SECTION 1
OVERVIEW
Th is se c t i o n brou g ht t o y o u i n as soci a t i o n wi t h
A farmer’s reflections on the year that was O By Mike Hetherington, Southern Region Director ACFA
I
T would not be to often that two consecutive cane harvests are reported in the same annual report and, fortunately, it won’t happen this time. But it’s going to be a closerun thing though! Let’s put the blame on the rain – or lack there-of! While most growers in the Southern Region started 2019 with positivity after a good clean harvest, we ran into a dry season which saw some areas have some rainfall at some time – but ‘summing’ up, this does not make for the best crop outcome. How much irrigation the crop received, once again, became ‘cash governed’, rather than driven by ‘crop need’.
Press # for a ‘new’ tariff Electricity retailers have given the game away by having a phone menu selection option for farmers looking to arrange ‘payment schemes’ – or some similar title. Much time and effort has seemingly gone into trying to head farmers off at the pass with ‘new’ Tariff Schemes. ‘New’ is a thinly disguised code for ‘more expensive’. The Australian Energy Regulator is a body supposed to be empowered to declare whether a charge is fair or not. Having read reports of
Mike Hetherington – Sharing moments with old mates is important for the soul!
their deliberations, I could not say if this body has any teeth or not. I was simply overwhelmed with ‘Committee’ speak. Let’s keep an eye on the few ‘low pressure’ boom irrigators who are running with solar power. It’s full marks to them and a lesson for us all if they can establish long term viability! So, back to the irrigation itself and the latest bombshell in the Bundaberg/ISIS irrigation. Paradise lost!
Paradise lost!
Paradise lost? Well lots of it anyway. Safety concerns have seen what is being called a permanent reduction in Paradise Dam’s capacity.
8 — AUSTRALIAN SUGARCANE ANNUAL 2019
Well not completely, but fairly well shaken. This ‘dam wall – released water’ fiasco for a major water storage in the middle of a drought was, I am sure, a long way from the average farmer’s mind. Hence the ‘bombshell’ – five metres off the wall height! And that’s where most of the water is – in the top bit. I used to have engineering drawings of the dam from being on a Community Reference panel referring to the Burnett River Storages. These are long gone to an Engineering student as an undergraduate project, so I cannot quote, except from memory. Two things I recall the engineers saying were: O The cost in $/megalitre stored was outside the then current world standard; and, O The rock formations at the Paradise site would make it difficult! This seems to have come back to bite us. To be frank, I supported anything that would
