Slow Start To The Sugar Season

The Proserpine Sugar Mill has experienced a slow start to the season due to commissioning problems with new machinery that has caused a lot of stop-start production during the first week of crushing.

Local farmer Gary Simpson said that farmers have become frustrated with all the delays.

“It’s been frustrating for all the harvester crews as there have been a lot of stops and starts,” he said.

“They have a lot of new gear and I believe the issues have been with commissioning problems in the pan and the fugal stages.

“I believe they also have 50 per cent new staff this year so there would obviously be a lot of training involved.”

Despite that, Mr Simpson said the industry is expecting a positive season with good weather predicted, leading to higher sugar content and easier harvesting.

“Hopefully this week goes well and if everything comes together, we will have one of the best seasons in a while,” he said.

“We’ve started slowly, but we’ve started early so time is on our side and hopefully the weather.”

Mr Simpson also states that morale is high among the farmers, with significantly higher than usual attending the pre-season meetings.

“We’ve seen the best numbers in a long time!” he said.

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Proserpine Sugar Mill. Photo credit: Debbie Savy, Tropix Photography

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