The Australian Sugar Milling Council (ASMC) welcomed today’s announcement from the Palaszczuk Government to cut irrigation water costs for Queensland’s sugarcane growers by 15 per cent for three years from July 2021 if re-elected.
“Increasing overseas competition, depressed global sugar prices, and rising production costs compounded by the far-reaching impacts of the coronavirus pandemic has subjected the industry to unprecedented stress,” ASMC Chief Executive Officer, David Pietsch said.
“A price cut will reverse a decades long trend of SunWater’s regulated water charges increasing annually and will now make water more affordable for the two-thirds of the state’s canegrowers that rely on irrigation.
“Affordable water provides cane growers with a greater incentive to increase their water usage and take full advantage of their water access entitlements.
Labor’s decision to cut irrigation water charges by 15% from 1 July next year follows pledges from the LNP and KAP to reduce water prices by 20% and 25% respectively.
“Regardless of the election result, there are now commitments to reduce water charges across the political spectrum,” he added.
“The resulting boost in cane productivity will translate into an increase in sugar, molasses and renewable power generation that will immediately improve mill viability and support regional jobs,” he said.
Mr Pietsch said ASMC calculations[1] estimated that a 15% cut in water prices would generate around $132 million in additional economic activity over four years, or around $100 million over the three years 2021/22 to 2023/24 of the scheme. A 25% cut was estimated to deliver $220m in community benefits.
“The Queensland sugar industry generates more than $4 billion to the Queensland economy and supports more than 23,000 jobs throughout the State,” Mr Pietsch said.
Bipartisan support has been given for cheaper water prices as the Queensland state election race enters the home stretch.
Labor joined the party to announce a 15 per cent reduction in water charges for farmers accessing the state-owned irrigation schemes, and half-price water specifically for fruit and vegetable growers.
This will start from July 2021.
Earlier this month the LNP announced they would cut water costs by 20 per cent and Katter’s Australian Party have promised a 25 per cent reduction.
The Australian Sugar Milling Council (ASMC) released a report earlier this year into irrigation water charges and their consistent increase over many years, putting forward a range of potential reductions between 15 and 25 per cent.
“So now we have commitments that fit within that range,” ASMC CEO David Pietsch said.
“It’s not just a benefit to the canegrowers and the sugar millers, it would also deliver broader benefits to the communities that rely on our industry.”
More questions than answers
Canegrowers CEO Dan Galligan said the industry was relieved to have secured solid promises from the major political parties.
He said the decrease would result in substantial savings for irrigators across growing regions
“So we’re talking tens of thousands of dollars, certainly for the average grower in the Burdekin, easily $10,000 to $15,000 will be saved by a 15 per cent reduction,” Mr Galligan said.
“The price of water and electricity were essential to our election pitch, so this is a really important initiative.”
Bipartisan support has been announced for cheaper water charges for irrigators across Queensland.(Supplied: Bundaberg Sugar)
But he said many questions still remained, including around the different reductions for cane and horticulture crops.
“Pumps don’t differentiate where the water is going, obviously, and a lot of our members grow more than just cane,” Mr Galligan said.
“So many irrigators will be trying to work out how that works if Labor forms government this weekend.”
‘We create the most jobs’
In the far north of the state Joe Moro has a crop of mangoes that are drip fed from the Mareeba-Dimbulah irrigation scheme.
He said the interest all major state parties have taken in water pricing is timely acknowledgement of the heavy lifting the industry has done this pandemic.
“By water pricing coming down, they acknowledge that it will create more jobs,” Mr Moro said.
“The horticulture industry is phenomenal for creating jobs, we create the most jobs in all the agriculture industries.
“And if farmers can make a dollar out of it, they will reinvest it.
“We have seen that in the Tablelands in particular, we will see more confidence.”
Bundaberg calls for more
Bundaberg-based macadamia grower Andrew Lewis said while the announcement was a step in the right direction, they need more.
“I think it’s good news but what we’d really like to see is a guarantee prior to the election for the Bundaberg region — Paradise Dam will be returned to full supply level,” he said.
“The 130,000 megalitres that are missing from that dam at the moment that will be a real guarantee that there will be jobs in the future.
One Bundaberg farmer is welcoming the announcement but wants to see more commitments around Paradise Dam.(ABC News: David Shipton)
Mr Lewis also wants to see more detail.
“Irrigation costs are a big consideration for us the cost of the actual water is probably two thirds of the cost and power would be the other third,” he said.
“You think about it every time you turn the pump on.
“It’d be interesting to see how long these price reductions continue on for — it’d be nice to think they go well into the future.
“In a COVID year we’ve all grown to understand that having access to fresh fruit and vegetables and everything else that comes from agriculture as well as jobs has been critical to powering the state of Queensland.”
A scholarship that gives university students the chance to complete work placements at several Australian sugar mills has given Kristen Nel a stepping stone into a career with the nation’s largest sugar miller.
Ms Nel commenced work as the process improvement engineer at Wilmar’s Invicta Mill in January after completing her chemical engineering degree at QUT last year.
She applied for an Australian Sugar Industry Scholarship with the Sugar Research Institute while undertaking her engineering studies and was awarded the scholarship in recognition of her excellent results, drive and interest in the sugar industry.
“When I first went for the scholarship I hadn’t really experienced a processing facility,” Ms Nel said.
“The opportunity for on-site, practical experience from this program got me interested.”
Ms Nel completed a series of SRI-organised sugar mill internships in her final two years of study. Her placements included a stint at Wilmar’s Victoria Mill at Ingham.
Invicta Mill production superintendent James Wallace said Wilmar targeted graduate engineers who showed initiative and a willingness to learn.
“Kristen demonstrated this during her scholarship placements,” Mr Wallace said.
“She has a good understanding of chemical engineering foundations and her enthusiasm to learn and push through engineering problems has been exceptional.”
Ms Nel said her quick transition from study to work had been rollercoaster, particularly leaving family and friends on the Sunshine Coast to move to North Queensland.
“I had to take the leap and see what I could achieve,” she said.
“The sugar industry is challenging but the staff at Invicta Mill are very supportive and are helping me to develop my knowledge and skills in the industry.
“Working at the mill is unique as every day is different. The sugar industry offers a diverse range of unit operations to challenge me and develop my skill set.
“It provides an opportunity for me to not only apply my engineering foundations but also quickly learn how to manage people, which is something not taught at university.”
Australian sugar mills process about 30 million tonnes of sugarcane each year to produce about 4.3 million tonnes of raw sugar.
The industry directly employs about 10,000 people across the sugar supply chain and injects about $4 billion into the Australian economy annually.
Ms Nel was happy to share tips for students interested in an Australian Sugar Industry Scholarship and future employment in the sugar industry.
“Have passion and purpose to learn all you can from each work situation,” she said.
“This is best done by getting your hands dirty. The operators are often your best sources of knowledge so you will do well to lean in and listen, as innovation is not found in a textbook.
“With the scholarship placement program, I was able to gain valuable experiences that have greatly assisted me in obtaining employment.”
Applications for the 2021 Australian Sugar Industry Scholarship are now open.
Scholarships are awarded to students in their penultimate year studying chemical, mechanical, process or electrical engineering or science degrees with an interest in working in the Australian sugar industry.
Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) has been detected in several new locations in southern and southwestern Queensland over the past week, at the Lockyer Valley, St George and Chinchilla. This follows the recent detection of fall armyworm in northern New South Wales at Moree and Boggabilla near the Queensland border.
This expansion of range from northern and central Queensland is not unexpected as fall armyworm is highly mobile, with long-distance migrations facilitated by favourable meteorological conditions.
Fall armyworm was initially detected on the Torres Strait islands of Saibai and Erub in January 2020. Since then it has also been reported from numerous sites in northern and central Queensland including Bamaga, Croydon, South Johnstone, Tolga, Lakeland, the Burdekin, Bowen, Bundaberg, Emerald, Richmond, Clermont, Biloela, Mackay and Longreach.
Fall armyworm has also been detected in the Northern Territory and northern Western Australia.
The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF), Queensland is working with industry to find ways to address the serious threat posed by the fall armyworm to Queensland’s agriculture industry. In conjunction with industry, DAF now manages a statewide network of over 50 pheromone traps, monitoring local fall armyworm activity–an early warning system for growers and agronomists. This trap data is updated weekly and is available on the Beatsheet website.
Producers who think that they may have come across fall armyworm are strongly encouraged to photograph and report suspect sightings to DAF on 13 25 23 or to their local biosecurity officer or extension officer.
For more information, including the potential impacts of this pest and management advice for key crops, visit business.qld.gov.au/fallarmyworm.
CANEGROWERS says growers have a strong voice in an important role following the election of Babinda sugarcane grower and CANEGROWERS Cairns Region Chairman Stephen Calcagno to the Board of Sugar Terminals Limited (STL).
Mr Calcagno has been confirmed as the replacement for retiring director and Mossman grower Drew Watson on the STL board, joining Mackay grower Tony Bartolo who was elected by G-Class shareholders in 2018.
“I thank my fellow growers for their support and confidence at today’s STL Annual General Meeting,” Mr Calcagno said. “There is a lot of uncertainty around at the minute, but I see a bright future for this industry and I want to make sure that we make the best decisions possible for growers at all levels.
“STL owns Queensland’s bulk sugar shipping facilities so its management is critical to maintaining Australia’s reputation as a reliable supplier of quality sugar to the world market.
“Along with that, the company must also provide a dividend to shareholders, many of whom are cane growers.”
CANEGROWERS Chairman Paul Schembri welcomed the election of Mr Calcagno to the STL Board.
“With Stephen Calcagno, growers interests are in safe hands,” he said. “He is an experienced representative dedicated to his fellow growers who is also open minded and forward-thinking, meaning he will work with other board members for the benefit of the company and the industry as a whole. I wish him well in his new role.”
Sugarcane farmers’ group CANEGROWERS has welcomed as a win a new option to help Queensland irrigators manage high electricity costs but says more work is needed to fix all the issues in the power pricing system.
“The confirmation from the Queensland Competition Authority that a new control load tariff, called T34, will be available as a primary tariff to farmers from 1 November is a victory for irrigators and comes on the back of years of lobbying from CANEGROWERS and other farm groups,” CANEGROWERS CEO Dan Galligan said.
“I urge growers to carefully assess if T34 is right for them to ensure their business can benefit from a lower price for power but also not be affected by the risk of service delivery interruptions.”
CANEGROWERS is calling for the parties campaigning in the Queensland State Election to commit to a suite of agricultural electricity tariffs capped at 16c/kWh. T34 is close to that mark with a usage charge of 17.295 c/kWh and a daily fixed change of $1.18081 per day (both ex-GST).
Bundaberg grower Mark Pressler was part of a joint trial of the control load tariff run by CANEGROWERS and Energy Queensland and says he was impressed.
“The tariff delivered some worthwhile cost savings for my business and the service interruptions were manageable,” he said. “I’m looking forward to Ergon finalising its plan to send us text notifications so we know ahead of time when the power might be cut.”
While T34 is a positive step, Mr Galligan said it was not the solution to all of the problems with electricity pricing and CANEGROWERS would continue to campaign for an end to network gold plating practices and profit gouging by governments.
“Significantly more change is still needed to the electricity pricing system and we are calling on the Labor and Liberal National parties to commit to more action to improve affordability for farmers after the 31 October election,” Mr Galligan said.
“Successive Queensland Governments have used the electricity network as a cash cow and a form of farm business taxation by pulling out dividends worth up to $1.5 billion each year.
“Power companies have also been rewarded for overcapitalising on the network, what’s known as gold-plating. The network charge is about half of a power bill so when this goes up, profit margin of irrigators gets squeezed.
“Both of these systemic issues are yet to be addressed but if they are, and we see significant price cuts for irrigators across the board, production on farms will increase.”
The CANEGROWERS State Election 8-point plan lists the high costs of electricity and water as one of the obstacles holding the Queensland sugarcane industry back from realising its full potential.
Media comment: Dan Galligan | CANEGROWERS CEO | 0429 707 809
