"Back To The Future” A Hot Issue By Joseph Borg, Chairman, CANEGROWERS Mackay

As the crushing season begins, this year will be “back to the future” in one important aspect. And I feel it is it is important to inform the sugar city and surrounding areas about what that might mean.

There will be greatly increased frequency of cane fires seen around the district this crush season. For those of you who have been around long enough, you will remember that, late most afternoons in the crush season: the smell of a cane fire, the crackling tones and the black soot floating through the sky as well as the night-time glows throughout the district.

Over the past 30 years or so, the implementation of green cane harvesting and trash blanket management techniques have resulted in these historic fires becoming significantly less common in the Mackay district.

However, this year we see significant areas across the district of two-year-old cane known as standover.

Standover presents its own challenges: it is in general difficult to harvest and then also for the sugar mills to process. It’s typically a bit more fibrous, has more dead material, and not the familiar straight stalks of a good standing one year crop.

The simplest way to improve this process is to first burn the paddocks prior to harvest, helping reduce the amount of extraneous matter in the crop, therefore making it easier both to harvest and process.

So: once again the sugar city will have the night skies lit up by these spectacular events. However, it must be remembered that whilst they are visually stunning, there are always dangers involved and farms are a workplace, so if you wish to view these fires, please be safe and keep a substantial distance away and ensure not to interrupt or hinder the farmers while they are working through this process. They are experienced in managing cane burning and are working within a regulated permit system.

Whilst talking about farm safety, I would like to emphasis again that farms and cane rail lines are workplaces with significant dangers ranging from harvesting and farm machinery to the giant cane trains which transport our crop from our points of delivery (sidings) to the mills for processing.  Please remind family and friends that these farms and cane railway lines are private property and not public motor bike or scrub-bashing tracks.  For example, if I were to take my motorbike or ute into a shed in Paget or shopping centre and hoon in for a burnout, I am pretty sure I would be in a lot of trouble.  So why are farms and cane rail lines any different?
Finally, in closing, by the time this column goes to print and all going well, the harvesters should be in the paddock beginning the harvest in the region’s south. Sarina’s Plane Creek is the first to kick off (planned for June 3), and Mackay Racecourse and Farleigh mills will be starting over the coming week, and Marian soon after on the 17th.

I wish a safe and successful harvest to all parties involved in this year’s crush season and also to the wider community.  If the sugar city community and surrounding areas all work together and have respect for each other, we can hopefully make this crush season a positive one for everyone.

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