Ekka success

from Australian Canegrower - September 2022

From the Chair

Sharing a taste of sugar

With The Ekka back in full swing the city finally had the chance to learn what really happens on a sugarcane farm.

With the collaboration of key industry stakeholders, CANEGROWERS, Sugar Research Australia (SRA), Sunshine Sugar (NSW) and Australian Sugar Milling Council (ASMC) thousands flocked to get a taste of the sugar industry at the Australian sugar and sugarcane stand.

The real hit of the show was the Virtual Reality paddock to packet experience provided by Sunshine Sugar, this sixminute immersive tour provided a bird’s eye view of cane country, before bringing visitors into the tractor cab during planting and harvesting.

Viewers were taken through the production process on farm, in the mill, and got to experience the sugar terminal and refinery, learning about sugarcane from the billet to the bag.

SRA provided samples of common pests affecting sugarcane that intrigued visitors while CANEGROWERS Rocky Point grower Richard Skopp provided cane and billets allowing visitors the chance to get up close to sugarcane.

Many visitors shared a connection to the sugarcane crop, reminiscing with fond memories whether it be visiting a farm or passing fields of green cane up and down the Queensland coastline, and overall their experiences were very positive.

Jamie Grant, Councillor for the Agricultural Hall at The Ekka, a dry land cotton farmer from Dalby said after a few years of being ‘all dressed up with nowhere to go’ the Ekka was finally back in the arena this year and the Ag Hall was buzzing with activity when Australian Canegrower caught up with him on day five of the exhibition.

“It’s been a good result so far, I mean we always knew it could be a shaky start, we’re coming out of two years of no Ekka due to COVID restrictions, but overall it’s been very positive,” Mr Grant said.

Mr Grant said the Ekka’s Ag Hall exhibitions provided agricultural industries the chance to reach out to the city, especially the younger generations, to experience firsthand what life on a farm is all about, giving an opportunity to explore the world through a farmer's eyes and allowing the chance to ask questions and begin to think about how food is grown and produced.

“The agricultural industry needs to have a presence with city people, it’s up to us and our industries to show them what we do and share our stories.

“You have had a lot of traffic through your stand, it’s been great to see, you’re doing a great job helping people to understand what is involved in your industry.

“Now we need to promote the different career opportunities within agriculture, and I’ll be pushing that focus for next year’s Ekka.”

CANEGROWERS Chairman Owen Menkens said it was rewarding to witness firsthand the joy and amazement expressed by men, women and children of all ages as they were immersed in the life of a cane farmer, harvest operator and mill worker.

“Regardless of their understanding, all visitors left with new insights and new understandings of the contemporary industry,” Mr Menkens said.

It wasn’t only the general public who gained a valuable insight into the importance of the sugar industry to Queensland’s economy and the pivotal role it could one day play in the success of the bioeconomy.

Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt, Queensland Agriculture Minister Mark Furner and Federal Opposition leader Peter Dutton, all attended the stand and engaged directly with industry representatives.

“Advocating on behalf of Queensland’s sugarcane farming families and the communities they support is at the very heart of what CANEGROWERS does as an organisation,” Mr Menkens said.

“But rarely do we get an opportunity to engage one-on-one with government decision-makers and the general public simultaneously.

“Like all industries in today’s world, the sugar industry requires a social licence if we are to continue to operate successfully.

“CANEGROWERS is proud to talk directly with the community and the decisionmakers and educate them on the steps we have taken over many decades to become one of the world’s most efficient, sustainable and forward-thinking producers of sugar.”