From the Chair

By Owen Menkens, Chairman CANEGROWERS

RAIN CAN'T STOP YOUR GROWER REPS

We've had a challenging start to the 2022 crush due to wet weather across all growing regions. In fact, for a period last month every Queensland mill ceased crushing because paddocks were inaccessible. But while the harvesters were idle, your CANEGROWERS representatives have been busy.

The widespread heavy rain was highly unusual for this time of year and hopefully it was a one-off. We need the skies to stay clear now.

But while the crush may have temporarily slowed down, the work on behalf of growers did not.

We had district crushing issues to negotiate, the CANEGROWERS policy committees got together, and we also held the first QGCO Board and Policy Council meetings of the new three-year term.

The CANEGROWERS Policy Council is made up of one grower representative for each sugar mill area in Queensland. Policy Council members also sit on the policy committees.

These committees prioritise the issues facing the industry from a grower perspective and establish strategies to deal with them. The Chair of each committee is also a member of the QCGO Board.

The CANEGROWERS policy committees are:

Farm Inputs and Research

Chaired by Kevin Borg (Plane Creek) this committee deals with Sugar Research Australia issues, transport, farm business management, productivity, and input prices.

Economics and Trade

This committee is chaired by Joseph Borg (Mackay) and it deals with water, electricity, sugar marketing, and trade issues.

Environment and Sustainability

Chaired by Joe Marano (Innisfail), this committee deals with environmental policy, Smartcane BMP, sustainable sugar, biosecurity, and social licence to operate.

Membership Reference Group

This group is chaired by Stephen Calcagno (Cairns Region) and deals with value for members, engagement with districts and growers, as well as bringing a membership focus to the issues examined by the policy committees.

Each of the committees is connected to a policy staff member, who helps carry out the direction of the growers.

If growers want to discuss any issues facing the industry, they should feel free to contact the chair of the relevant committee or their local Policy Council representative.

At the end of the day, we are one organisation with a policy platform to represent all of our members.

We are a grower-driven organisation with directors that deal with issues at a local, district, state and national level.

Board

The board looks after the financials and governance of the organisation, as well as looking at strategic direction.

Our board has a strong connection with the Queensland Farmers' Federation, with QCGO Director Mark Mammino (Isis) being a current director of QFF, while former CANEGROWERS director Allan Dingle (Bundaberg) is QFF president.

ACGC

We also had the first meeting of Australian Cane Growers Council (ACGC), which includes NSW grower groups.

As a founding member of the National Farmers' Federation, ACGC has a strong relationship with, and influence over the policy direction of that organisation.

ACGC also has membership in the World Association of Beet and Cane Growers (WABCG). This organisation is very important for trade policy as it gives us a connection to governments in member countries.