Simon Hood

Wilmar Manager Grower Marketing

The sugar market remains in no man’s land as the window between the close of the 2023-24 Brazilian crush and the start of the 2024-25 season seems impossibly short. The final production for this season’s output is yet to be determined, but is heading towards a record harvest.

Projections for the 24-25 season are fluid in the analysts’ spreadsheets. The early number of 640+ million mt of cane is being wound back, due to the dry weather in December and January being factored into the yield. February was forecast to be a wetter month, but has not delivered as much moisture as desired. Ranges now in the market cover 600-635 million mt, with Wilmar at the upper end of that scale.

Another important variable is the production mix between ethanol and sugar. This ratio pushed the market to the upside last year with the final coming close to 50:50. There is an obvious incentive to increase this percentage with ethanol parity trading closer to US14c/lb versus the US22c/lb for #11. Reports suggest that mills are rushing to increase crystallisation capacity. However, as we are acutely aware, it takes some planning to design, build, and install mill components so a step change in capacity may be constrained.

There is talk of further investment at the Brazilian docks to ease loading bottlenecks, which global logistics managers will support.

If the dry weather persists, the new season crush might start earlier. This will be bearish in the short-term, as more sugar becomes readily available, but will potentially bode well for constructive pricing later as yield prospects will be cut. Watch this space.

Following a poor and patchy monsoon, the Indian crop has performed better than expected. Nevertheless, India is not expected to be a significant player in global trade for the foreseeable future, with any increase in production siphoned to the ethanol production.

Doubt remains about how quickly the Thai crop will be cut out. The outlook for next year is not for a massive recovery of cane hectares, as competing crops maintain a viable alternative in Thailand. This should support the far-east premium as Australian sugar will remain in strong demand.

Finally, the speculative community is keeping its powder dry. After liquidating a significant net bought position for much of the 2023 season, they are yet to move far away from a small net long balance in the 2024 calendar year. At the end 2023, we witnessed the impact of the head exiting in unison, so it is important to keep a bead on the signals that were used to drive their investment flows.

For more information, contact your local Wilmar Grower Marketing consultant.

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This graph charts the Brazilian crop size and the sugar-ethanol mix since 2017-18.

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The rural event of the year is fast approaching with Burdekin Boars and Barras taking over Clare this weekend.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary, and with something for everyone, the Burdekin is invited to get behind the rod or the rifle to help fundraising efforts for the Clare State School P&C Committee.  

Involving fun for the whole family, the event schedule includes the coveted weigh-in presentations for all pigs, fish and crabs, a well-stocked licensed bar, Rotary food tent, Lillie’s Cubby House, live music by none other than Tammy Moxon, plus face painting and merch stall selling the very best branded clothing and accessories.  

With over $7,000 worth of prize money on offer in junior, senior and open categories across all classes, this is set to be a weekend of fun and excitement.

Find out more and get your tickets at burdekin-boars-barras.spiffystores.com.

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WHAT: Burdekin Boars and Barras Competition 2024

WHERE: Clare Sports and Recreation Club

WHEN: Saturday March 2 and Sunday March 3

TICKETS: $10 Junior and $20 Senior

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In an announcement that further boosts Queensland’s credentials as Australia’s emerging AgTech innovation capital, Brisbane has been named as the home of the AgriFutures evokeAG. global innovation event in 2025.

Connecting the global agrifood innovation community of investors, entrepreneurs, AgTech service providers and agribusiness professionals, evokeAG. provides a digital platform and premier agrifood tech event where farmers share their experiences, startups pitch their potential, scientists showcase their discoveries, global business leaders share their insights and industry experts debate their opinions.

The announcement came after a group of Queensland innovators and industry leaders joined more than 1,800 delegates from across the Asia Pacific attending this year’s event in Perth.

Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries and Minister for Rural Communities Mark Furner said the Queensland Government has helped the state’s agricultural industry grow from $17.2 billion to an estimated $24 billion in value, supporting hundreds of thousands of good jobs for Queenslanders since 2015.

“AgTech is a strong part of the sustainable future of agriculture, solving problems and growing businesses,” Mr Furner said.

“Bringing this event to Queensland reinforces the Queensland Government’s commitment to AgTech and adoption.

“I have no doubt Queensland’s agriculture sector will make the most of this event and ensure next year’s evokeAG. held in Brisbane will be the best yet.”

AgriFutures Managing Director John Harvey said he looks forward to hosting the event in Brisbane.

“evokeAG. began as an opportunity to showcase the incredible agrifood tech innovation happening here in Australia, to hear from the rest of the world and to drive innovation in the Asia-Pacific region,” Mr Harvey said.  

Queensland Chief Entrepreneur Julia Spicer added that the state’s agriculture has an innovative culture.

“Our farmers have instinctively turned to innovation to solve some of the big farming challenges in Australia, including dealing with drought, floods, pests, soil quality, remote locations, livestock monitoring, and transport and logistics,” Ms Spicer said.

“This in turn is driving a strong homegrown AgTech sector – technologies and innovations developed for farming in some of the toughest conditions in the world.

“As someone who works closely with many regional communities to drive change and enhance economic opportunities in agriculture, I know that hosting evokeAG. in Brisbane next year is an opportunity to showcase the world-class AgTech that we create and harness across Queensland.”

The event will be held in Brisbane from February 18-19, 2025.

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Growers participating in the Burdekin Irrigation project, the Lower Burdekin Smart Irrigation Project and the Major Grants project hosted sugarcane growers from the Mackay-Whitsunday region the Far North and local growers to demonstrate on-farm smart irrigation strategies, tools, technologies, and practices throughout the Burdekin.

The bus tour aimed to increase cross regional relationships and provided an opportunity for growers interested in new advancements in irrigation practices and technology from outside the region to explore on-farm smart irrigation demonstrations.

The three demonstration sites contained a variety of smart irrigation technologies including gravity fed surface drip, high press subsurface drip, automated overhead sprinkles, automated furrow irrigation systems and a myriad of sensing equipment to collect data from each trial site.

Improved irrigation practices supported by the Burdekin Irrigation Project have resulted in an increase in productivity, providing a path to a more sustainable farming enterprise.

Three Burdekin growers who hosted the demonstration sites highlighted the challenges associated with farming in their specific locations and shared the robust process they undertook to address crop demands.

They noted that automation has been the enabler for improved efficiency, but without the practice change there would have been little benefit.

“The bus tour provided an excellent opportunity for growers across districts to see first-hand demonstrations of different irrigation practices side by side with replicated treatments,” explained Terry Granshaw, SRA.

“Whether its sugarcane or any of our legumes that are grown across the district, we want to be making sure we apply the right amount of water to the crop at the right time.

“The demonstration sites compare grower current practices with a changed practice, based off data collected from sensors and current weather conditions.

This information is collected via automation and used in conjunction with IrrigWeb (a crop model used for scheduling and record keeping) Feedback from the growers who attended on the day were very positive and I hope that future cross region interaction becomes the normal within our industry,” he said.

With support from Reef Catchments and Sugar Research Australia, growers from the Mackay-Whitsunday region will join their peers to workshop how learnings from the Burdekin tour can best be integrated with local grounded experience in the region.

To learn more about Water Quality management in the Burdekin region, visit NQ Dry Tropics’ website at www.nqdrytropics.com.au.

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The integrated Engagement and Capacity Building project is funded through the Queensland Governments Reef Water Quality Program and delivered by the Department of Agriculture and Fishers (DAF).

The Burdekin Irrigation Project is funded by the partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation with collaboration between Sugar Research Australia, Farmacist, AgriTech Solutions, Burdekin Productivity Services, Burdekin Bowen Integrated Floodplain Management Advisory Committee, James Cook University, the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and NQ Dry Tropics.

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The Lyon’s Grassland Striped Skink had not been observed since 1981 and is known only from a single locality that is heavily grazed by cattle.

That is until the rare lizard was found last year for the first time in over 40 years living in north-east Queensland.

In early 2023, scientists from Queensland Museum and James Cook University were tasked with the challenge of finding the elusive Lyon’s Grassland Striped Skink.

The surveys were part of research by the Resilient Landscapes Hub of the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Program that is looking for highly threatened reptiles across Queensland.

Dr Andrew Amey from Queensland Museum Network, who led the expedition, said the goal was to find three species of skink which have very small distributions confined to the Mount Surprise area, around 500 kilometres northeast of Ayr.

“These lizards are all hard to find and seldom seen,” Dr Amey said.

“Two are part of a large group of skinks in the genus Lerista, which are only found in Australia and have adapted to sandy soils by reducing their limbs to essentially swim through the soil.

“It shows that parts of Australia such as grasslands and open woodland that are grazed by cattle can still host important biodiversity.

“It was an exciting moment to find all three skinks, but to find the Lyon’s Grassland Striped Skink was an amazing discovery.”

The other two skinks were the Limbless Fine-lined Slider, which is found in the Undara Volcanic National Park, and the Mount Surprise Slider, which was only known from one paddock.

The purpose of the survey was to find if the species still existed and if scientists could find new populations elsewhere.

The small distribution of the skinks makes them vulnerable to damaging events such as bushfires, drought, invasive weeds, and disease.

The Lyon’s Grassland Striped Skink was recently listed as Critically Endangered by the Queensland and Australian Governments in recognition of this.

Dr Amey said animals like these skinks have an important role to play in our ecosystems.

“We need to know if these skinks have healthy populations or if they are declining,” he said.

“We can’t take effective action to protect them if we don’t know where they occur and what threats are impacting them.

“The only way to get this information is go and look for them.”

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Caption: Lyon's grassland skink. Photo credit: Conrad Hoskin

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By Chelsea Ravizza

January 2024 saw a new mammoth monthly record set for the Containers for Change Scheme across Queensland, with 175,805,461 containers returned for a refund and recycling. This outstanding total surpasses the previous record set in January of 2023 of 157,525,681, and Rachael Coleman of NQ Green Solutions continues to be blown away by the Burdekin’s recycling efforts.

NQ Green Solutions recycled 1,133,972 containers in January, and the depot shows no sign of slowing. Recycling almost 350,000 more containers in January of 2024 than January of 2023, Rachael believes this increase can be owed to various factors.

“A number of factors have contributed to our surge in number for January in the Burdekin like the expansion of our Container Collect Service to include areas such as Giru and Ravenswood, our online booking app, sponsorship, large community involvement, and awareness about the scheme and what if offers,” explained Rachael.

The Queensland Government’s Containers for Change Scheme was introduced in November of 2018, and has since received more than 7.75 billion containers, and refunded more than $775 million to Queenslanders.

Rachael and her team have seen many new customers come through their deport in response to the cost-of-living crisis, and Container Exchange CEO, Natalie Roach, believes the Containers for Change Scheme exists as a widely beneficial tool to combat this struggle.

“At a time when many are facing cost of living pressures, Containers for Change has returned more than $780 million to Queenslander’s’ back pockets,” explained Ms Roach.

“Containers for Change has also supported more than 935 jobs across Queensland, with many of these in regional areas, benefitting the local economy.”

The scheme’s expansion to include glass wine and spirit bottles from the beginning of November in 2023 is believed to be one of the main contributing factors to the record-breaking figures.

“We have had an overwhelming response to the addition of glass wine, and spirit bottles to the Container refund Scheme since its introduction, but January saw massive growth across all container variants,” expressed Rachael.

“Since we opened our doors, we have recycled and saved over 37 million containers from landfill, and I couldn’t be prouder of the Burdekin and their participation in the entire scheme, as every week the numbers just blow me away.”

Caption: Charley Ruskin and Caitlin McDonnell of NQ Green Solutions. Photo supplied

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Next month, high school students from four Burdekin schools will attend a potentially lifesaving education program professionally developed and delivered by trained local mentors.

Road Safety Education Limited’s (RSE) RYDA workshop is a whole of school program which includes a full day workshop of practical, interactive and powerful sessions about road safety for students at Burdekin Catholic High School, Home Hill State High School, Burdekin Christian College and Burdekin Educational Engagement Program.

The program lays the foundation for safe road use throughout their lives and challenges students to think about the role they play road safety.

RSE CEO & Managing Director Terry Birss said the organisation applauds schools for committing to the educational experience for their students.

“Educating young people and equipping them with the tools they need to make good choices on the road is essential to saving lives,” he said.  

“It is not enough to teach a young person the skill of controlling and manoeuvring a vehicle.  

“We must balance this with the skill of critical thinking and an appreciation for safety on the road.”

The workshop is supported by a range of resources for students and teachers to use including an online digital revision course, pre-workshop classwork and follow-up modules on a range of road safety topics which schools can build into their curriculum.

To date, over 775,000 students have completed the RYDA program throughout Australia and New Zealand.  

The program focuses on teaching young drivers the cognitive skills required to manage distractions, an understanding and acceptance of the rules of the road and the laws of physics.

It helps students to plan their journey and gives them strategies to avoid risk and the resilience and motivation to implement those strategies.  

RYDA also teaches passengers how to contribute positively to the car’s environment and speak up if they’re uncomfortable and to use the road with social responsibility.

RYDA QLD Senior Program Coordinator Hannah Olsen said the support of local Rotary Clubs means the program can be run in all communities by local road safety and education professionals, including police.

“Youth Road Trauma is a community problem that needs a whole of community response,” she said.

“Our local rotary club and RSE are in a unique position to bring together all the essential elements to provide an effective and highly successful road safety education program for young people.”

Drivers are at their highest risk of being involved in a crash during their first year of driving unsupervised.

Young Australians continue to be over-represented in road trauma statistics with 17-25-year-olds making up 10% of the population but representing 22% of all driver and passenger fatalities.  

A range of factors have been linked to the higher rate of injuries and deaths caused by young drivers including driver inexperience, risky driving behaviours such as speeding, driving while fatigued, driving without a seatbelt and driving smaller and/or older vehicles with fewer safety features.  

The risk of crashing diminishes with experience plus the development of decision-making skills so they can recognise risky situations and make safer choices.  

The RYDA workshops teach all of these skills and are aimed specifically at people of senior high school age.

The program will run on Friday March 15 at the TAFE Queensland Burdekin Campus.

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Scouting has been part of the Home Hill community since 1928. On Monday 12 February 12, as part of our community involvement, members of the Lower Burdekin Scout Group attended the Burdekin Council Australia Day event at the Home Hill Memorial Hall. This was a great night seeing and hearing about so many inspirational people in our community.

We also took the opportunity to share the opportunity for youth 5 to 15 years of age (adults too) to come along for four weeks for free to Try Scouting on a Thursday night at our Hall in Twelfth Ave, Home Hill.

This term along with our Thursday night programs our members will attend:

   • 3 Community events

   • 2 Camps/Sleepover

   • 5 Adventurous Activity days

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Contributed by Chris Berkery

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Caption: Home Hill Scouts attended the recent Australia Day Awards Ceremony in Home Hill. Photo supplied

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Ayr Surf Lifesaving Club is inviting the community to the beach for a Family Fun Day happening Saturday, March 2 from 3:00pm to 6:00pm.

The day will offer fun for the whole family, including a dunk tank, face painting and slip and slide.

Snacks will be available including popcorn, slushies and fairy floss as well as other food and drinks – BYO is not permitted.

The 2024 Family Fun Day is free to enter and will take place at the Ayr Surf Club, Sandown Street, Alva.

Following the Family Fun Day will be a Sock Disco from 6:00pm to 9:00pm.

The cost of the Sock Disco is $10 to enter and includes a sausage sizzle and drink.

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WHAT: Ayr Surf Lifesaving Club’s Family Fun Day

WHEN: Saturday, March 2 from 3:00pm to 6:00pm

WHERE: Ayr Surf Club, Sandown Street, Alva

COST: Free entry (Sock Disco $10 entry)

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Rehoming Fee: $195

DOB: 1/1/2023

Sex: Male

Breed: Domestic Short Hair

Kid Friendly: Yes

Dog Friendly: Untested

Other Cats: Yes

Indoors/Outdoors: Indoors

This playful little tabby is on a quest to find his furever home! Dubbed Harry Potter, he is affectionate and loving, sure to keep his humans spellbound with his stellar personality.

He can magically make your worries (and a whole bowl of food) disappear!

Harry isn’t a fan of Quidditch, but he flies around at top speed chasing his toys.

The Sorting Hat has decided that Harry is definitely a lap cat, who adores being with his human friends.

Harry is available for adoption, is desexed and microchipped, and up to date on his vaccinations. Harry has also been flea, tick and worm treated.

To schedule a meet and greet, complete and submit an animal enquiry form: https://www.angelpawsinc.com.au/forms.html

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Caption: Talika Pegoraro

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Friday, February 23 saw Burdekin Catholic Shire Council (BCHS) lift in rivalry with the Interhouse Swimming Carnival. After a fantastic Spirit Week, the three houses were set to bring their best to the pool. The day was filled with highly competitive races, with BCHS showcasing many great swimmers. Importantly, there was also high participation from our non-competitive races to ensure maximum points were gained towards acquiring the House Trophy.

It was great to see the fantastic spirit of each of the houses led by their incredible House Leaders.  The house chants were most likely heard all around Ayr. The staff at BCHS were well supported by officials from the Burdekin Torpedos. Announcements of the winners and age champions will be at the end of the Commissioning Liturgy on Wednesday morning.

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Contributed by Burdekin Catholic High School

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Caption: BCHS’s interhouse rivalry returned at the school’s swimming carnival last week. Photos supplied

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The first of Burdekin Christian College’s pre-carnival spirit activities was dodgeball, a very popular activity with many students participating.  

Mighty Mathew took out the first event of spirit week.

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Caption: Photos supplied: Jarvisfield State School

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The start of the 2024 local football season was delayed again due to the very wet weather. All matches in the area were called off and the Kappa Cup 3rd Round game between Burdekin Panthers and JCU Riverway has yet to be rescheduled.

The actual season is due to start this weekend with all five teams playing MA Olympic. The games were due to be played in Townsville, but the Olympic grounds were unplayable and Olympic wanted to play the games in the Burdekin, but after Monday night’s rain, International Park is also unplayable at the time of writing.

Senior registrations are now open and players must be registered by this Friday to be eligible to play weekend fixtures. Training Shirts are now available to collect at Senior trainings.

Jumper preorders are now open. Form is available on Facebook to order. Cut off is March 8th.

Training at International Park will be happening on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:30pm for men and Wednesdays at 6:00pm for women, should it ever stop raining.

The Juniors are, unfortunately, in the same position. Pre-season Week 1 was postponed. Again, as well. Let’s hope we can get some drying conditions for next week and get the season underway soon.  

Keep an eye out for details regarding the Working Bee and coaches clinic which were also cancelled on the weekend.

Monday Night Masters was cancelled again, so we will have another go at it next Monday assuming there is not too much more rain. So, it’s usual time, usual place, 6:30pm at International Park. New and old players are all welcome. In fact, it doesn’t really matter if you can’t play. Treat it as an escape.

The Matildas played the first leg of their Olympic Qualifier against Uzbekistan last Saturday and won 3-0 in a rather lacklustre performance. The second leg was played in Melbourne on Wednesday and, barring a catastrophe, the Matildas should qualify for the real thing in Paris.

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