In a major boost for Mossman, an alternative ingredient for speciality soy sauce will provide a boost for local sugar cane farmers when a food processing facility starts operating next to the Mossman Sugar Mill.
A report, published in the Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority, states that a $250,000 grant has been awarded to CocoNutZ Australia, who will commence their demonstration facility on the Mossman Mill site in 2021.
CocoNutZ is a patented agricultural bio-manufacturing platform which seeks to diversify FNQ agriculture through producing a range of condiments using local sugar cane.
“The technology allows for production of Kecap Manis, a sweet soy sauce commonly used in Asian dishes, in Queensland at a lower cost than current market participants, while paying farmers more than a standard mill quality sugar cane.
“The CocoNutZ food facility, to be established alongside the Mossman Sugar Mill, will have the ability to process up to 20,000 tonnes of cane in the first year,” the report says.
Managing director Lucas Van Der Walt said the project would directly support Far North Queensland sugar cane producers, who were previously impacted through lower sugar prices.
“Due to the remoteness of the region and distance to alternative markets, growers have limited obvious alternatives to cane growing. By producing value-added product from cane, crop purchase prices can be raised and guaranteed for a longer term,” Mr Van Der Walt said.
CocoNutZ will replace coconut sugar in the manufacturing of Kecap Manis with its own bio-transformed sugar cane juice through its patented process, which aims to turn sugar cane juice into a natural coconut like sugar product. Demand for Kecap Manis, based on coconut sugar, is growing annually.
Early in 2021 the project will create 12 new jobs including plant operators, laboratory analysists and microbiologists, another six during construction and support a further three indirect jobs during its first phase of operations. During subsequent phases more jobs are likely to be created.
“The community of Mossman has grown around the Mossman Mill over the last 120 years. It employs 90 people during the cane season, and 60 in the off-season, along with being the main customer for many supporting businesses in the area,” Mr Van Der Walt said.
“The CocoNutZ platform has been identified as a key diversifying strategy for the mill and the CocoNutZ food facility will be the first tenant of the planned Daintree Bio Precinct, an advanced manufacturing hub that will be co-located on the Mossman Sugar mill site.”
Meanwhile, Mossman Mill crushing for 2020 was completed on Friday 30 October.
“The total tonnes crushed was 647,983 against the original budget of 701,720. This is 7.7% below estimate which can be attributed to weather conditions over the growing season.
“The dry weather at the back end of the season saw the CCS climb but still rounded out the season at around 12.72 which is approx. 0.4 below budget,” said Bronwyn Dwyer, Chief Executive Officer/Company Secretary, Daintree Bio Precinct Ltd & subsidiary Far Northern Milling Pty Ltd.
Ms Dwyer said that FNM contracted growers, whose cane is being toll crushed at Tableland Mill, are expected to finish around 14 November.
“It is anticipated around 110,000T of FNM contracted cane will be toll crushed through Tableland Mill.”
Farmers say the key issues of reef regulations and water pricing still need to be addressed.
In congratulating Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and the ALP on their election win, CANEGROWERS chairman Paul Schembri said farmers were continuing to campaign for a policy environment in which the cane industry and regional communities could thrive and grow.
“As grower representatives, we will be on the doorstep as soon as relevant ministers are announced and we will be ready to work alongside the government,” Mr Schembri said.
“The premier will need to consider ministerial appointments carefully to ensure regional Queensland has a direct and effective conduit into government.
Mr Schembri said the election of a new parliament provided an opportunity for a fresh approach by the Palaszczuk government.
“We’ll begin the conversation with the eight point plan of measures that CANEGROWERS advocated for during the campaign – measures to remove the obstacles in the way of the sugarcane industry and unleash its potential,” he said.
Mr Schembri said top of the list was the need to confront the myths and misconceptions on which the regulation of farm practices in Great Barrier Reef catchments in based.
“After 10 years of ALP reef regulations, it is time for an urgent review,” Mr Schembri said.
“Farmers have done a lot of work to balance the needs of water quality for the resilience of the Great Barrier Reef with maintaining productivity and profitability.
“The global market recognises the sustainability credentials of our industry – we just need the Queensland Government to do so.
“The regulatory approach is outdated and unnecessary.”
Mr Schembri said Labor had acknowledged in the final week of the campaign that water costs for irrigators were too high.
However, the announced 15 per cent cut for broadacre crops (including cane) compared to the 50pc cut horticulture needed to be worked through, he said.
“We can’t see how the differential pricing system… is going to work.
“We will be encouraging the new Queensland Government to make good its promise but to take a simpler approach and help all of agriculture by reducing the cost of all irrigation water by 50pc.”
Mr Schembri said the cane industry produced 400,000 hectares of stored energy each year.
Mossman Mill crushing for 2020 was completed at 0530 on Friday 30th October, 2020
Total tonnes crushed was 647,983 against the original budget of 701,720. This is 7.7% below estimate which can be attributed to weather conditions over the growing season.
The dry weather at the back end of the season saw the CCS climb but still rounded out the season at around 12.72 which is approx. 0.4 below budget.
FNM contracted growers whose cane is being toll crushed at Tableland Mill are expected to finish around 14 November, 2020. It is anticipated around 110,000T of FNM contracted cane will be toll crushed though Tableland Mill.
The FNM Board would like to thank Peter Dibella and each and every employee who has been involved in the 2020 crushing, for their dedication and hard work throughout the season. Your contribution is valued not only by the Board but also by the growers and wider Mossman community as you are instrumental in ensuring the ongoing operation of the Mill.
We would also like to pass on our appreciation to the Mossman Community for your support throughout the season.
As part of our Community Engagement Strategy we have set up a Facebook site, so for those of you who are interested in finding out what is happening at the mill please ‘like’ or ‘follow’ our Far Northern Milling page.
Value Adding Update / CocoNutZ Australia
The Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority have released details about a $250,000 grant awarded to CocoNutZ Australia who will commence their demonstration facility on the Mossman Mill site in 2021. This alternative ingredient for speciality soy sauce will most certainly provide a welcome boost for local sugar cane farmers when the food processing facility starts operating next to the Mossman Sugar Mill.
CocoNutZ is a patented agricultural bio-manufacturing platform seeking to diversify FNQ agriculture through producing a range of condiments using local sugar cane.
CocoNutZ Australia was one of 15 businesses to receive a co-contribution grant of up to $250,0000 under Round Three of the Rural Economic Development (RED) Grant program administered by the Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority (QRIDA).
The technology allows for production of Kecap Manis, a sweet soy sauce commonly used in Asian dishes, in Queensland at a lower cost than current market participants, while paying farmers more than a standard mill quality sugar cane.
The CocoNutZ food facility, to be established alongside the Mossman Sugar Mill, will have the ability to process up to 20,000 tonnes of cane in the first year. Managing director Lucas Van Der Walt said the project would directly support Far North Queensland sugar cane producers, who were previously impacted through lower sugar prices.
“Due to the remoteness of the region and distance to alternative markets, growers have limited obvious alternatives to cane growing. By producing value-added product from cane, crop purchase prices can be raised and guaranteed for a longer term,” Mr Van Der Walt said.
CocoNutZ will replace coconut sugar in the manufacturing of Kecap Manis with its own bio-transformed sugar cane juice through its patented process, which aims to turn sugar cane juice into a natural coconut like sugar product. Demand for Kecap Manis, based on coconut sugar, is growing annually.
Coconut sugar is inherently in short supply globally and despite several attempts, coconut sugar harvesting has never been successfully industrialised. The CocoNutZ platform allows for the valuable coconut sugar flavour to be created from Queensland sugar cane and exported at a lower cost than the traditional coconut sugar production method.
CocoNutZ has devised a patented bio-process with proprietary natural fermentation technology to successfully produce a range of natural aromas and flavour precursors, Mr Van Der Walt says.
Early in 2021 the project will create twelve new jobs including plant operators, laboratory analysts and microbiologists, another six during construction and support a further three indirect jobs during its first phase of operations. During subsequent phases more jobs are likely to be created.
“The community of Mossman has grown around the Mossman Mill over the last 120 years. It employs 90 people during the cane season, and 60 in the off-season, along with being the main customer for many supporting businesses in the area,” Mr Van Der Walt said.
“Small independent sugar mills in Queensland can no longer compete on a global scale, and have endured financial hardship over the last 10 years as sugar prices have been declining…the CocoNutZ platform has been identified as a key diversifying strategy for the mill and the CocoNutZ food facility will be the first tenant of the planned Daintree Bio Precinct, an advanced manufacturing hub that would be co-located on the Mossman Sugar mill site.”
Coconutz Managing Director, Lucas Van Der Walt
The Rural Economic Development (RED) Grants program offers emerging projects up to $250,000 in co-contributions to build industry and grow employment opportunities across the agricultural sector. The $10 million grants program provides for three funding rounds over a three-year period ending 2021. A total of 15 businesses have received $3.14 million under the third round of funding for the RED Grants program. Overall, these projects are expected to create more than 600 jobs across the agricultural sector in regional Queensland.
Across the three rounds of the RED Grant program, a total of 43 agricultural businesses have received funding toward economic development projects worth $40.8 million and estimated to create 1,897 new direct and indirect jobs over the lifetime of these projects.
The Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority (QRIDA) administer the RED Grant scheme on behalf of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.
The State Election has come to a close, Annastacia is back in power and the deadline for rural rates bills is looming. All this on top of the news that Bingera Mill is closing, water security from Paradise Dam is now in limbo and the announcement by Bundaberg Regional Council CEO Steve Johnston that council has achieved an operating surplus of $1.5 million for the 2019-20 financial year.
It is not uncommon for forecast budget results and actual financial results to differ but this is significant. The surplus is more than half the value of what rural ratepayers in Bundaberg Region have been dealt in rate increases of up to 235%. It is outrageous to think that a local council that says it supports agriculture can deal such a blow at a time when the community and the nation most needs our farmers.
Farmers are not asking other ratepayers to cover rural ratepayers’ share nor are they suggesting that they are disadvantaged by the increase in rural land valuations. Farmers in Bundaberg are simply asking for a fair go by council. Farmers and the community know the rates decision can be fixed simply by applying a concession to the whole of Category 9 (farmland) under Sections 119-122 of the Local Government Regulation 2012.
For Mr Johnston to then go on to state that 80% of ratepayers are paying the same or less than last year is a real kick in the guts for the 20% who are reeling under increases of up to and more than $30,000 in one single year. That is a lot of money being ripped from the local economy, which is based on agribusiness, and when you consider the compounding effect of following rates notices over coming years the Bundaberg economy and the local businesses our farmers support will undoubtedly feel the negative impacts of this decision.
Bundaberg Regional Council blames the rate increase on land valuations despite other rural based Queensland regional councils seeing similar rises in land valuations. The difference is that other local councils adjusted their rating system to cap increases to the same levels as Consumer Price Index (CPI), which reflects cost of living. Why has Bundaberg Council chosen to go in precisely the opposite direction and ignore the very backbone of our region?
With support of local businesses and the community, there have been more than 2,000 signatures put to date on a petition supporting local farmers who are asking our council to fix these devastating rates increases. Bundaberg farmers don’t want to fight; they simply want their own local government to preserve and protect their local community
Bundaberg Sugar Limited (BSL) is exploring how it can secure its future cane supply after closing Bingera Mill.
The mill, which has operated in the Bundaberg region for 135 years, shut down after this year’s crush, leaving only the Millaquin Mill operational.
Chief executive Guy Basile said it came down to low cane supply and the company was weighing up its options.
“We are looking at any cane area that is close to our rail sidings and we are looking at land,” he said.
“We’d like to get to 60–70 per cent of the volume [crushed] being Bundaberg Sugar’s own cane.
“I think our business model that we’ve got, which is basically the total supply, and which is cane to packaged white sugar, is the ideal scenario and we’re trying to build on that business going forward.”
BSL has not made any plans for what will happen to the Bingera Mill site.
Bingera Mill has closed after 135 years of operation, and now Bundaberg Sugar Limited is looking to secure cane supply.(ABC Wide Bay: Ross Kay)
Diversification plans
Despite their focus on expanding their cane farmland operations BSL’s parent company Belgian-based Finasucre has bought macadamia orchards and BSL also grows sweet potatoes.
“With cane, every fifth year is in fallow so that’s where we use our sweet potatoes,” Mr Basile said.
“Finasucre has invested in macadamias … but that’s Finasucre not Bundaberg Sugar.
“They’ve got investments all around the world.”
Mr Basile said they were also looking at expanding newer markets, namely organic sugar.
The company aimed to build its total organic sugar crop to 16,000 tonnes over the next five to 10 years.
“Year on year we’re building on our organic crop, so it does take three years to convert from cane land to organic,” he said.
“That’s one of our key focuses on diversification.”
In the meantime, the mill was continuing its consultations with unions and employees across its whole operation.
“There are most likely 17 full-time jobs that could be in jeopardy,” Mr Basile said.
“There’d be some seasonal workforce and casual workforce [lost] as well.”
Sugar industry jobs in the Wide Bay Burnett region hang in the balance ahead of this weekend’s state election with Labor failing to commit to a rescue package ahead of a potential mill closure.
MSF Sugar is considering closing their Maryborough mill after Rural Funds Management purchased 5409 hectares of their cane growing land in the district earlier this year, with a view to replanting with macadamia nuts.
While a decision has yet to be made to cease operations at the Maryborough Mill, the company has worked with industry stakeholders to examine various options for crushing the cane grown in the region.
Canegrowers and the Australian Sugar Milling Council said Isis Central Sugar Mill and Canegrowers Maryborough had developed a five-year plan that could see sugarcane currently contracted to the Maryborough Sugar Mill transferred to ICSM, near Childers.
But they said a Queensland Government contribution of $6.33 million was needed to ensure a $20.55 million infrastructure improvement plan could be implemented so the cane could be delivered to Childers.
While the LNP has committed to provide the necessary funds, Labor has fallen short saying only “we will work with growers and industry on this matter.”
“The incoming Queensland government must be ready to work with industry and the Australian government to deliver the package and secure the future of sugar industry jobs in the southern cane region,” Canegrowers CEO Dan Galligan said.
“Maryborough growers need to be confident they’ll have access to a mill to process their cane in order to plan future crops.
“Carting sugarcane all the way to Isis Central Sugar Mill will keep hundreds of people in work but it will also add costs, and the industry needs some State government support.”
ASMC CEO David Pietsch said MSF Sugar had committed a sizeable contribution towards the plan and it was time for government to also come to the party.
“The industry needs to know the funding has been secured so that the necessary infrastructure can be put in place before next year’s crush, to provide certainty to growers, mill workers and the local communities that are so dependent on the sugar industry,” Mr Pietsch said.
“Jobs in the region are already going to be lost as a result of the closure of the Bingera Sugar Mill at Bundaberg and the possible mill closure at Maryborough, so this investment will be critical to stabilise the Isis Central Sugar Mill and support farming businesses in the region.”
The proposed plan includes building a transloader facility, expanding the rail network and improving the efficiency of road transport.
