Community
17 April, 2024
Talks on cane crop options
MOSSMAN canegrowers are being urged not to make any major decisions about their 2024 cane crop until any options for successfully harvesting the intake have been fully exhausted.
The Canegrowers organisation is continuing discussions with an administrator, the state government and other potential stakeholders to look for the best possible outcome given the circumstances.
The mill is now in liquidation after a mystery investor pulled out of a bid to save the mill. The government has promised $12.1 million to help workers and growers look for new jobs and opportunities.
“Local Canegrowers representatives are still working with a number of parties behind the scenes to see if there is any way we can get this year’s crop off,” Canegrowers chief executive officer Dan Galligan said.
“I know growers are frustrated and feeling very pessimistic about the future, but I would urge them not to make any decisions until the dust settles and all options have been exhausted,” he said.
“It’s heartbreaking, not just for growers and the local sugar industry, but for the whole Mossman community,” Canegrowers Mossman chairman Matt Watson said.
“Local growers have been backing this business for years through investment in our crops and in the mill itself, and we had high hopes when this investor approached the company administrator with a plan to save the mill,” he said.
“They laid out their plans for bringing the mill back to profitability over the next four years, before transitioning into a green energy hub.
“To have those hopes crushed at the last minute and for the investor to simply walk away from the community is just devastating.”
Canegrowers immediately called on the state government to honour its commitment to provide the $12.1m in funding announced by Premier Steven Miles at a community cabinet meeting in Cairns on February 28.
However, growers have been left in limbo, with the government announcing that money would go to a ‘transition program’.
Mr Galligan said many local businesses would suffer if this year’s crop was not crushed.
“Growers have already invested more than $14m into this year’s crop and the harvest is rapidly approaching,” he said.
