Getting under employed cane growers back to work following the devastation of Cyclone Yasi, is the inspiration for an innovative cross sector employment scheme launched in Toowoomba on Friday.

Operation Harvest Help will match cane growers looking for alternative employment with cotton growers who need experienced staff to bring in this year’s bumper cotton crop.

Cotton Australia CEO Adam Kay says while the floods hit some cotton growers hard, the national crop appears to have weathered the storm and remains on track for a record harvest.

“Bringing in a cotton crop of around 3.7 million bales is a massive undertaking and the cotton industry will need every hand on deck to get the job done. Harvest Help is about giving real jobs and plenty of real hard work to cane growers who are doing it tough following the extraordinary big wet marked by,” he says

According to CANEGROWERS Chief Operating Officer, Ron Mullins, around 500 cane growers and their field staff have been left under-employed, with little work after an unprecedented 6 months of extraordinary rainfall throughout last year’s harvest saw 20 percent of Australia’s crop left in the paddock. Followed by a start to the year of floods and cyclones, the cane industry will also see a reduction in productivity in season 2011.

“There is nothing worse than staring at a snapped, flattened or flooded cane crop day after day, with no work and no cash flow till next season. Harvest Help will bring back the dignity that having a job means, along with mobilizing a reliable and experienced farm work force when the cotton growers need them most,” says Mullins.

“We have growers and workers now actively looking for work and badly needed additional income,” he says.

The cotton harvest starts around Easter and gives a potential for growers to get some work in before the cane harvest starts in the middle of the year. There is potential for workers to then pick up work during the sugarcane harvest which continues until the end of the year.

The Harvest Help matching service bringing cane workers and cotton employers together will be operated by the National Harvest Labour Information Service, at no charge to employers or job seekers.

Cotton growers with vacant jobs and cane growers looking for work can register by calling 1800 062 332 or visit http://www.harvesttrail.org.au/

Media Comment:
David Bone, Cotton Australia, 02 9669 5222 or 0488 189 502.
Suzi Moore, CANEGROWERS, 07 3864 6444 or 0427 641 239.

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