CANEGROWERS members are opening their farms to virtual visitors to show how they work to protect the water quality of the Great Barrier Reef while running productive and profitable businesses.

“Our Virtual Bus Tour video series is now into its seventh season celebrating the innovations and practice changes that are securing our industry’s future as a sustainable producer of sugarcane,” CANEGROWERS CEO Dan Galligan said.

“While there’s been a lot of debate and campaigns around the future of the Reef, our members have been working hard on their farms, investing their time and money over many years to reduce any impacts on water quality.”

The videos of farms from Mossman to Maryborough feature measures to prevent water runoff, minimise fertiliser use, care for creek and river banks and improve soil health.

“With our industry spread along 2,000 kilometres of the Queensland coast, these videos are a way of our members sharing their experiences with each other without having to travel vast distances,” Mr Galligan said.

“We also want anyone who is curious to take a look at how our modern industry operates.”

The first video of the 2018 season is a walk around the beautiful Wet Tropics region farm of CANEGROWERS Mossman chairman Drew Watson to see how he manages water in his high rainfall region and his development of a nutrient management plan to target his fertiliser use.

A new video will be published each week for the next six weeks. The series has been supported by the Federal Government Reef Programme. The videos from previous seasons are available on YouTube and via the Cane to Coast feature on the CANEGROWERS website.