Sunset no more

BY DAN GALLIGANCEO, CANEGROWERS

“It’s a dynamic industry. There is always something happening, and adapting to change and looking ahead is key to navigating the challenges and opportunities.”

That is the response I give to friends, family and colleagues when they ask me what I love about working at CANEGROWERS and being part of the sugarcane industry.

Events over recent weeks have made me really think about just how much change has occurred and how much is still ahead of us.

Not more than four or five years ago, certainly just before COVID, it would not be uncommon for me to meet with government officials or other agricultural industry reps who would be entirely focused on the demise of the industry.

The general focus was on issues that characterised sugarcane as an industry on the way out, a sunset industry.

Issues such as environmental performance, sugar consumption and sugar tax, or the perennial issues of profitability and succession planning.

Fast-forward a few years and, while those issues have certainly not disappeared, they are being well managed, and I can report that meetings are no longer about sugarcane being a sunset industry. Instead, they are dominated by expectations of growth, diversification and expansion.

Most of this expectation is driven by a rapidly growing interest in developing the bioeconomy, and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in particular.

My recent engagements with Bioenergy Australia at the Australian Renewable Fuels week proved just how large the market is and how prominently discussions are focused on the future use of sugarcane as a feedstock.

Always referenced with the comment that it would have to be certified sustainably produced and reliably sourced “feedstock”.

CANEGROWERS has been active in these discussions since they began. Not least, when in 2021-2022, we developed and released the Sugar Plus industry road map, along with industry colleagues from Australian Sugar Milling Council, Sugar Research Australia and Australian Cane Farmers Association.

We have since completed a number of reports around the market demand and technical opportunities from biofuels and bioplastics.

These reports built on the exceptional efforts of growers to have over 42% of the crop certified as sustainably grown via Smartcane BMP.

It will see the sugarcane sector well placed and ready for action when speculation turns into production from the many developers and refiners of biofuels.

Our work at CANEGROWERS will continue, as we talk to industry players about their future needs with respect to feedstock.

But our focus will remain on how we support growers to ensure they achieve a better business outcome from this opportunity.

The numbers associated with the demand for SAF production are huge. This will be global transition, and demand for feedstock for fuel will equally be a global challenge.

No matter which way you look at it, regardless of whether we are growing sugarcane for food or fuel, we have hundreds of thousands of hectares of stored energy in sugarcane that growers across this state sustainably grow every year single year.

If managed well, it should be a new dawn for everyone in the industry.