Australian Crushing Season Nears as Crop Conditions Remain Mixed

What’s happening on the farm right now?

At the moment, everything is focused on getting ready for the start of the 2026 crushing season on June 16. We’ve just about finished all our maintenance, and we will start planting once June comes around, as the weather allows.

One of the big jobs over the past few weeks has been RSD (Ratoon Stunting Disease) sampling. We’ve been going around our plant source blocks collecting samples and sending them away to the SRA lab to make sure we’re putting clean seed into the ground.

We’re also trying something new this year by applying ripener to some of our early-cut cane using drones. The idea is to slow the plant’s growth slightly so it puts more energy into producing sugar. We’ve done about 40 hectares as a trial after hearing good reports from other growers who’ve had success with it.

Drone spraying of ripener has been a focus in readiness for harvest. This is the first time this has taken place on our properties, after observing good results from a few growers in our area.

I also recently took part in a Smartcane BMP pilot workshop for Module 4: People and Business, which is aligned with the VIVE Sustainability Programme. It’s all about making sure the industry keeps moving forward and meeting future market expectations.

How’s the crop looking?

The crop is a bit mixed this year. Some of our plant cane and early-return cane is looking really good, but the late-cut stuff hasn’t performed as well, especially in areas affected by flooding last season.

The initial estimate for the Mulgrave Mill area is around 876,000 tonnes, which is encouraging, although the South Johnson area estimate appears to be a bit lower. Personally, I think growers there are being conservative with their estimates. They have had a couple of bad years, so for the industry I am hopeful that the actual will be a better outcome.

One of the biggest challenges has simply been the lack of sunshine. In the South Johnson area, we’ve only had 18 clear sunny days out of the first 148 days of 2026, which is pretty incredible when you think about it.

There are some encouraging signs for the industry overall, though. Tableland Mill started crushing recently, and I heard they opened with strong initial CCS, which is hopefully a good sign for the season ahead.

RSD sampling has been another focus in readiness for the 2026 planting program.

What are the main challenges at the moment?

Like most growers, the biggest challenges right now are the low global sugar price, rising input costs, and ongoing weather impacts.

You can try to manage your costs and look for efficiencies where you can, but at the end of the day you can’t control the world sugar price.

That’s part of the reason we’re trialling things like ripener — if we can improve sugar content even slightly, it can make a real difference to returns.

The weather has also been tough for a few years now, and that uncertainty makes it difficult for growers. At the same time, we need growers to stay confident and keep producing, because growers and mills rely on each other to keep the industry strong.

Everyone’s keen to get harvesting underway and get some cash flow moving back into the business after a challenging period.

What are you most proud of?

I think what I’m most proud of is the way growers continue adapting and looking for ways to improve, despite all the challenges we’ve faced over recent years.

Whether it’s trialling new technology like drone applications, participating in sustainability programmes like Smartcane BMP and VIVE, or simply continuing to invest in our farms after difficult seasons, there’s still a strong willingness in the industry to keep moving forward.

We’ve had a few tough years, but everyone’s ready to get going again this season. Hopefully we can get some decent weather and put together a solid crop.