Investiga

Best management practice adoption in the sugar industry for improving water quality: The Mackay Whitsunday region

An initiative of the Consortium for Integrated Resource Management (CIRM)
By John Rolfe, Judith Wake, Will Higham, Jill Windle and Phillip Trendell

February 2008

Best management practice adoption in the sugar industry for improving water quality: the Mackay Whitsundayregion
An initiative of the Consortium for Integrated Resource Management (CIRM)
By John Rolfe, Judith Wake, Will Higham, Jill Windle and Phillip Trendell

February 2008

Acknowledgements
This publication is the result of research during 2007 commissioned by the Consortium for Integrated Resource Management (CIRM) and carried out by a research team through the Institute for SustainableRegional Development at Central Queensland University. It builds on CIRM’s earlier state-wide work in 2005 and 2006 which investigated current and future research and development (R&D) that would help achieve the strategies laid out in the Reef Water Quality Protection Plan, The authors of this current report specifically thank the growers in Queensland’s central region for their involvement in the study,as well as a number of reviewers who have made significant contributions to this publication, namely the CIRM reef steering committee of Dr Bob Miles, Rachel Eberhard, Dr George Rayment, Satish Choy and Alison Moore; Robin Bruce and Clinton Muller.

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A report prepared by John Rolfe, Judith Wake, Will Higham, Jill Windle and Phillip Trendell for the Consortium for Integrated ResourceManagement © 2008, The State of Queensland (Department of Natural Resources and Water, Department of Primary Industries & Fisheries, Environmental Protection Agency) James Cook University Central Queensland University The University of Queensland Griffith University University of the Sunshine Coast Queensland University of Technology CSIRO

Cover photograph kindly provided by Phillip Trendell, BSES Ltd.Harvesting in Reverse? The steering of both the harvester and haulout is guided by GPS (global positioning system). While the harvester must turn around at the end of the row, the haulout travels back and forwards. This reduces soil compaction from the haulout as well as the time taken to turn at the end of the row. Photographs kindly provided by Jon Graftdyk, Mackay Whitsunday NRM Group;Canegrowers.

Department of Natural Resources and Water Locked Bag 40 Coorparoo DC Qld 4151 Available online and print

CIRM Occasional Papers (ISSN 1445-9280)

Best management practice adoption in the sugar industry for improving water quality

Contents
Executive summary 1. Introduction 2. Methodology 3. Background
3.1 Queensland’s central region 3.2 Water quality issues 3.3 Sugarcane andwater quality in the central region 3.4 Efforts to improve water quality

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4. Best management practices
4.1 BMPs for sustainable agriculture 4.2 Existing BMPs for growing sugarcane 4.3 BMPs relevant to the canelands in the central region

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8 9 10

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5. Adoption of best management practices
5.1 Issues that enhance or impede the adoption of improved managementpractices 5.2 Mechanisms to facilitate adoption 5.3 Selection of policy instruments 5.4 Program factors influencing adoption

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6. Strategies for BMP adoption in the central region
6.1 Previous studies of barriers to and incentives for BMP adoption 6.2 Developing effective BMP packages 6.3 Attitudes of farmers in the central region to adopting BMPs

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7. Conclusions andrecommendations 8. References 9. Appendixes
Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Appendix 3 What is CIRM? Code of Practice for Sustainable Cane Growing in Queensland BMPs for sugarcane production in the Tully-Murray catchment

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Contents

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Best management practice adoption in the sugar industry for improving water quality

Executive summary
Concerns about the health of the...