THE INDEPENDENT SUGAR INDUSTRY ENVIRONMENTAL AUDIT OF 2004; AN EMPHASIS ON FARMING PRACTICE. WHAT DOES THE INDUSTRY TAKE FROM IT?

THE INDEPENDENT Environmental Audit, commissioned by the Sugar Industry Guidance Group in 2003, in general focused on the rate of adoption of Best Management Practice (BMP) within the sugarcane industry and downstream processing. The audit also reviewed the COMPASS program as well as the adoption and usefulness of the Code of Practice. In addition, a review of stakeholder interaction and natural resource management was undertaken. This review of the audit has been undertaken by CANEGROWERS, the peak industry body for cane growers in Queensland. A clear message from the audit was that substantial changes in farming practices have been adopted and are leading to improved environmental outcomes. A further message from the audit was that this progress has not been enunciated clearly to the government and wider general public. It appears that productivity on farm and environmental outcomes have been delivered by better control of water through improved irrigation practices, laser levelling and drainage works. The ongoing support of these change programs is likely to continue to deliver financial and environmental outcomes. Even so, there is a low use of higher technology in water management scheduling tools, indicating that the potential efficiency gains from utilising this kind of technology are still to be gained. Other areas of potential improvement include: greater uptake of soil and leaf testing; sub surface application of fertiliser; uptake of controlled traffic, minimum tillage and other advanced techniques; improved harvesting. The following recommendations were made by the Audit: that there is a whole-of-industry environmental policy and adoption of BMP; that sustainable farming outcomes be driven by regional focus groups developing regional Environmental Risk Assessments and BMP Registers; that the sugar industry develops a framework which builds on and incorporates the current Code of Practice and subsequent industry BMP. Many of these recommendations will be facilitated by the development and adoption of Farm Management Systems (FMS), an activity currently being undertaken in the industry. The ongoing support of COMPASS is debated with one outcome being the incorporation of these resources into an upgraded COMPASS program as part of the FMS. Further review and discussion of this and other strategies for COMPASS is warranted.