MEDIA RELEASE
23 February 2018
MSF SUGAR GROWERS BENEFIT FROM 2017 PRODUCTIVITY REPORTS
The business decisions of MSF Sugar’s grower-suppliers will receive a timely boost this month with the release of the 2017 Cane Productivity Reports.
Developed for each of MSF Sugar’s four milling regions, which includes Far North Queensland and the Fraser Coast, the report is a benchmarking tool that assists growers to make more informed business decisions about their crops.
The productivity report provides individual farm performance information including cane varieties, sugar content (CCS), yield and tonnes crushed.
MSF Sugar Mulgrave Mill Cane Supply Field Officer Matt Hession said the reports allowed growers to benchmark critical farm data per variety, soil type and cane field, across their farms and the milling region.
“A grower can see what variety performed best on certain soil types,” Mr Hession said.
“The report is a business tool that allows growers to evaluate varietal performance across a range of situations and benchmark the performance of their farms against their peers and the mill area.”
Mr Hession thanked growers and harvesting groups for providing consignment information which, when combined with in-field data collected by MSF Sugar’s cane field officers, contributed to providing the comprehensive report.
ENDS
NOTE TO EDITORS:
A breakdown of the key productivity results in each of the four MSF Sugar milling regions for the 2017 crush follows:
Tableland Mill
• Cane Yield Average – 93.5 tonnes/ha
• Season Average CCS – 14.0 CCS, increase of 0.49 on 2016
• Q208 (36%) and KQ228 (35%) dominated the total crop make-up for 2017, followed by Q183 (14%).
• Q208 recorded mixed results for average CCS while KQ228 performed strongly with above average CCS for the majority of the crush.
South Johnstone Mill
• Cane Yield Average – 79.4 t/ha
• Season Average CCS – 12.03 CCS, increase of 0.92 on 2016
• Two varieties dominated the crush – Q200 (23%) and Q208 (19%).
• Q200 and Q208 performed well for CCS, with both posting weekly average CCS above mill average for the majority of the crush.
Mulgrave Mill
• Cane Yield Average – 84.5t/ha
• Season Average CCS – 12.28, increase of 1.06 on 2016 average
• Q208 dominated the total crop make-up, accounting for 58%, followed by Q200 (10%).
• Q208 and Q250 both performed strongly for CCS, testing above mill average for the majority of the season. The newer cane varieties performed the strongest in terms of net return for growers.
Maryborough Mill
• Cane Yield – Average – 63.8t/ha
• Season Average CCS – 13.68, decrease of 0.33 on 2016
• Q208 accounted for nearly half of the total crop make-up with 43%, followed by Q240 at 23%.
• Q208 was a solid performer for CCS, recording regular weekly figures above mill average. Q240 performed well for the bulk of the season, but fell below mill average towards the end of the crush.
For more information please contact:
Wendy Hughes
MSF Sugar Communications Manager
Mob: 0417 043 954
Below: MSF Sugar Mulgrave Mill Cane Supply Field Officer Matt Hession, left, and Mulgrave grower John Ferrando review the 2017 cane productivity report for the Mulgrave milling region.
