Cane chief raises new stink over fertiliser

A FAR Northern cane farmer has questioned government Reef water quality programs regulating farming practices after years of no success.

Innisfail Canegrowers chairman Joe Marano joined a number of North Queensland farmers at a Senate inquiry in Brisbane last week, looking into how farming practices, including fertiliser use, were impacting Reef water quality.

Mr Marano said farmers had been following strict government regulations for more than a decade.

“My question is, are we (the farmers) the problem?” he said.

“We tried lots of things the governments regulate us to do for years now. But the report card always says we’re a D (for Reef water quality). It’s never said we’ve done any better.

“So they’re setting the programs and the results aren’t getting better.”

He said the industry needed realistic regulations, that were developed after consulting farmers.

“They’re making us keep records of how much fertiliser we use. How does writing it down make any difference?

“And if someone was actually doing the wrong thing in the paddock, how would they prove it?”

Mr Marano said to meet 2050 water quality targets, the latest round of regulations were indirectly forcing farmers to reduce fertiliser use by 30 per cent.

“I can’t say less fertiliser use alone has caused my loss in production, but there has been a loss. And for the South Johnstone (milling area) for the last five years productivity has gone down.

“Again, it’s just so they can meet their targets.

“We’ve never been shown the science behind the reports that say 30 per cent less fertiliser will make a difference.”