The Young Street Journal

Angelo Licciardello, QCAR Burdekin District Manager

The last two weeks has been a very interrupted period of harvesting and crushing.
The first lot of rain that began on November 20 played the major part to the initial disruption; then with some planned cleaning and stoppages from chokes, the output of factories was greatly reduced.
The rain over the weekend has really highlighted the dramatic affects a late start and a late finish have on a district that so heavily relies on the sugar crop.
Urgent attention to address this in the future must be at the forefront of all our mindsets.
Standover cane is now a real possibility with ratoons unable to be harvested to achieve maximum growth, fallow blocks not getting the attention they require, and the opportunity to plant legume crops rendered almost impossible.
Addressing the resulting reduced incomes that affects families and businesses across the Burdekin district is a worthwhile exercise for us to undertake.
We must get back to a Melbourne Cup finish and celebrate the Home Hill Harvest Festival as it was meant to be!
Week 23
The first week I travelled to the Whitsundays to attend a meet and greet with our Proserpine members.
It is always time well spent engaging with growers in other regions and discussing their concerns and issues as well as their successes. The common themes to emerge at present are growers want to improve their yields, look after their soil, control cane grubs, and of course, the reliability of mills across all regions is a major concern.  
QCAR Connection
   • LBW/ARC linkage water project update
   • GRDC – grains research update
   • JET ZERO – sustainable aviation fuel
   • Farmacist – farm walk, mungbean trials

Upcoming Events
   • BBIFMAC AGM/DAF presentation
   • Sunwater CAC meeting/update
   • Regional water assessment (DRDMW)
Angelo’s Agronomic Tip
Choose the right cover crop for you!!
It’s been proven over many years that legume breaks better balance biology, control root pathogens, biologically fix nitrogen, and improve cane yield and growth.
Topsoil is the farmer’s capital. Sustaining means sustaining the soil resource. Maintaining ground cover in the form of cover crops, mulch or crop residue for as much of the season as possible will help achieve this goal.
Milling Stat
The biggest week of the 2024 season was the week ending September 21 with 395,611 tonnes crushed.
Interestingly in the 2022 season we went over 400,000 tonnes on three occasions.
For more information about QCAR, phone Angelo on 0437 401 837 or email angelo.licciardello@qcar.org.au

QCAR Burdekin District Manager Angelo Licciardello attended a Farmacist trip to Paul Villis’ farm in Ayr where they are trialling spring-grown mung bean crops. Angelo is pictured with QCAR member/growers Ross Parker, Damon Hesp, and Kelsey Hesp

QCAR Burdekin District Manager Angelo Licciardello was impressed to see the winter/spring crop of Kuranda soybean soon ready to harvest on the Brandon farm belonging to QCAR Board Chairman Christian Lago

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