Grower seed inspections, including RSD sampling, will commence on 18th of February and continue until 2nd of May.
After the 2nd of May seed inspections and RSD sampling will be limited by staff availability.
We strongly urge growers to secure a booking early!
To make a booking growers will be required to contact or drop into the office and provide details of the blocks they wish to sample. This information is important as it allows staff to prepare the equipment required and conduct their sampling efficiently. Once a booking is made, a staff member will follow up with a phone call to arrange a suitable time and day.
Important Information;
HCPSL will be using the QCPR LSB (Leath Sheath Biopsy) method.
Seed cane must be at least seven (7) months old
Once samples are collected, results may take up to 3 weeks (typically 2 weeks)
1 test per 20 hectares = no charge for HCPSL members (otherwise $10 per samples).
Growers must supply a farm map to the HCPSL office with the location of blocks requiring inspection (this is important for effective and efficient sampling).
For further information contact the HCPSL Office on 47761808
Supporting growers to drive productivity and improve water quality (WQ) outcomes may have been the focus of the Lower Herbert Water Quality Program (LHWQP), but the legacy it leaves through one of its projects, Project CaNE (Crop and Nutrient Efficiency), is much more than that.
As Project CaNE heads towards its finale in early 2025 it leaves behind a number of agronomic advisors armed with the skills and knowledge they need to support the sugarcane industry into the future.
Project CaNE, led by Herbert Cane Productivity Services Limited (HCPSL) and supported by project partners James Cook University’s TropWATER and the Department of Primary Industries Queensland, was funded through the partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. The $7 million project supported a total of eight Extension agronomists, a GIS (Precision Ag) officer, and support staff over three and a half years.
Some of Project CaNE’s Staff.
Exceeding its official goals and targets, Project CaNE also brought together experienced agronomic staff with those new to the industry. Through on ground support and mentoring, these staff have been equipped with the skills they will need to continue providing sound agronomic advice to growers who continue to balance productive farm practises with positive WQ outcomes.
From an agronomic perspective, project staff were exposed to a number of upskilling opportunities including training on how to develop whole-of-farm nutrient management plans, conduct Electro-magnetic (EM) soil mapping, address soil constraints, and use of fallow crops to improve soil health, all aimed at better utilisation of farm inputs to drive productivity and profitability for growers.
A training session with growers and HCPSL staff.
Complimenting the agronomic work, increased skills and knowledge were developed through activities related to environmental outcomes. Staff assisted JCU TropWater with WQ monitoring and learnt from the information collected from the 11 project WQ monitoring sites across the Herbert sugarcane growing region installed and maintained by TropWATER.
One of JCU TropWater’s water quality monitering sites.
Staff worked with agricultural economists from DPI Queensland to put an economic value on the project’s nitrogen stabiliser and mill by-product (Clear as Mud) program. Project growers dedicated their time and resources through on-ground works and the provision of land access and equipment to establish on-farm demonstration sites.
A Project CaNE on-farm workshop.
When asked, HCPSL manager and Project CaNE coordinator Adam Royle was keen to highlight some of the benefits the project has brought to the Herbert sugarcane industry.
“It’s been a great opportunity to not just support growers, but to upskill new and existing HCPSL staff at the same time. Bringing positive productivity, profitability and environmental outcomes together under the one project has been very successful. (And) although the project is coming to an end, the industry will have ongoing benefits through the capacity to continue to deliver agronomic advice by project staff who will hopefully go on to do similar work,” he said.
Adam went on to say, “I’ve had the privilege of mentoring several project staff and been the beneficiary of learning new things while working on the project, that’s a win-win for me and I believe for the industry as well”.
The uniqueness of the region sitting across the wet and dry tropics makes it highly suitable for growing sugarcane. Yet, as one of the most intensively cropped regions, this area presents a challenging balance for growers in managing fertiliser and pesticide losses from paddocks.
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