Insight Focus
- Fuel and fertiliser costs are a major concern.
- More rain is needed to boost cane development.
- A campaign to mitigate labour shortages is underway.
In this series, we’re following farmers around the world. We’ll look at what they’re up to on the farm, hear their concerns, and celebrate their triumphs. Here’s the link to the farmers’ bios in case you missed them.
What Are You Up to On the Farm at Present?
In my cattle business, we’ve been mustering to brand and drip the calves. For the first time, I’ve used a helicopter contractor to bring the cattle in from the mountain country. What he did in two hours would normally take three people three days on motorbikes.
In the wet season, I have the cattle on higher ground, but the beauty of helicopter is that the pilot can see them all. On the bike, you can sometimes miss animals in the tall grass.
The sugarcane has needed irrigation as the weather has become unseasonably dry in the lower country. I use a combination of centre pivot, winch and ground irrigation depending on the area, so a lot of time has been spent moving them and turning them on and off.
What Stage is Your Crop At?
The crop in my region has gone from being exceptional to average in the past month.
The dry weather has definitely slowed its growth, so we need more rain. All the growers around me are irrigating, which is unusual for this time of year.
This contrasts to the cane regions further south, which have been flooded twice within a month and are looking at smaller crops for the opposite reason.
What Are Your Biggest Concerns at Present?
Costs are my biggest concern, and that of all farmers in Australia. Fuel prices have sharply risen recently and, on top of the very high cost of fertiliser, it’s making business budgeting difficult.
The need to irrigate at what should be a rainy time of year is also adding pressure. I need to pay electricity for pumping. This costs me 50-100 AUD/megalitre (35-75 USD/megalitre) depending on the pressure required for the irrigation equipment. Then there’s the cost of the water from the Pioneer River, which is about 38 AUD/megalitre (29 USD/megalitre).
What Are You Doing Differently This Year?
The helicopter mustering of cattle on my property is definitely a first for me and has proven very successful.
Otherwise, the whole industry is concerned about attracting enough workers to the sugarcane regions for the 2022harvest. It was hard to locally source enough people to drive harvesters and haul out vehicles last year. However, as an industry organisation, CANEGROWERS has taken the step to actively promote the opportunities in southern Australia, particularly in grain-growing regions, where people have comparable skills. This should encourage farmers from the cooler areas to escape their winter for the dry sunshine of north Queensland tropics.
