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STUDENTS GAIN INSIGHTS INTO SUGARCANE GROWING
Farming alongside the Great Barrier Reef is always under intense scrutiny, and for one group of American students, it is an underpinning fundamental in their Politics of Protecting the Great Barrier Reef curriculum.
Last month 24 political students from the University of Texas at Austin took the opportunity, as part of their Queensland tour, to visit Russell Jordan’s Giru farm in the Burdekin and see first-hand how growers are actively engaging in water management practices.
Russell, the first grower in the Burdekin to be Smartcane BMP accredited, provided an in-depth account of his farming practices to the students, who were keen to learn about the sugarcane industry. He said the students were intrigued with the use of modern technology in farm management like Russell’s automated irrigation improvements.
“We have end of row sensors, the pumps are all automated, so it can turn on with the computer,” Russell said.
“Previously I would open up a valve, turn the pump on and irrigate, keep watching till the water comes out the other end and then change it to the next set. About a decade ago we started to automate our systems,\ now we set a schedule and it'll go for the defined hours. Or if we've got an end of row sensor in the field, and the water hits the sensor before the timer is to go off, it will change, but if it hasn’t hit the sensor it'll change at the time that we’ve set.
“The students wanted to see how we grow, they had loads of questions and were interested in the benefits of being Smartcane BMP accredited.”
Rhonda Evans is Senior Lecturer and Director in the Department of Government at the Edward A. Clark Centre for Australian and New Zealand Studies and said the students study the different ways in which human life impacts the Reef.
“The students try to understand the actual science that documents the extent of the impact, the effects of the impact, then discuss what government can do to try to mitigate or prevent, if possible, those impacts,” Rhonda said.
“And how human activity can be regulated to protect the Reef but balance that against the fact that there are activities necessary for a functioning economy and society, like shipping, commercial fishing and agriculture.
“What's the best way to balance these and then think about the trade-offs that get made, and what does that look like and how does politics determine who wins and who loses.
“I designed this class because in the world today, we face a lot of really complicated problems, and it’s too easy to go to the opposite ends of the spectrum, to oversimplify things, to deny problems, simplify solutions, and we need to have a generation of people coming into positions of power who understand complexity,” Rhonda said.
“If I can get a couple of students out of each class who go on to do great things, well that’s the seeds I'm planting as a teacher.”
Two of the students Meghan Hester and Sahan Yerram were keen to talk to growers as their research papers related to the sugarcane industry and they took full advantage of the CANEGROWERS policy team when they visited the Brisbane office.
“The idea for our paper was to explore a policy that affected the Great Barrier Reef, I looked at the communication between the Queensland Government and sugarcane farmers. I could see a disconnect in this communication, as many farmers call for selfregulation while the Queensland Government is calling for more regulation, my paper explored how that may be hurting the farmer's output,” Meghan said.
Sahan said he hadn’t realised how extensive the industry was in Queensland and enjoyed the chance to get to go on farm and speak to representatives from the industry.
“I think it's cool to see how much technology goes into growing cane and how difficult it really can be, I have a lot of respect for the farmers,” Sahan said.
