Mills out to unite for crushing win

THE operators of two Far North sugar cane mills hope to start crushing together for the first time this season as growers gear up for an “average” harvest.

A meeting at Mourilyan tomorrow will determine the feasibility of kicking off the 2017 crush at MSF Sugar Group’s South Johnstone and Mulgrave mills on the same date.

Canegrowers Innisfail director Joe Marano said the streamlined crush was a first in the Far North.

“We have a common mill owner and we need to be smart about what we do. It is all about reducing length,” he said.

“The mills need to be more efficient and we need to be the season working together more, rather than separately.”

MSF Sugar crushed record cane last season at the two mills.

Both mills are owned by MSF Sugar, which confirmed the Mulgrave mill would start crushing on June 13 and the Tableland Mill on May 30.

The Mossman Mill, which is owned by Mackay Sugar, is set to start on June 5.

“We need to operate the two mills collectively and use it as much as we can in the good times. Let’s start together and finish together,” Mr Marano said.

Mr Marano, who has almost 400ha at Mourilyan, said there was “significant damage” to fertiliser and crops.

“It won’t be a season of records, that is for sure,” he said.

“My tongue is not dragging on the ground, it is just another situation to deal with.”

Canegrowers Cairns regional director Stephen Calcagno said there were plenty of positives, such as good prices, to look forward to this season.

“We are getting a bit of a cold snap now which we haven’t had,” he said.

“Hopefully we might have a better sugar content in the cane and there’s still good prices around.”

Mr Calcagno farms 430ha of cane at Bellenden Ker, south of Cairns. He said it was an exciting time in the sugar industry calendar.