Canegrowers worried reef laws will sour industry’s future

Canegrower Wayne Baldry is fearful about the future because of proposed new water-quality legislation for the Great Barrier Reef.

Bundaberg canegrower and macadamia farmer Wayne Baldry fears the latest round of water regulations removes long-term security for farmers. Picture: Vanessa Hunter

Champion canegrower Wayne Baldry is switching to the “golden goose” of macadamia nuts to beat low world sugar prices.

But he fears that proposed Queensland government water-quality legislation for the Great Barrier Reef might make long-term planning impossible.

Mr Baldry is proud of the ­efforts he makes to stop nutrients and sediments leaving his property in run-off but, like other farmers around Bundaberg, is concerned about the cost and time involved in meeting new regulations.

He is also worried about where the new rules might lead.

Last year, Mr Baldry achieved the highest sugar crush per hectare from his mixed sugar and nuts property, which is near a wetland and within 3km of the coast.

He says the proposed regulations that green groups say are necessary for Australia to meet its World Heritage commitments to UNESCO to protect the reef will make it more difficult for farmers to plan for the long term.

The new regulations are ­designed to improve water quality along the Great Barrier Reef coast to help build the resilience of coral.

Farmers will be required to ­reduce fertiliser use and improve practices to stop nutrients and sediments leaving properties and ending up in reef waters.

Strict reporting rules will closely monitor fertiliser sales and use, and will apply to all agriculture practices, not just sugar.

“I think the new regulations are a bit scary and might be a bit of overkill for this area,” Mr Baldry said “We are certainly doing more than the best we can.”

Farmers around Bundaberg fear that water quality limits set for Great Barrier Reef catchments may never be able to be met. This would set up a death spiral for growers as mandatory fertiliser limits were continually cut. Green groups have accused farmer groups of “hypocrisy” and “unsubstantiated scaremongering”.

A political storm is taking root in Queensland over a city-and-country divide reminiscent of the Adani coalmine struggle.

Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley visited cane farms near Cairns yesterday. “We need to make sure that farmers are part of managing the reef,” Ms Ley said.

“It is not about the reef-versus-cane sugar farming; this is about all of us working together.”

But the Bundaberg Canegrowers organisation says the cost of complying with the new state government water quality rules was a major concern.

It says under the new regulations, for example, the cost of soil testing will go from $120 to as much as $1000 because of the extra paperwork involved.

Canegrowers agronomist Matthew Leighton said a target had been set for the southern region, which stretches south of Mackay, to reduce human-produced nutrient and sediment loads by 60 per cent at the river mouth.

But achieving this level would only meet a fifth of the water quality target set in the Reef 2050 plan.

“We are saying, where does the other 80 per cent come from?” Mr Leighton said.

“We are being set up to fail.”

Conservation groups argue farmers have been left unregulated for too long and deserve to be more closely monitored.

The new regulations will compel industry groups and fertiliser suppliers to provide records to the state government which can then set mandatory standards.

Growers in the southern region use an average 140kg-150kg of fertiliser per hectare of cane grown, which is considered the optimum level to maximise yields.

Growers fear forcing cuts could make their farms uneconomic.

“There are many canegrowers that have been doing the right thing and they should be congratulated,” said Australian Marine Conservation Society director Imogen Zethoven.

“Unfortunately they have been massively outnumbered by growers who have not engaged with the industry’s own program to keep soils, nutrients and chemicals out of the waterways that flow into the reef.”

WWF Australia chief executive Dermot O’Gorman said “the science is settled and has been ­endorsed by the Morrison government and both sides of politics at state and federal levels”.