CANEGROWERS Welcoming 2026: Celebrating Strength, Progress And What’s Ahead

As we welcome growers into 2026, I’d like to extend a warm Happy New Year to all members of the Herbert River grower community. The year ahead promises to be an exciting one as we continue to build on the strong foundations of our district, while also celebrating a major milestone in our organisation’s history.

The 2025 year once again highlighted the strength, resilience and determination of Herbert River growers. Despite a challenging season marked by weather impacts, operational pressures and ongoing industry change, growers across the district continued to adapt, collaborate and push forward. That collective spirit remains one of our greatest assets.

Throughout the year, Canegrowers Herbert River remained focused on advocacy, service delivery and building long-term capacity for our members. One of the most significant achievements was our success in lobbying the government to secure Category D Disaster Recovery Grants of up to $75,000 for growers affected by the Tropical Low event in January and February 2025. This vital funding has gone a long way in assisting growers to recover, rebuild and restore operations following major disaster impacts.

We also worked closely with Canegrowers Queensland and other Canegrowers districts to extend the definition of “primary producer” under disaster recovery grants, ensuring more growers were eligible for assistance. We continue to advocate strongly for improved disaster assistance and recovery settings on behalf of Herbert River growers.

Another priority was the delivery of the Haulout Course, which supports improved safety outcomes and practical skills development across the district. Our Young Growers Branch also continued to grow in strength, with activities including a successful trip to Cairns that provided valuable learning experiences and strengthened connections within the next generation of sugar industry leaders.

Education and school engagement expanded in 2025, with Canegrowers Herbert River working with eight local schools. With support from HCPSL, SRA and Ingham State High School, students planted cane at these schools, creating hands-on learning opportunities and highlighting career pathways in agriculture.

Throughout the crushing season, we maintained strong advocacy with the mills, ensuring grower concerns were raised consistently and constructively. Our Board and Management also remained active across regional, state and national forums, ensuring the Herbert River’s voice was heard on key policy and industry issues.

Looking ahead to 2026, we are pleased to share several upcoming events for the first half of the year. These include the 2026 Haulout Course in May, a Young Growers trip to Maleny and Bundaberg in March, Business Essentials Training in April, and our biggest event of all, the Canegrowers 100 Year Celebration in May. We will be sharing further details about this milestone event in the coming weeks.

It will be an exciting year as we celebrate the past, present and future of Canegrowers Herbert River, and the community of people involved who have made the organisation what it is today. As always, we remain committed to strong advocacy, clear communication and supporting members through whatever challenges and opportunities the new season may bring.