Videos

Welcome to the CANEGROWERS Virtual Bus Tour.
This is a collection of videos to take you on virtual farm visits.
Type topics into the search boxes or browse the list to find Queensland sugarcane farms and growers to 'visit'.

 

Working in the sugar industry

There are hundreds of different jobs and careers in Australia's sugar industry. In this video, hear about three of them from a sugarcane grower, a CANEGROWERS district manager and a researcher.

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Sustainable cane farming on the Gold Coast (S8 E8)

Curious about the sugarcane farms on Queensland’s Gold Coast? Visit Greg Zipf who supplies cane the Rocky Point mill, mulch to home gardeners and food grade soya beans. Like most growers in the region, he’s committed to farming sustainability next to Moreton Bay. This video explains the farm practices behind his accreditation in the industry best practice program, Smartcane BMP.

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Smarter irrigation delivers sugarcane gains (S8 E7)

The CANEGROWERS Virtual Bus tour visits Mackay and Steve Muscat to see GDots and moisture probes at work, taking the guess work out of irrigation decisions for fallow crops and sugarcane. GDots are relocatable moisture sensors which were funded under Queensland Government's Farm Water Futures Program.

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Sharing drone and GPS technology across farms (S8 E6)

A network of community GPS base stations and a drone are taking big costs off the ledger for Innisfail region sugarcane growers investing in precision agriculture. It's an example of CANEGROWERS helping members with shared technology to boost productivity and make farming more sustainable.  Join the CANEGROWERS Virtual Bus Tour to see them in action on farms, on the ground and in the sky.

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Sugarcane productivity with fallow crops and targeted fertiliser (S8 E5 )

This episode of the CANEGROWERS Virtual Bus Tour is all about soil health in the Mackay region. Grower Lindsay Neilsen uses farm practices to nurture the microbes in his soil and is part of the CANEGROWERS enhanced efficiency fertiliser project, known as EEF60. Gradual release products are being compared with more conventional fertilisers at different rates. The trials are being run with Queensland Government and Sugar Research Australia support.

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Best practice on a farm with high rainfall (S8 E4)

Visit the Mirriwinni farm of Steven Bonso to look at his subsurface drainage and the best practice farming methods that boost his soil health and reduce fertiliser applications. One tactic is adding mill ash using the CANEGROWERS Cairns Region banded spreader, a resource available to all members in the region.

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Cane farm soil moisture probes (S8 E3)

On the Atherton Tableland in far north Queensland, CANEGROWERS is helping members make the most of new communication and monitoring tools which help with irrigation decisions. This Virtual Bus Tour video shows how two different soil moisture probes work and the valuable information they provide - all in the name of more efficient and productive cane farms.

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Visit a Reef Champion cane farm (S8 E2)

What does the farm of a Queensland Reef Champion look like? Visit Len Parisi and his farm in the Mulgrave Valley where natural ecosystems, water filtration and a productive cane growing business thrive side-by-side. Len won the 2019 Prince of Wales Environmental Leadership Reef Sustainability Award and he’s not finished yet.

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Disaster resilience on Queensland cane farms (S8 E1)

A tropical low in 2019 flooded thousands of hectares of Queensland sugarcane farms. With the help of CANEGROWERS Industry Recovery Officers in the Herbert River and Burdekin districts, growers have repaired damage to paddocks and roads to be more resilient in the future. The work was funded by Special Disaster Assistance Recovery Grants from the joint State and Commonwealth funded Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.

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Composting on a Wet Tropics cane farm (S7 E7)

The Rossi family is making and using big piles of compost on their Aloomba sugarcane farm to reduce their need for inorganic nitrogen fertiliser and the risk of it leaving the farm and affecting the Great Barrier Reef. The compost is also improving the condition of their soil, the way nature intended. Funding from the Australian Government's Reef Trust IV programme was used to purchase machinery to set up the system.

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Technology for targeted nutrient use in cane growing (S7 E6)

Take a ride with Chris Russo to see how technology is reducing fertiliser use on his Isis district cane farm. He's using a high clearance tractor to put a liquid nutrient mix underground in a targeted approach that combines GPS and information from a drone. Chris is the winner of the 2017 Reef Awards Nutrient Management category for his innovative approach.

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Landcare on a Wet Tropics cane farm (S7 E5)

After 80 years of cane growing at Aloomba in far north Queensland, the Rossi family sees environmental management as core business. On the banks of the Mulgrave River, Landcare tree planting projects mean natural ecosystems flourish alongside productive sugarcane fields ensuring good water quality for the Great Barrier Reef downstream.

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Farm water management for Reef water quality (S7 E4)

Ray and Rosemary Vicarioli explain how they slow and filter water on their sugarcane farm in Queensland's Wet Tropics, playing their part to protect the Great Barrier Reef. Along with rehabilitating an eroding gully, they've planted trees to stabilise a river bank and sealed their commitment to farming sustainably with Smartcane BMP accreditation.

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Automated irrigation saves water, electricity and sleep (S7 E3)

Burdekin grower Willie Lucas has built a low cost automated irrigation system for his farm meaning no more midnight valve changes. Using sensors and a telemetry system that switches pumps on and off and opens and closes valves, he's also using water and electricity more efficiently and avoiding the risk of runoff leaving his paddocks.

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Going nuts to improve soil health (S7 E2)

Today's Virtual Bus Tour is off to the Isis district farm of the Russo family, where peanuts are improving the soil and along with an efficient irrigation system, meaning more years from their sugarcane crop.

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Nutrient planning & drainage management (S7 E1)

Take a walk with Drew Watson on his Mossman sugarcane farm to see how he works to protect the Great Barrier Reef while growing a healthy crop. A nutrient management plan, put together with the help of Smartcane BMP facilitator Rebecca Stone, is a key part of his strategy.

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Controlled traffic & fallow cropping in the Mackay region (S6 E8)

Take a look around the sugarcane farm Gerry Deguara works with his sons at Eton in the Mackay district. Controlled traffic (GPS), legume fallow cropping and green trash blanketing are boosting soil health and productivity while proving that economic drivers and environmental drivers do line up.

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Smartcane BMP - the story of environmental stewardship (S6 E7)

CANEGROWERS Chairman Paul Schembri is leading by example. The Mackay farms he works with his brother Joe have been accredited under the industry best management practice program Smartcane BMP. He's now out to boost the number of growers moving through the program to help spread the message to the community and key sugar markets about the work farmers are doing to protect the Great Barrier Reef.

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Evaluating drip irrigation in the Burdekin (S6 E6)

Aaron Linton is comparing the performance of a new drip irrigation system, installed with assistance from the Australian Government Reef Programme, against traditional furrow irrigation on his Home Hill farm.

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Farming within the landscape for water quality outcomes (S6 E5)

With a lifetime of cane farming experience, Paul Gregory has a clear understanding of the social contract binding farmers as custodians of the land. An advocate of Smartcane BMP, Paul shows how he manages water flow to keep nutrients and soil on his Cairns region farm, protecting the marine environment.

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