Farm Economics

CANEGROWERS Mackay offers members access to agricultural economists based in Brisbane at Queensland CANEGROWERS.

They can assist members with the following:

Economic modelling
Farm diagnostics including agronomic/economic/financial assessment and advice
Budgets and cashflows
Spreadsheets and farm recording tools
Irrigation advice
Farm productivity analysis and advice
Industry regulatory issues

If you are looking for assistance before making major decisions about your current and future farming operations, give CANEGROWERS Mackay a call on 4944 2600 to secure assistance.

Services are free to CANEGROWERS Mackay members.

Mackay Irrigation Project

The Mackay Irrigation Project was an industry leader in ground-truthing priciples around irrigation as a tool not just for productivity but as a solution for reducing nutrient runoff. On the ground field trials ran in tandem with the development of the IrriSAT platform for sugarcane, offering growers real-time data on available water in their soils.

Total rainfall and especially rainfall distribution patterns have an enormous impact on the volatility of cane production. Over 2021-25, CANE GROWERS Mackay ran the Mackay Irrigation Project, led by John Eden, assisted growers involved to optimise efficiencies across water use, nitrogen use and energy.

Apart from crop diseases and major weather events like tropical cyclones, the major contributor to reduced yields is crop water deficit (the amount of irrigation required in a particular year to meet the potential yield). The capacity to apply water to crops is heavily influenced by increasing water and electricity costs, which have played a major part in yield volatility. CANEGROWERS Mackay can demonstrate that there can be a huge benefit to increased productivity alongside a benefit to reducing runoff and better utilisation of nitrogen (Nitrogen Use Efficiency, NUE) by improving Water Use Efficiency (WUE) and meeting crop demand for water.

The project entails on-farm audits and economic analysis to determine efficiencies and how best to meet crop demand for water using a combination of agronomic advice, equipment availability, modelling and soil moisture probes. This is backed up by soil cores to determine soil hydrological and chemical characteristics. The results from the project demonstrate increased productivity, profitability and enhanced environmental benefits.

Above: Data sourced from productivity data and efficiency audits

Below: Whole project data from 2020 to 2023

Learn more about the project:

Read the Manual for IrrisatV2 for sugarcane

Factsheet 1: History and results so far

Factsheet 2: crop water use and yield
Factsheet 3: Promoting deeper rooting and water extraction rates

Factsheet 4: Plant growth versus soil moisture radiation and evapotranspiration

Factsheet 5: Tracking solutes in the soil profile to better understand improved nutrient management via irrigation strategies

Factsheet 6: Practical observations on crop re-establishment

Case Study 1: Simpson Farm – on farm changes achieving improved Water Use Efficiency (WUE) and Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE).

Case Study 2: Williams Farm – improving system efficiencies and meeting crop demand for water with an increase in yield and NUE.

This project was a part of the Mackay Whitsunday Water Quality Program, funded by the partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and Great Barrier Reef Foundation.