$7.5 Million Boost To Help Cassowary Coast Cane Growers Protect Reef

Terrain NRM's new Reefwise Farming program will support sugarcane growers across the Cassowary Coast to improve farm productivity while helping protect the Great Barrier Reef through more efficient nutrient management practices. Photo source: Shutterstock

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Sugarcane growers across the Cassowary Coast will receive support to boost productivity while reducing nutrient runoff into the Great Barrier Reef through a new $7.5 million farming initiative.

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Terrain NRM has secured Australian Government funding for the two-and-a-half-year Reefwise Farming project, which will assist growers across more than 6,700 hectares from Cairns to Ingham to improve fertiliser efficiency and strengthen crop disease and pest management.

The program will have a strong focus on the Innisfail and Tully districts, where extension officers will work one-on-one with growers to develop or update nutrient management plans, improve soil health and identify crop constraints. Demonstration sites, field days and shed meetings will also be held, with paddock-scale water quality monitoring taking place in the Tully district.

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Terrain NRM is delivering the project in partnership with Canegrowers Innisfail, Canegrowers Herbert River, Canegrowers Cairns and Sugar Research Australia.

Terrain NRM's Jamie Thornberry said farming in the Wet Tropics required balancing productivity with environmental stewardship.

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"As a region with high rainfall and a close proximity to the reef, intensive agricultural systems will continue to be presented with unique challenges," he said.

"Farmers have come a long way in accepting these challenges as a part of doing business in the region and continuing to manage nutrient runoff, sediment and pesticides to achieve water quality outcomes."

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The project is already underway in the Innisfail district, with Canegrowers Innisfail manager Deb Telford saying local growers were seeing the benefits.

"This project is allowing us to further work with growers at an enterprise level to improve their nutrient use efficiency through improved productivity," she said.

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In the Herbert River district, growers will have access to dollar-for-dollar grants through Canegrowers Herbert River to invest in equipment and farming practices that improve efficiency and environmental outcomes.

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Canegrowers Herbert River project officer Leah Russo said the funding would help growers make lasting improvements.

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"Projects like these provide growers with valuable opportunities to invest in equipment and technologies that may otherwise be beyond their financial reach. They enable meaningful practice change and deliver long-term environmental and economic benefits."

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Funded through the Australian Government's Reef Trust as part of the Reef 2050 Long-term Sustainability Plan, the Reefwise Farming project aims to improve water quality while supporting the long-term sustainability and profitability of the region's sugar industry.

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