make sure the pricing periods are the same or at least similar, or you could be comparing different market activity more than the pool manager’s expertise at managing it.5. Committed tonnes versus uncommitted tonnes.

When comparing pool results it is important to determine whether the pools require a tonnage commitment. For example, the QSL Harvest Pool requires no commitment to deliver the nominated tonnage – hence it is an ‘uncommitted’ pool. Its primary purpose is to help manage production risk and in-season crop variations, and its pricing strategy reflects this priority. So while growers usually incur no penalty for failing to deliver their nominated tonnage, they do so in the knowledge

that the pool operates within strict pricing and sales parameters. In effect, they trade potential pricing opportunities for lower production risk. As their name suggests, committed pools require growers to commit to delivering a tonnage, and costs can apply for failure to do so. But due to the pool’s known and fixed tonnage, the pool manager usually has more flexibility to make pricing decisions.6. Risk parameters

When comparing pool results, it is essential that you look at what the pool aims to do and the associated levels of risk. Is this a pool that forgoes some pricing ability in order to manage production risk, like the QSL Harvest Pool? Does it give the pool manager more discretion to price or use financial instruments in return for an increased opportunity to secure higher returns, like QSL’s Actively Managed Pool? Does it seek to maximise returns by expanding the pricing window, like our Forward Season pool options? Or does it seek to manage risk and provide the security of a known minimum return in exchange of a reduced return above a set trigger price, like the QSL Guaranteed Floor Pool? Each of these pools serves an equally important purpose but can have vastly different results in exchange for the benefits available. But to compare their merits on pricing results alone can be misleading.

QSL provides detailed Product Description Statements for each of our pools. These cover each pool’s key characteristics and features, management strategies and mechanisms, its risk profile as well as growers’ rights and obligations should they choose to participate in it. You can find these documents as well as other important information about our pricing and payment arrangements in QSL’s 2016 Marketing Guide or via the Pricing section of our website. These sorts of details, as well as regular performance updates, will be pivotal when assessing your pricing options for the 2017 Season to ensure you are not only making an educated assessment of your options, but you are fully aware of the potential implications and obligations of any marketing or pricing options you eventually choose to undertake.For more information: Phone: 07 3004 4400; Email: [email protected] or visit www.qsl.com.au O

viii NextGen Farmer June 2016

Gerard Puglisi Next Gen Officer 0412 417 717 [email protected]

Gerard Padovan Mossman Rep 0416 034 953 [email protected]

Erik D’Uros Innisfail Rep 0428 247 405 [email protected]

Carl Menzel Burdekin Rep 0427 773 344 [email protected]

Hayden Quabba Mackay Rep 0400 266 012 [email protected]

Phil Deguara Mackay Rep 0417 796 468 [email protected]

Gavin Lerch Bundaberg/Isis Rep 0418 798 225 [email protected]

Josh Buchbach Bundaberg/Isis Rep 0427 559 095 [email protected]

Sam Mischke Rocky Point Rep 0423 399 281 [email protected]

Tracey Doherty NSW Rep 0455 107 792 [email protected]

Next Gen HQ (07) 3839 1900 [email protected] GPO Box 608, Brisbane, Q 4001Ne

xt G

en c

onta

cts

In 2012 the Australian Farm Institute published Jim Pratley’s occasional paper entitled Professional agriculture – a case of supply and demand. The paper outlined the decline

in the numbers of agricultural graduates each year and the mismatch between those numbers and the buoyant demand for agricultural graduates. It was a depressing picture overall.

Jim has provided an update on that publication and, while actual graduate numbers have continued to fall, new enrolments are up considerably and the agricultural job market remains very positive.

It seems school leavers are more interested in careers in agriculture than has been the case for quite a few years, if the latest enrolment figures for agriculture courses at Australian universities are any indication. From a low point in 2012 when there was just over 900 student intakes in Australian agricultural courses, the numbers commencing agricultural courses have

almost doubled to over 1500 enrolments in 2016 based on the latest unofficial data from the universities. While the reasons for this turnaround are not clear, there is no doubt that the decline of the mining sector, the recent strong performance of the agriculture sector, and a range of initiatives by industry groups and the universities have all contributed. While this is undoubtedly good news, there is no room for complacency.

Agricultural education in universities has been through a near death experience. The current indications are that the sector has now factored in the need for a strong positive image and good career paths in order to attract its workforce in the future. This in turn has attracted the attention of many young people who are now actively considering agriculture as a future career option. The prospects are encouraging but there is an ongoing need to continue the promotion.To view Jim Pratley’s feature article: www.farminstitute.org.au/newsletter/2016/May/feature O

Graduate supply for agriculture – a glimmer of hope

Many young people are now actively considering agriculture as a future career option.

mailto:[email protected]


ASIAN consumers are increasingly hungry for sugar, but Australia’s sugar industry will need to focus on productivity improvements and market access if it is to

continue to effectively compete in these key export markets, according to a new report.

The report, Crystallising the Sugar Flows in Asia, by agribusiness banking specialist Rabobank, says Australia’s sugar industry is heavily reliant on strong demand out of Asia, with our export industry relying on the gap in sugar production and consumption in key Asian markets for decades.

Accounting for 90 per cent of Australia’s raw sugar exports, Asian markets will continue to present medium-term growth opportunities, the report says, with the structural gap between production and consumption expected to widen by more than four million tonnes over the next decade.

Report co-author, Rabobank commodity analyst Georgia Twomey says the supply gap in Asia is critical to the future of Australia’s $1.3 billion sugar export industry, but increasing export volumes out of Brazil and Thailand have seen competition in key Asian markets intensify over the past 15 years.

While the outlook for Asia’s consumption growth is positive, the report says Australia’s four largest sugar markets – Korea, Indonesia, Japan and China – are all characterised by different growth patterns and government policies.

“On face value, Indonesia has the strongest growth potential for Australian sugar, with consumption expected to increase by an annual rate of 3.5 per cent over the next decade – but market access currently sits as an obstacle to the potential there,” Georgia says.

While China offers some, albeit constrained, scope for export growth for Australian sugar, Georgia says it will continue to absorb large volumes of Brazil and Thai origin sugar, creating opportunities for Australian product in other markets.

“Meanwhile, while consumption growth is likely to slow in the more mature markets of Korea and Japan, the strong market share held by Australia (particularly for product with specific quality demands) together with consistent import demand should see us retain, if not grow, market share,” she says.

Driving competitiveness through productivityThe Rabobank report says the world’s two largest exporters

– Brazil and Thailand – now account for more than half of the world’s sugar trade, with output increasing substantially due to capacity expansion and productivity gains – albeit, the rate of growth has slowed in recent years.

“After almost doubling milling capacity and cane production over the 10 years to 2010, Brazil’s production of cane has shown only a modest rise over the past few years,” Georgia says. “While sugar is currently more remunerative than ethanol, and even if sugar prices remained around current levels, it is unlikely that we will see a substantial amount of new investment in the Brazilian milling sector over the next three years, at least.”

Meanwhile in Thailand – which competes more directly with Australia in key export markets – production and exportable surplus is expected to increase, Georgia says, as the Thai

government focuses on the expansion of cane acreage and new mill infrastructure.

Georgia says in comparison, Australia’s production has stalled under the weight of disease and weather events in recent years.

“Potential for growth in supply in Australia, and indeed in maintaining export competitiveness is reliant on continued productivity improvement – as the yield gap with our competitors has closed significantly over the past few decades,” she says, “highlighting the need for R&D into new cane varieties, efficiency gains and soil health.”

Putting a price on free tradeIn addition to productivity growth, the report says “market

access and a level playing field for tariffs” will be critical for the Australian industry if it is to maintain competitiveness into Asia.

“Since 2013, Australia has negotiated free trade agreements with three of its four largest sugar markets and, although they have fallen short of meeting the industry’s demands, they have resulted in improved market access into Japan, and in the case of Korea brought Australia back to a level playing field with Thailand,” Georgia says.

“It is a different story in Indonesia, with the ASEAN AEC placing Australia at a trade disadvantage to Thailand, and this is expected to see Australia’s exports into Indonesia fall significantly this year.”

Georgia says while trade agreements, along with consumption growth and production shifts in destination markets would largely dictate Australia’s trade into Asia, the sector also needs to increasingly adhere to sustainability standards – as regulators and customers increase demands on the industry to minimise its environmental footprint. O

Crystallising Australia’s sugar flow into Asia

Rabobank commodity analyst Georgia Twomey says the supply gap in Asia is critical to the future of Australia’s $1.3 billion sugar export industry.

marketing

RECENT headlines about the effects of global warming and pollution on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef have underlined just how seriously industry must take the environmental

aspects of their business.There probably isn’t a single area of the country where

the effects of agribusiness and industry on local waterways and water tables is not the subject of vocal local scrutiny. This will only increase in intensity as urban communities and rural industries share water resources that are often declining in both quality and quantity.

The good news is – perhaps contrary to some public belief – Australian industry has been very concerned in response to environmental challenges and willing to take action to ensure environmental viability where technologies such as waste-to-energy can be proven to work.

Such proven technology is particularly critical to the fledgling ethanol industry in Australia, which seeks to take its place among the host of nations globally currently producing (in 2015) about 25 billion US gallons of ethanol, or roughly 100 billion litres. That’s more than five times the average amount of petrol used in Australia, where our annual ethanol production is only about 300 million litres a year (mainly from sugarcane, sorghum or grains, with activity focused particularly in Queensland and NSW).

But Australia is well placed to produce the best ethanol crops, in terms of energy content, including sugar cane, corn, sorghum and perhaps even cassava, which has been trialed here.

It used to be that some of these crops were difficult to process environmentally because expanding production would bring additional environmental strains to both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.

Sugar cane is a great source of energy-efficient ethanol. The drawback with the crop has been that the larger amounts of water used in its processing, which, until recent years, were too weak in their organic carbon concentration to yield profitable amounts of methane via proven biological waste-to-energy technologies.

These technologies are becoming viable in the cane sector as the industry has progressively used less water in recent

years. Reduced water usage has increased its waste stream concentrations to levels where it can be exploited for biogas production while significantly reducing effluent pollution.

Anaerobic biogas technology itself is now proven globally where the methane is applied to uses as diverse as generating electricity for local use, through to fuelling boilers and heat processes – typically replacing fossil fuels.

One company delivering a portfolio of treatment

technologies is Global Water Engineering (GWE). They have provided sugar refineries and mills with complete waste water treatment solutions in Thailand and Indonesia.

One sugar mill to use GWE technology is the United Farmer and Industry cane sugar mill at Khon Kaen in Thailand.

The anaerobic plant commissioned there has a capacity of 3500 m3 a day of waste water containing 22,750 kg a day COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) of natural origin that can be broken down into biogas by anaerobic bacteria.

Waste water effluent levels, meanwhile, have also benefitted substantially, with a minimum of 85 per cent removal of COD being achieved

In addition to substantial environmental benefit from cleaner water being treated in reactor tanks rather than lagoons, the United Farmers Plant achieves a supply of green energy that delivers energy savings virtually in perpetuity while reducing its environmental footprint. In addition, the reactors (tanks used to process waste streams) reduce the need for huge lagoons with their associated odour, land use and environmental leaching issues.

Biogas in AustraliaIts success in agribusiness has been proven in Australia, where

biogas is produced by users as diverse as Golden Circle and Oakey Beef Exports.

A spectacular orb-shaped green energy storage facility has been installed by CST Wastewater Solutions at Oakey Beef Exports – one of Australia’s largest beef processing plants located on the Darling Downs. The 6000 m3 capacity flexible PVC-coated polyester fibre flexible storage tank collects biogas produced from a GWE Covered High Rate Anaerobic Lagoon.

The plant is expected to repay its cost of construction inside five years through gas purchase savings amounting to many millions of dollars – then continue to deliver benefits and profitability virtually in perpetuity. In addition to lowering the plant’s dependence on increasingly expensive supplies of natural gas, the Global Water Engineering anaerobic digestion plant will simultaneously reduce the plant’s carbon footprint and produce waste water far cleaner than typical waste lagoons.

For further information: Michael Bambridge, Managing Director, CST Wastewater Solutions. P: 61 2 9417 3611; E: [email protected]; www.cstwastewater.com O


WATER EFFCIENCY FEATURE

Extracting biogas from cane processing waste water

A spectacular orb-shaped green energy storage facility installed by CST Wastewater Solutions at Oakey Beef Exports.

Michael Bambridge, Managing Director, CST Wastewater Solutions.

ScopeTo design and install a large-scale solar array, a management

system for both PV and diesel backup blending and replace a traditional line-shaft turbine with a submersible electric pump.

SolutionSPS Solar designed a complete system consisting of a 55

kW Franklin submersible pump and motor, solar variable speed drive with line filter and Reaqua control panel allowing for automatic control of solar and diesel generator based power. The control panel enables blending between solar and generator power based on irradiance levels at start and end of each day. The system can run in solar-only or solar-generator mode when continuous pumping is required.

An Observant system allows for remote monitoring and control of the pump, bore and generator.

The PV system consists of 400 x 250 watt Yingli PV modules, the 100 kW array is ground mounted on a Solar Terrace frame.

The pumping system was designed to produce 190 m3 per hour at 57 metres head but with capability to run in excess of 50 Hz and provide more flow should sufficient solar power be available.

ResultThe system was commissioned in December 2015 with great

success. Andrew Gill said “we are very happy with the result of the project. It is refreshing to listen to the water falling and breaking on itself without the sound of a diesel engine. I have become a very vocal advocate of solar pumping and there has already been great interest from other farmers inthe district.”

While early days, the solar pumping system has already seen over 30 per cent reduction in fuel use while continuous pumping during the heavy irrigation periods in January.

Large scale solar hybrid pumping systemSize 100kWPV Module Yingli MultiConnected December 2015PV Modules 400 x YGE 250 wattPump Franklin 55 kW submersible Vacon VSD 75 kW pumpGenerator Caterpillar 110 KvaBore Total Dynamic head 84 mMonitoring Observant systemCapacity 5 megalitres/day

For more information: Ph: 1300 727 422 E: [email protected] www.solarpumping.com.au O


WATER EFFCIENCY FEATURE

MASSIVE SAVINGS – BEAT THE PRICE RISEIs cutting corners robbing you of extra profit?

Install a Reinke® swing arm corner and bring 29 extra acres under irrigation with up to 408 feet of uniform water and chemical coverage. It’s a simple change that can go a long way to boost your yield and profit.

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Solar hybrid pumping systemCASE STUDY…Gill Family, ‘Waterloo’, Narromine, NSW – Cotton Industry


WHEN contract harvester Gary Stockham began cutting sugarcane for the current season, it was the start of he and his staff running seven days a week.

“So all the gear’s got to go seven days a week too. Once the machine stops, everyone stops, no one gets paid. So it’s very important to keep going. Cane is crushed in about 20-22 weeks, so you have to keep the work up. All the machinery has to be going perfectly.”

The third generation sugar farmer and his wife own 200 hectares at Giru, close to the Haughton River in North Queensland’s Burdekin district. They’ve farmed there since around 1990, but have run Gary Stockham Harvesting since 1978.

While they began with a ‘Robot’ Toft Harvester, these days they have four Case IH Austoft Sugarcane Harvesters (two 8000s, a 7000 and a 7500 model) and two Case IH Magnum tractors (a two-year-old 315 model and 8920) among their machinery. Gary says the drawcard to buy that original Case IH harvester was seeing and hearing how reliable they were compared with other brands.

“They seemed to go better, so that’s what I bought to start with.”

He’s kept the same way, since – but has always had a look around, just to compare, before buying new equipment.

“Oh we do look around, but I can’t see any sense in buying anything else – they’re

dearer and not as good a machine – they just cross-rip too big. The Austoft, the Case IH, they’ve been the best all the time. I reckon they’re the better harvesters.”

Before harvest began, Gary prepared all his equipment, having his dealer, AgNorth at Ayr, service everything and give it the once over. Any parts that needed replacing were all genuine.

“They look after us – they keep us going all the time. It’s good backup. If anything goes wrong they’re always there. If they haven’t got the part, they’ll get one in for us, or they’ll find one somewhere to keep us going. They know our gear has to

keep going.”“We do contract planting as well, about

2000 acres [810 ha], and we have to do preparation work to the ground before we plant. That’s the same as harvesting: if that stops, everything stops, but the dealer, with their parts and service, they keep us going.”

Gary is on to Case IH Austoft harvester number 18.

“When they were just Austofts they were the best, and now they’re Case IH Austofts they’re still the best. They’re not just a good price, they’re just better than any other cane harvester.” O

Service sets up flat-out cane harvesting season

Before harvest Gary had his dealer service his equipment and give it the once over – only genuine parts were used for any required replacements.

Modern Machinery

Mattersis proudly supported by


Once harvest begins Gary, his staff and his machinery are on the run, seven long days a week for the next 20 weeks or more

Jack Gaertner bought one of the first Case IH Puma 210s sold in Australia – a 2007 model. More than eight years on, it still plays a big part in production on his property, Wychunga.

“We mainly use it for spraying, we do a bit of loader and spreading work with it too,” he says. His family have been farming in the region, about 75 km north of Adelaide, for almost 70 years, and grow peas, canola and barley as well as wheat.

When he purchased the Puma 210, he was looking for a more powerful tractor to support his older Case IH Magnum.

“The new Puma has the horsepower we need, plus the 50k road gear which makes it easy moving from property to property. We still use the Magnum as a run-around tractor.”

He says he’s also impressed by the Puma’s low fuel consumption. “It saves time on the road, because it’s got the higher gears, and can travel faster. That makes a difference when we’re driving through towns – the quicker you can get

from paddock to fuel point the better. And the ride in the cabin is a lot smoother, that’s one other thing I liked about it – some of the roads are fairly rough but the Puma makes it a lot more comfortable.”

Jack also appreciates the self-steering. “That helps out of sight; it takes a lot of the stress out of running the boom. Once the EZ-Steer is set all you have to do is turn at the end, so it does make life a little bit easier!”

For Jack and his father Roly, a key benefit of using the Puma is knowing it will get the job done for them.

“It’s nice to be able to just hop in, start it up and know it’s going to go. It doesn’t tend to have a lot of issues; we haven’t really had any dramas… it just keeps going. Dad drives it too, during seeding time when I’m on the Steiger.”

“These things just seem to keep going and going – they don’t give us a lot of trouble, they never have.”

Jack Gaertner bought one of the first Case IH Puma 210s sold in Australia – now, more than eight years on, it still plays a big part in production on his farm.

PUMA CARRIES THE LOAD, DAY IN DAY OUT

I recently had occasion to be at the premises of a tractor dealership and observed the hot tap in the kitchen had a sign above it stating Danger – hot water! Another sign stated Danger – floor may be wet! Yet another sign, this time near the workshop exit, alerted everyone to the fact that they should Beware of Tractors! Gosh!

I happen to know that all the employees at this particular establishment are normal intelligent human beings, exhibiting no signs of suicidal or maniacal tendencies. I also believe that some of the modern governmental industrial safety guidelines border on the absurd. Still, I guess it is better to err on the side of caution rather than on the alternative.

Indeed, when I reminisce and ponder over the many alarmingly perilous tractors I have encountered over the years, I tend to appreciate the imperatives of the current safety legislations, particularly relating to tractors.

A brief description of some of the offending tractors will assist in emphasising my point.

Farmall F12One of a range of International Harvester’s row crop tractors

of the 1930s. I would have used the term ‘excellent’, except for the fact that the mudguards (or fenders in Yankee parlance) were not fitted as standard equipment. This resulted in the tall narrowly spaced skinny steel wheels, with their potentially lethal extending spud grips, likely to grab the sleeve of a less than attentive operator and haul him off his iron pan seat into a veritable meat grinder!

But there is more! Two short levers, (unreachable unless you possessed the arms of an orangutan), were positioned near the clutch pedal, and these were the sole controls of the alleged brakes, one for each wheel. So an emergency stop resulted in taking one’s hands off the steering wheel, stretching forward and hauling back on the two stumpy levers, all coinciding with the utterance of a prayer!

Fordson FDespite enjoying 70 per cent of the world’s tractor sales

in the 1920s, the Model F also represented guaranteed brisk business for morticians. You see they were fitted with a worm drive differential final drive, the design of which resulted in the alarming habit of the tractor winding itself around the differential, if the implement being dragged behind encountered an immovable obstruction, such as a stump. So, an unsuspecting operator would suddenly experience his tractor rearing, in the manner of a startled horse. Unless with lightning reflexes he could jump on the clutch and thus counter the physics involved, the thing would land upside down on top of the unpropitious now sadly deceased operator!

Henry Ford stubbornly insisted there was no design fault involved. Yet in later versions the mudguards were lengthened rearwards, extending to within inches of the ground, in a feeble attempt to prevent the tractors from turning completely over!

Lanz and KL BulldogsThe excellent reputation of these legendry two-stroke

broadacre tractors was earned on account of their fuel frugality, reliability and simplicity of design. But the inherent juddering vibration of the single cylinder engine resulted in scores of Bulldog operators in later life, limping to the doors of chiropractors.

It goes without saying that the intimidating blow lamp, required to pre-heat the combustion chamber prior to starting the engine, was a hazardous affair that tested the courage of all but the most red-necked of operators. In fact, a Bulldog at harvest time had to be parked in a safe fire-proof area, often out on an adjacent gravel road, for fear of the blow lamp setting fire to the tinder dry crop.

Once heated, it was necessary to remove the steering wheel and shaft from its rightful place and insert it into the end of the crankshaft. The wheel was grasped firmly and half turned in each direction, with a pendulum motion, thus moving the piston


Safety last O By Ian M. Johnston

CLASSIC TRACTOR TALES

A 1932 International Farmall F12, restored by the author. Note the narrow rear wheel settings and the dangerously close lugs. (PHOTO: IMJ)

A 1925 Fordson F, complete with an Athens mid-mounted disc plough, restored by Mal Brinkman. Note the extended rear mudguards designed to prevent the tractor rearing over rearwards!! (PHOTO: IMJ)

back and fro. Eventually the engine would literally explode into life accompanied by the steering wheel dangerously instantly spinning at several 100 revs per minute. Wow! If you were not adept at pulling it out of the crankshaft the instant it fired – then stand well back, because the shaft and wheel would rapidly dislodge itself and fly off in any direction like a demented missile!

Also a Bulldog was of a devious nature. The engine frequently started in reverse cycle! So just picture an early morning scenario, a sleepy operator engages reverse gear in order to back the tractor out of its shed, lets in the clutch and – the machine shoots forward and likely punches a hole in the wall of the shed.

Little Grey FergyYes, we all love little grey Fergusons, so why is it being classed

as a “Safety Last” tractor? Well, in actual fact it is not the little tractor that is dangerous. It is the inexperienced operator. Permit me to explain a typical example of what is an all too often occurrence.


This Model P Lanz Bulldog is shown with the steering wheel and shaft fitted to the end of the crankshaft, ready for starting. But in this instance it must be a spare steering wheel because the original is still in its rightful place. (Photographed at Swan Hill Pioneer settlement by IMJ)

A diagram of the Ferguson rear diff. housing and the hydraulic linkage system. The arrow points to the ‘grandfather pin’ located high on the housing. (IMJ archives)

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A city accountant type is fed up wrestling with ‘bottom lines’ and questionable balance sheets and decides to exchange his squillion dollar unit at Double Bay for a retreat in the bush. So he buys a vast five acre block, close to a fashionable coastal town, and bundles his family into the Range Rover and heads north. He hasn’t a clue about farming but high on the priority is being able to display a tractor (plus of course an outboard runabout) at the front of his newly acquired house – to impress his yuppie city cousins when they come to visit.

He knows nothing at all about tractors, but remembers that simply everybody knows that the grey Ferguson is a brilliant tractor (ignoring the fact that this might have been the case half a century ago)! So he buys a Fergy from a local dealer who has been trying to quit the thing for nigh on three years. Our ex-accountant is also convinced by the dealer that he requires a slasher to tame his vast acres.

Before long he realises that there are umpteen wattles and other unidentifiable scrubby things that need pulling out. No problem – he has a Fergy. Trouble is, like most remaining Fergusons, his one is OK for 3-point linkage implements but is minus a drawbar, which some previous owner forgot to hand over when he traded in the tractor. Again – no problem, because he notes there is a fitting for a pin near the top of the diff housing.

This was known to we old tractor blokes as the grandfather pin – for some obscure reason I have never been able to work out. But its purpose was for attaching two stabiliser links which extended down to a drawbar, when one was fitted. Its high location most definitely was NOT for attaching a snig chain to pull out wattles! Never tow from any point that is not below the level of the axles!

The chain is wrapped round an offending wattle and hooked to the grandfather pin and our injudicious ex-accountant charges off and, well as you can guess, when the chain takes up the slack the poor wee tractor is hauled over backwards ending up on top of the operator. A seriously broken tractor and an even more seriously broken ex-accountant!

Unfortunately, because most of today’s owners of grey Fergusons are inexperienced hobby farmers, the blameless tractor accounts for nearly half of all tractor operator fatalities in Australia.

Field MarshallLike the Lanz and KL Bulldogs, the post war Field Marshall

tractors featured a single cylinder 2-stroke engine. But unlike the Bulldogs, the Marshall engine was a full compression diesel (ie 15.5 to 1 compression ratio). Accordingly there was no requirement to use a blowlamp to pre-heat the combustion chamber prior to starting.

Instead, Marshall equipped their tractors with a shot gun cartridge start! Seems weird today, but cartridge starting early diesel engines was not uncommon, particularly in relation to stationary and marine diesels.

Marshall incorporated a 12 bore cartridge breech on the front nearside of the engine, immediately ahead of the side mounted radiator. The operator was obliged to unscrew the breech cap and insert the cartridge. (I suppose it helped if he was an ex artillery guy). The next step was crucial! The breech plug had to be re-inserted and screwed in tightly! A hammer was then used to give a whack to the striking pin, located in the end of the cap. WHAM! The energy released was channelled to the head of the piston which immediately reacted by commencing its downward and first stroke of its cycle.

But, if the operator’s mind was elsewhere, such as speculating on the conviviality of the farmer’s daughter, and the breech cap was not correctly fitted, then again WHAM. But this time, instead of the energy going to the piston head, it would aim the breech cap at the operator’s head with grievous results, necessitating an advertisement having to be urgently placed in the local newspaper, seeking the services of a replacement but experienced tractor driver!

Brockhouse PresidentA modern day safety officer would likely suffer an immediate

nervous breakdown if he was asked to asses a President! Operator safety was definitely not foremost in the designer’s priority. Apart from that, powered by a tiny Morris side valve engine, the one and only task it was capable of performing with a semblance of dignity, was to drive to the front gate to collect the mail!

The unfortunate operator’s position was ridiculous, in that he was perched high on a wobbly inadequate pan seat, the dimensions of which could not realistically accommodate a posterior of typically rotund farmer. Plus, climbing onto the seat was a challenging exercise in athleticism. But wait, there is more! The loose wobbly seat was designed to swivel. Accordingly,


A Ferguson TEA 20 restored by Alan Latimore. Legions of these outstanding tractors remain in Australia, often regrettably in the hands of hobby farmers, having dangerously inadequate tractor knowledge. (PHOTO: IMJ)

A Field Marshall Model 3A owned by Canadian collector Stan Kick. The breech pin handle is located on the bonnet nose just ahead of the radiator grill. (PHOTO: IMJ)

when the operator put pressure on his foot to engage the clutch, he was rotated and the clutch remained disengaged!

But the most dangerous feature of the Brockhouse President was the engine throttle control. It was in the form of a long chrome lever which protruded from the centre of the steering column. So just visualise an operator carefully manoeuvring the tractor at low engine revs into a shed. Then when turning the steering wheel, the throttle control catches his jacket sleeve and suddenly the vehicle rockets forward at full revs! Scary stuff indeed!

Or imagine, when powering the President up a steep hill with a laden trailer behind and upon entering a curve the lever is caught in the sleeve of the operator’s coat, causing the revs to be instantly reduced to idle and the Morris engine to stall – panic stations, as the singularly inadequate brakes are hastily applied.

ConclusionWe country folk enjoying the benefits of rural lifestyles, are free

to whinge about such matters as fuel prices, dodgy politicians, the weather and so forth. But let us never whinge about modern safety regulations. They are designed to save lives! O


A 1950 Brockhouse President. A close scrutiny will reveal the chrome governor control extending down from the centre of the steering wheel. (Photographed in New Zealand by IMJ)

IAN’S MYSTERY TRACTOR QUIZQuestion: Can you identify this old tractor from the remains,

rotting away in the jungle of weeds?

Clue: It has a 6 cylinder petrol/kero engine.

Degree of difficulty: Moderate, to anyone who knows his or her tractors.

Answer: See page 32.

Value offering

FOR the first time in Queensland raw sugar history, local producers will soon be able to choose their marketing services provider. So, it’s important to note that raw sugar

marketing is about more than just selling sugar.As a full marketing services provider, Queensland Sugar

Limited (QSL) provides four main value offerings to members: pricing, financing, marketing and logistics.

PricingQSL offers a range of pricing products to millers and growers

tailored to different risk appetites. These options include QSL-managed forward and in-season pools as well as individual forward and in-season products. Our team of experts are only focused on getting the best prices for our members. They actively monitor the sugar futures and foreign exchange markets and have a track record of out-performing market benchmarks.

FinancingQSL provides competitive financing to the industry throughout

the season in the form of advances payments. These payments are made on receipt of sugar at a bulk sugar terminal (BST) and are often in advance of the sugar being sold or the payment received from the customer. We don’t charge any additional fees or margins on our cost of finance1.

Marketing (selling)QSL has long-term relationships with customers who value

our producer-seller model. We are able to leverage these relationships and maximise our returns by targeting customers who pay a premium for our sugar.

LogisticsQSL manages the highly effective storage, handling and

shipping of bulk raw sugar to customers. We operate six BSTs under a lease with Sugar Terminals Limited and take delivery of raw sugar, blend it to achieve the quality that meets customers’ needs and then loads all shipments leaving Queensland’s shores. In 2014–15, 100 per cent of shipments to customers were delivered on time and in full.

Not all Marketers are the same. As your trusted partner, all of our net returns go back to our members’ pockets.

To register your interest or to find out more about us visit www.qsl.com.au today.1Although participants who choose an accelerated Advances program in the future may be subject to a small cost. More information about 2017-Season products and associated Advances programs will be available from www.qsl.com.au O

news & new products

http://www.qsl.com.au

http://www.qsl.com.au

THE new T7 Heavy Duty tractor from New Holland is a true farmers’ tractor. Designed with the modern farmer in mind every feature of this range is the result of extensive global

customer consultation. Delivering more power, the ability to lift and carry larger loads, and all in an ergonomically designed cab providing comfort for long days in the field.

Manufactured at the well-known Basildon factory in the UK, the T7 meets World Class Manufacturing best practices, with every tractor built to the most rigorous standards ensuring it delivers day in day out.

The T7 Heavy Duty range encompasses the essence of a high horsepower tractor in a standard frame within two models: the T7.290 and the T7.315. These two models offer six per cent higher lift capacity than the standard T7 range, lifting up to 11058kg, enabling users to work with the largest of implements. The 11cm longer wheelbase delivers even greater high speed stability and draft performance. When coupled with the wider tyre offering, including the ultra-low compaction tyres, the T7 Heavy Duty range takes productivity to the next level.

The T7.315, recently awarded 2016 Machine of the Year in the L Category at Agritechnica, meets the needs of farming operations requiring the power of a large-frame tractor with the versatility and agility of a small frame machine. The T7.315 delivers versatility without equal for performing a wide range of field and haulage jobs, from row crop work, baling hay or mowing to hauling manure and other big chores. It also features the revolutionary IntelliCruise tractor-baler automation that

enables New Holland’s BigBaler to control the tractor’s speed to maximize productivity and bale consistency, making it the ultimate baling tractor.

The addition of the T7 Heavy Duty models to the extended T7 family means there is a New Holland T7 tractor to match any specific farming needs. The Heavy Duty’s cousins have rated powers spanning from 140 to 240 horsepower, the ten-model T7 model line-up offers a choice of semi-powershift, full-powershift or continuously variable transmissions (CVT), with the T7.225, T7.270, T7.290 and T7.315 only available with Auto Command CVT transmissions

The T7 Heavy Duty offers numerous built in strengths. Providing more power with up to 313hp on tap, the T7’s strength allows it to work with even the most power hungry implements.

Offering sophisticated features that are easy and intuitive to access including the SideWinder II armrest, users can easily access all key controls – throttle, transmission and hydraulics. Everything you need to control is intuitively selected and more advanced features can be quickly accessed.

Fitted with up to 20 LED work lights the T7 Heavy Duty can keep operators working around the clock and, with its ultra-comfortable seat and industry leading Horizon cab, long days in the cab are never an issue.

Strong enough to deal with draft work, tillage applications, baling, transport – you name it. The T7 Heavy Duty has everyone’s needs covered.

To find out more see your New Holland dealer today or check or visit: www.newholland.com O


news & new products

Heavy duty tractor range designed for the modern farmer

The T7.315 was recently awarded 2016 Machine of the Year in the L Category at Agritechnica.

NORTHERN REGIONIn my last report I reported that the Mossman region had

had a relatively dry start to the year with the first three months of this year receiving around 833 mm of rain. That has now changed with the close to 400 mm of rain falling in the region in late May. With the recent rain and at times wild winds, there are now large areas of lodged cane and the chance of finding straight plants has been severely reduced. These areas of lodged cane are wide spread and I expect it to have some effect to the harvestabilty of the 2016 crop. The rain event was a week before the scheduled start of Mossman Mill on May 30 which was delayed until June 6. Then from June 13 to 20 100 mm rain fell and brought the crush to a standstill.

This year the offseason maintenance work focused on factory availability – work was carried out on the Effet Station to improve vacuum piping and efficiency; mechanically cleaning scale from the tubes; reducing leaks; replacing the ESJ tank; and, trying to fix number-six mill’s top roller issue. Work has also been carried out on the John Thompson boiler where new dry dust collectors have been installed to reduce stack emissions and air flow improvement.

Growers are also reminded that this year all reports will come from Mackay Sugar and growers can opt to receive a text message for daily reports or the information will also be available on the Mackay Sugar website. To obtain a ‘log in’ for your farm and delivery details please contact Sue Carmichael on 07 4030 4103 or [email protected]

Local farmers are also eager for some dry weather so they can start their planting programs – to date there has been some early planting carried out. Growers are reminded that before they intend to plant to please contact their local Productivity Board for a plant-source inspection. For an accurate reading it can take a few weeks for the results, so please give your field officer plenty of notice before you intend to plant.

The Mackay Sugar, Mossman Mill Productivity Awards presentation for the 2015 season was held at the Mossman Bowls Club Hall on April 14, 2016. The annual event recognises farming excellence within the Mackay Sugar Mossman cane supply network. This year’s event was well attended with a social evening enjoyed by everyone that attended.

The winner in each coastal zone had the highest tonnes of sugar per hectare from a farm of over 1000 tonnes production, and over 20 hectares in size.

The winners for 2015 season were: O Daintree – CA McDowall. O Bamboo, Syndicate, Whyanbeel – D’Addona’s Electrical & Farming.

O Miallo – C Fasano & Co. O Mossman – C Fasano & Co.

O Shannonvale, Cassowary – J & J D’Addona. O Mowbray – C Fasano & Co. O Julatten – PJ & MA Verri. O Atherton and Tolga – Primo Produce. O Canegrowing Excellence Award – C Fasano & Co. O Best Average Producer 2015 – C Fasano & Co. O Young Grower Award – Brenton Eagle. O Sustainable Management Practices Award – Puglisi Farming. O Best Presented Farm Award – Puglisi Farming. O In Appreciation for On-farm Research – Brie Brie Estate.I would like to congratulate all the winners of this year’s

awards.QSL is asking growers who are interested in 2017 Marketing

Choice and QSL pricing options to register on their website. It’s an easy process that only takes a couple of minutes – I strongly urge farmers to register at http://www.qsl.com.au

Once you’re in QSL’s system they can keep you updated and informed on 2017 QSL pricing options.

Here’s hoping we all have a safe crush!Gerard Puglisi

Northern Region Director June 28, 2016

SOUTH JOHNSTONE, MULGRAVE, TULLY

The season in the north just got going when over 100 mm rainfall stopped the Mulgrave and Tully mills, with South Johnstone still to start on June 21. The 2016 estimated crush is 1.63 million tonnes of cane at 84 tc/h for South Johnstone 1.3 million tonnes of cane for Mulgrave mill.

Substantial rainfall in the month of May was been good for


Districtreports...

Brisbane ●

● CairnsAtherton TablelandMossman–Mulgrave

Innisfail–TullyHerbert

BurdekinProserpine

Mackay–Sarina

Bundaberg

Maryborough

New South Wales

Rocky Point

the crop and good for the water table and it got all the springs running. It is comforting to know that growers have plenty of moisture for the upcoming planting season. But with crushing underway it would be nice to have some fine weather and the late rain now has growers concerned that this will water down the much needed value of our crops.

With extensive upgrades being carried out to the mill to increase crushing capacity, it has now been identified that the transport system also needs to be upgraded to cope with the increased demand. With 500 km of track and 200 bridges in the South Johnstone supply area alone this is not a simple task. Add to this an ageing locomotive fleet and it becomes really obvious that a substantial budget is required to achieve the desired outcome. Significant planning was carried out to cover all areas from rail track and bridge repair to the reliability of existing locomotives. The $10 million budget allocated funding to all upgrades.

To achieve the desired outcome, 11 locomotives have been retro fitted with current day engines and transmissions to improve reliability. The locomotives are also being fitted with remote shunting device technology to reach the target return on investment. This allows the driver to operate the locomotive without standing in the driver’s cabin, eliminating the need for two personnel to operate each locomotive. Some growers believe that this will slow the shunting process down. But the mill trials show that shunting bins will now take the same time to complete with one man instead of two. Of course there is always an interim period of adjustment when engaging new processes but with time, the technology will only continue to improve.

Both MSF and QSL have been presenting their Grower Choice Marketing strategies and products for 2017 and beyond, to growers. There is a bit of confusion about what people should be doing and the high sugar price has put pressure on that because people want to take advantage of it. The sooner we get our On Supply Agreements between MSF and QSL settled, the easier it will be for growers to exercise their preference.

Wet Tropics Industry ReportThe recent release of recommendations from the Queensland

Government Reef Water Science Taskforce prompted a significant gathering of industry organisations in Innisfail.

The Taskforce Chair and Chief Scientist, Dr Geoff Garrett presented the report, to the Industry Advisory Group in the Wet Tropics.

Representatives from a range of organisations, government departments and industries including cane, bananas, dairy, Multi-cropping, horticulture and tourism, were presented the 10 key recommendations, which aim to accelerate progress towards water quality targets for a healthier reef.

Geoff said, “Today we’ve had a robust and challenging discussion with a set of

extremely helpful comments on how we take it to the next step in terms of implementation, which is where all the action is.”

Greg Shannon from Tully Sugar and a member of the Wet Tropics Cane Industry Working Group was at the meeting and said, “I think the important thing here is that no one’s being blamed. It’s a community response and community includes the agricultural sector. In the past, we’ve been blamed, and it puts people off-side straight away – it doesn’t work.”

Geoff said, “One of the key challenges I see for growers is the issue around data provision – farmers are faced with ongoing and escalating monitoring processes on farm. We need to explore further how we can ensure farmers can contribute their information without it being used as a big stick to come back to bite them.”

Greg said, “The take-home message for me was that we are all in this together. We’ve already got a very strong team here with Terrain and the Cane Industry Working Group and I think there’s a great opportunity here to take that forward.”

Michael Camilleri Northern Director

June 28, 2016

HERBERTHaving received late rains over the whole district with varying

amounts of rainfall, the weather has now taken a turn for the better with a cold snap and drier conditions – let us hope it will last.

On Friday, June 3, a farm fest was held in Ingham put on by Ingham Farm Centre. There was information for cattle producers, horses, canefarmers, gardeners, tools, boots, fencing needs, drones, as well as catering for the children. It was very well attended.

I had occasion to travel from Ingham to Rockhampton recently and looking at the cane along the road it seems that we all have a mixed-bag of paddocks. Yellow Canopy Syndrome seems to be in certain varieties more than others with some particularly bad spots in the Mackay area. Some of the cane is turning in on itself and it looks in rather poor shape.

Rain stopped the crushing in the Burdekin and Mackay areas, and the Sarina and surrounding areas seems to have been the recipient of very strong winds as the cane looked like fiddlesticks, every which way. Planting has also stopped.

HCPSL has completed a district wide Pachymetra survey and this survey will identify areas where Pachymetra is a limiting factor in cane yield. There has been an increased uptake of approved seed cane plots for the past 2 years

There has been delivery of specific training on nutrients and pesticide management through the Wet Tropics Sugar Industry Partnerships program. To date a number of growers have completed plans and are implementing changes on farm.

Macknade glasshouse has been repaired for use by researchers to undertake specific research activities. HCPSL continues to work with SRA and University of Western Sydney researchers on the issue of YCS. HCPSL has a YCS farm management trial to investigate farm management options that may assist growers’ management of YCS. This is a collaborative project with SRA.

HCPSL has partnered with SRA, CSIRO, Queensland Government agencies (DNRM, DSIT, DEHP) and private companies ICL and Incitec Pivot, developing knowledge through R&D activities in assessing new fertiliser products. There has also been a soil mapping project with UNSW to allow industry to better manage nutrient inputs.


Dr Geoff Garret discussing the Reef Taskforce’s Report with Greg Shannon (Tully Sugar, Agronomist) and Carole Sweatman (Terrain NRM, CEO).

As the crushing gets underway after the rains, I hope that everyone has a bumper crop and excellent CCS to boost our viability and bring some life back into our small towns, lifting everyone’s spirits.

Carol Mackee ACFA Herbert Director

June 28, 2016

BURDEKINWith the Burdekin starting the 2016 season, harvester crews

and farmers are asked to ensure that they are up to date with safety inductions. Any crews wanting to update can complete the online induction course by contacting their field officer.

Some varieties have begun flowering and early ccs has proven to be patchy. The weather has continued to be hotter and more humid than we would expect for this time of year. The Burdekin crop estimate has been completed and looks to be higher than first anticipated, with early plant cane also looking promising.

There have been two rain events across the district since the commencement of the season, on Monday, June 13, and then again over the following weekend. Invicta continued on one milling train after the first event, as the western district escaped most of the wet. Crushing resumed on Wednesday at the other district mills. The second rain event has ensured that harvesting has ceased for the coming week. District mills will be conducting maintenance in the meantime.

With cane trains moving around the Burdekin district, it is important for members of the public to stay safe and be alert. Cane train safety billboards are visible on the Bruce Highway in all regions and a television, radio and newspaper awareness campaign has been supported by Wilmar, Mackay Sugar and Tully Sugar.

With the school holidays approaching, please talk to your children and grandchildren about the dangers of playing or riding bikes on or near cane railway tracks, especially on bridges, or playing between or riding on cane bins.

Cane Supply Agreements – Burdekin DistrictDespite efforts to finalise 2017 CSA negotiations with Wilmar

staff, grower groups continue to face intransigence, with growers unable to confirm forward cane supply contracts and pricing. QSL negotiations with all mill owners are progressing but the Wilmar mills appear determined to delay the process and this is negatively affecting a grower’s ability to forward price beyond the 2016 season with any degree of choice, as allowed by current legislation.

Let’s see a 2016 season that works towards building the framework of a solid industry for all participants and for the benefit of our communities. Here’s wishing a safe and successful harvest for all.

Margaret Menzel Burdekin Director

June 28, 2016

CENTRAL REGIONMarian Mill’s main boiler suffered serious damage during

preparations for steam trials. Workplace Health and Safety released the No. 1 Boiler site to Mackay Sugar progressively over the last weekend of May and has allowed evaluation of the scope of works to reinstate the boiler. Final inspections were to be completed by June 4; but work has commenced to prepare the boiler for reinstatement. Current estimates, with no wet

weather allowance, indicate that the boiler should be returned to operation in early August.

Every effort will be made to reduce this timeline and bring the start-up forward where possible. The impact of this estimated downtime, with no wet weather delays, would be an extension of the crush by 12–14 days. A large amount of planning and implementation has gone into this work effort. An investigation into the chain of events that led to this incident is underway with the goal of reducing the possibility of a reoccurrence at all of the sites. Mackay Sugar will reallocate cane across the group as needed, to achieve relatively synchronised finish dates.

During the first week of crushing, the area received falls of rain from 40–60 mm. Although it affected the start of harvesting, it was welcomed to help support the 5.4 million-ton estimate for this season. The weather has been very warm up to the start of June. A lot of early planting has taken place with good germination. The rain was very welcome on top of ideal planting conditions.

ASSCT ConferenceThe 38th Annual Conference of the Australian Society of

Sugar Cane Technologists was held in April at the Mackay Entertainment & Convention Centre. The conference was attended by 383 members and delegates.

Keynote speakers were Pramod Chaudhari, Executive Chairman of Praj Industries and Simon Usher, Chief Executive of Bonsucro. Manufacturing and Agricultural sessions followed at this location.





















The President’s Medal for the best Research Paper went to: A Robson, MM Rahman, G Falzon, NK Verma, K Johansen, N Robinson, P Lakshmanan, B Salter, D Skocaj for their paper titled: Evaluating remote sensing technologies for improved yield forecasting and for the measurement of foliar nitrogen concentration in sugarcane.

The Rod Rookwood Design award went to David Ruhle for his paper titled Cracking of prestressed concrete girders on BL Creek Bridge. The recipient received a plaque and a $500 cheque. Keeping it in the family, the Paul Qualiata Engineering Award went to Steven Ruhle of Mackay Sugar.

Steven is currently an Instrumentation apprentice with Mackay Sugar at Marian Mill. He completed his Electrical Apprenticeship in 2015 and has been the Mackay Sugar Electrical Apprentice of the Year for 2014 and 2015.

Queensland electricity charges for irrigators are to rise another 12.3 per cent

Any plans for growing irrigated agriculture in Queensland and to increase the value of farming to the state’s economy will never progress if electricity prices are not brought under control.

The Variety Adoption Committee met on April 20. Current approved variety regulations will be discontinued on July 1, 2016 – industry and government have agreed that the industry will manage biosecurity of varieties. Currently the disease thresholds are only set for varieties that risk a region wide endemic. Barry Croft suggested that the new system will be more flexible and more responsive than the past system where Industry had to apply to State Government when changes were needed.

Major items of discussion: O Pachymetra – we would like to see a trend toward more Pachymetra resistant commercial varieties in Central region.

O Fibre Quality Testing – material is needed from three different sources; aiming to test clones earlier in the program; new NIR calibrations are being assessed in Southern region to improve the data quality and efficiency for Fibre Quality Testing.There was a further 100 mm of rain over the district which

has brought harvesting in the Mackay Area to a halt. Plane Creek and Proserpine received similar amounts also which will affect the commencement of their start ups.

Steve Fordyce Southern Queensland

June 28, 2016

SOUTHERN REGIONRain has delayed crushing – Bundy has stopped and ISIS did

not start on Monday, June 20 as planned. The rainfall was 50 to 90 mm all across Wide Bay. Reports suggest that the Isis mill is going to the west to grow cane if they can find the water to produce up to 500,000 tonnes of sugar cane in the Gayndah area and transport it back to the mill. Rumour has it that Isis has some sort of title to an ex-Government railway that ran from Mary to Gayndah. Isis has e-consignment now, but from last year it hasn’t made the haul out drivers any smarter and I still get ridiculous productivity reports.

There is a considerable amount of tree cropping taking land from the Isis sugar crop; even some cane farmers have put cane land to macadamia trees. About 1500 acres of cane land has gone to nuts in the last 12 months.

The new Davis weather stations are really useful. We have one on a neighbouring property and use it a lot. They disclaim the use of the data for herbicide application, but with the need to keep spray records, it is a useful device.

SRA ran a spray and Confidor application workshop a while

ago. It was a good refresher and a fair bit of new stuff from some people outside the usual sugar industry faces. It was well attended, with about 40 people. It would be good if we could have more things like that, with discussion allowed instead of a dragging on in a monologue and boring us into submission.

IrrigationEveryone is doing their utmost to reduce electricity use, even

at the cost of water efficiency. But the crop is good – two lots of rain have picked it up. Irrigation was essential to grow any sort of crop this year, though. Why can’t the greenies get that through their heads?

Mike Hetherington ACFA Southern Region Director

June 28, 2016

NEW SOUTH WALEShe NSW industry has had a nightmare start to the harvest

season with two east coast lows delivering up to 500 mm between them over the last three weeks. Not the start we were looking for.

Much of the cane has lodged. That is, any cane that would have harvested in excess of 70 tph is fairly well down with much of it needing to be harvested by cutting one-way. We can only hope that the predictions of a warmer than normal winter are correct as much of the crop will be vulnerable to frosting in its present condition.

The land of drought and flooding rain is becoming the norm in recent times. Only a few shorts weeks back, some regions badly needed rain. El Niño had given us some rain in the growing period, and while in parts of the Tweed the rainfall has been enough to grow an average crop, away from the coast on all three rivers they have had a rainfall deluge.

My rainfall records show January 154 mm; February 56 mm (and these two months are when we get good rainfall) March 394 mm; April 55 mm; May 19 mm (this was good for harvesting beans) and in the first six days of June 300 mm and 500 mm to June 21.

The NSW mills started with wet feet and with an initial plan for all mills to finish late November or early December. The storms in the last couple of weeks will make the harvest difficult, if not very difficult, with any cane over 70 tonnes to the hectare lodged and anything heavier than that heavily lodged at about 30 cm off the ground. It will take some time to recover even partially with the associated stool loss from harvesting.

SoybeansThe harvest has now finished in NSW with the crops varying

from under one tonne per acre up to over two tonnes. The price is reasonable, so this encourages the good farm practice of fallowing with legume crops.

The 2016 harvest should see all mills and farmers in NSW cut average to above average crop this season. Sugar prices continue to improve with speculators moving from gold and oil to sugar and with this speculative scenario, the sugar price can just as quickly move lower.

But for the present, with the price hovering above US 19 ¢/lb, there just may be some replacement of aging machinery.

I would like to wish all growers a successful harvest and let us hope that the sugar price and cane continue to grow for us.

Robert Quirk ACFA New South Wales Director

June 28, 2016


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THE response to the last issues’ brief foray into fly tying has been gratifying and I’m impressed that so many readers of Australian Sugarcane are so creative and enlightened.

Treating flies as just lures and not something mystical is the answer and with all the space age materials readily available these days you can experiment with all the bling your heart desires.

Just keep in mind that mimicking nature is the easy way and making your creations ‘match the hatch’ will guarantee your success.

It doesn’t take a lot of deductive reasoning to workout crustaceans’ form a major part of every piscatorial diet. An issue or two ago we looked at a fingernail based prawn creation so we’re going to continue that theme.

And now to Phil’s secret crab creation

I’ve raided the office odd-sod drawer for the basics of one of my favourite crab patterns – Philthy Phil’s Epoxy Velcro Crab or ‘PPEVC’ to its friends. This isn’t the quickest lure to make but with a little preparation and planning it’s not hard to knock out an impressive collection of almost indestructible fish catchers.

There are more than a couple of secrets with this lure and one is its upside down presentation. This will make it almost snag free and it will always take the fish in the top of the mouth so you can take large fish on a small lure and still get a solid hookup. Another is the epoxy coating that not only gives it a 3D appearance but makes it almost indestructible.

The markings are optional so obviously you can custom create to suit the location. A green back and white belly is a fish anywhere colour scheme but I’ve had a lot of success with combinations of red and black.

Naturally fishing the PPEVC with an intermediate or fast sinking fly line is what God intended for this pattern – but using light spinning gear to run it across a sandy bottom at the end of a 40 cm trace or drifting it a couple of metres under a small float in the surge line along a rock wall will also produce good fish.

The heavy bead chain at the eye of the hook will make the lure sink hook point up and appear to swim backwards so it looks just like a baby crab fleeing to safety.

Knotting the rubber band legs adds a touch of reality although I don’t bother trying to imitate claws. There are enough things to stick together without adding fiddly things like


FISHING

Phil gets a little ‘crabby’ O By Phil Jackson – Fly, Tye and Tackle

new zealandwith

PHIL JACKSONPHIL JACKSONPHIL JACKSONPHIL JACKSONPHIL JACKSONPHIL JACKSONPHIL JACKSONPHIL JACKSONPHIL JACKSONPHIL JACKSONPHIL JACKSONPHIL JACKSONPHIL JACKSONPHIL JACKSON

fly fish

Make your next holiday a fly fishing adventure in the most beautiful country on earth. Catering for the experienced fly fisherman and novice alike, my New Zealand fly fishing holidays will give you a life time of memories.

If you'd like to mix in a little golf and sight seeing, I can do that too. Come with me for the eight days of relaxation you've promised yourself all year.

For more information just give me a call on 0411 576 793 or drop me a line at [email protected]

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CGNZ06.pdf 4/12/05 3:48:57 PM

claws. But if you really feel the need to go all the way just cut two little tapered ‘Y’ patterns out of flexible plastic (such as a clear water bottle) and pre-epoxy them. Just add a long enough leg to give you something extra to tie to.

This is how it all goes together.You’ll need:

O 1 x long shank hook; O 3 x rubber bands; O Heavy mono ie 100 lb and 100 mm long; O Two black dress making beads about 4 mm across for eyes; O Coloured marking pens; and, O 5 minute epoxy – I use plastic spoons to mix the epoxy in because I can dribble straight from the spoon to the lure with minimal handling and fuss.

1. Take the hook of your choice (I prefer a long shank #1) and, using a small set of pliers, place a very slight kink behind the hook eye. This will help with snag proofing the lure.

2. Tie your clear monofilament sewing thread to the hook with a jam knot and wind it all the way down the shank until you’re opposite the point, then wind it back to the eye of the hook.

3. Cut a piece of heavy line (100lb monofilament about 100mm long), kink it in the middle and tie it in so both ends poke out past the bend of the hook. This will form the stems for the black bead eyes. Take the thread back to the eye of the hook.

4. Cut two beads from a piece of Bunning’s ‘large’ bead chain and lay them across the hook at right angles. Tie an X pattern to secure them to the hook. These will act as a keel to keep the hook riding point up as well as make it sink hook eye first. ‘Box lashing’ will stop them spinning on the


FISHING

All the makings.

Tie in the bead chain as a keel.

Rubber band legs in an X pattern.

Colours are optional but red belly and green backs work well.

Smother in epoxy and knot the legs.

Add velcro dot top and bottom and colour with marker pen.

shank. Box lashing is just over the hook, under one side of the chain back over the hook and under the other side. The same way a plumber ties pipes to the rack on his truck.

5. Now wind the thread to the middle of the hook. Cut a rubber band and tie diagonally across the hook. Cut a second rubber band and do it all again to create an x pattern. Cut the third rubber band and tie it at right angles. Don’t worry about the lump it creates, it will add to the crab shape.

7. Take two velcro dots and stick one to the top of the lure and the other to the bottom. It doesn’t matter if you use the rough or fluffy dots they come as equal numbers and you’ll use them all eventually. Having said that the rough appear to accept the epoxy a little better but the fish won’t know the difference.

8. Colour the Velcro with a marker pen and smother with

epoxy. You’ll need to rotate the hook so the epoxy doesn’t drip off but work over a sheet of newspaper just in case.

9. While the epoxy’s still tacky run a black bead down each strand and seat it against the Velcro. As the epoxy dries it will generate heat and this may cause the dots to separate. Don’t worry – just fill the gap with more epoxy.

10. Give the lure two coats of epoxy. The first is to seal everything in place. If you touch the surface before its dries it will leave a dull smudge but it’s not a problem on the first coat.

11. You can also add sparkles for a light refracting finish, if you’re that way inclined.

12. Apply the second coat of epoxy paying close attention to achieving a smooth shiny surface.

Two important things to rememberDon’t fill the eye of the hook with epoxy – if it happens let it

dry and pick it out. Make sure you check every hook before you go fishing because there’s nothing more frustrating than to try threading a hook with an eye full of clear epoxy.

If you get epoxy on stuff where it’s not wanted don’t touch it. Let it dry as a bead and it will lift off. If you touch it or smudge it, it’s yours forever. O


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