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Les Elphinstone
Manager KCGO

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Reef Champion Award winners announced

The winners of the 2018 Reef Champion Awards have been announced, shining a light on leaders in on-farm practices and extension who are working to reduce and manage agriculture’s impact on the Great Barrier Reef.

Innovative nitrogen reduction practices, dedicated approaches to extension, revegetation of farms and conservation of wetlands and riparian areas were just some of the success stories honoured at the Awards Dinner on National Agriculture Day in Yeppoon.

The Awards, run by the Reef Alliance with support from the Australian and Queensland governments, recognise the outstanding achievements of individuals and organisations working to improve the quality of water entering the iconic Great Barrier Reef.

Queensland Farmers’ Federation (QFF) CEO Travis Tobin congratulated the winners and other finalists and said it was important to acknowledge the continued commitment and efforts of farmers and others working with the agricultural sector to safeguard the future of the Reef.

“The outstanding achievements of farmers, extension officers and community members nominated for these awards is testament to the widespread practice change and innovation taking place in Reef catchment areas,” Mr Tobin said.

“The Awards were also an opportunity to showcase the collaborative nature of the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Queensland Government’s Reef Water Quality Program.”

“These government programs have successfully supported and delivered mutually beneficial outcomes for farmers and the environment. There have been many worthwhile projects undertaken, and these awards allow us to showcase some of the great efforts and achievements.”

The 2018 Reef Champion Award winners are:

Prince of Wales Environmental Leadership –  Reef Sustainability Award

• Winner: Gerrard Deguara, North Eton, for his innovative modification of farm and harvesting equipment to a two metre controlled traffic farming system maximising the growing area of his paddocks, improving yields and soil health, reducing fossil fuel use and the volumes of chemical and nutrient run-off in water leaving the farm.
• Runner up: Frank Mugica, Ayr, for his progressive use of banded mill mud and green cane trash blanketing to reduce soil erosion and nitrogen use by 20kg per hectare, while also planting 100 native trees to encourage wildlife on his property.

Reef Nutrient Champion Award

• David DeFranciscis, Ayr, for co-designing a project to test an industry nutrient management standard on grower properties to reduce high nitrogen applications. The project has now validated the standard in the Burdekin and has reduced the amount of nitrogen applied on 23 farms by 500 tonnes.

Reef Sediment Champion Award

• Bob Harris, Bowen, for on-farm efforts to fence riparian areas and install watering points reducing sediment loss. This infrastructure has allowed better management of grazing, resulting in improved water quality outcomes and farm productivity.

Reef Pesticide Champion Award

• Phillip Deguara, Eton, for his instrumental role in implementing a grower-led water quality management project resulting in significantly reduced numbers of pesticide applications on his and other farms.

Reef Conservation Champion Award

• Mt Pleasant Station management, Bowen, for restoring the ecological function of the property with a time-controlled grazing system, implementing a short graze period, adequate rest and higher density of animals resulting in improved soil health, pasture condition and water quality.

Reef Extension Officer Champion Award

• Allan Blair, South Johnston, for his innovative modification of a sprayer that can apply two different types of herbicide at the same time. The dual herbicide sprayer applies standard herbicide mixes to the row and non-residual herbicides to the inter row reducing the potential for contaminated run off.
• John Day, Wondai, for being instrumental in promoting landholders’ uptake of best practice soil conservation practices and directly overseeing construction works for the remediation of over 54 sites throughout the Burnett Mary region.

Reef Community Champion Award

• Mulgrave Landcare and Catchment Group, Gordonvale, for holding 31 community planting events and, with the assistance of hundreds of volunteers and 21 landholders, planting 33,000 trees over 17 hectares.

Reef Youth Champion Award

• Nicole Nash, Freshwater, for launching The Last Straw on the Great Barrier Reef campaign which has seen over 320 venues across the Reef catchments, which were using an estimated 4.1 million straws per year, go plastic straw free.
• Gavin Rodman, Gordonvale, for his integral part in the design and delivery of the Cane to Creek project and rollout of Best Management Practice training in the Wet Tropics as the lead deliverer of SIX EASY STEPS training for the cane industry.

Reef Youth Champion Award – Under 15 read more

SRA APPOINTS GROWER REPRESENTATIVES TO BURDEKIN REGIONAL ADVISORY AND ADOPTION COMMITTEE

Anthony Curro, SRA Regional Co-ordinator Burdekin has announced that grower representatives for local districts to sit on the “Regional Advisory and Adoption Committee” (RAAC) for the Burdekin region as part of the new SRA Adoption Strategy have now been appointed.

Mr Curro said “It has been a lengthy, yet necessary process and I’m happy to say there was significant interest while canvassing for nominations”.

“Twenty eight candidates were put forward while taking into consideration the below criteria”.

Grower Criteria

Being open minded and able to constructively debate issues;

Having a successful business or professional profile with their peers (growers, millers).

Profit Orientated information seekers, with interest in new technology and innovation;

Recognised leaders in facilitating or trialling and adopting/adapting new technology;

Have an understanding of costs, key profit drivers and causes of variation in physical and financial performance across businesses in their sector.

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CORES – Burdekin Course Flyer

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QUEENSLAND COMPETITION AUTHORITY – REVIEW OF IRRIGATION PRICES FOR SUNWATER AND SEQWATER’S WATER SUPPLY SCHEME

On 29 October 2018, Queensland Competition Authority (QCA) received a referral notice from the Qld Government Natural Resources Minister Dr Anthony Lynham directing them to investigate pricing practices relating to the monopoly business activities of SunWater and Seqwater undertaken for irrigation services. Natural Resources Minister Dr Anthony Lynham said a comprehensive study by the QCA would underpin the irrigation pricing structures for years 2020-24.

“The goal is for irrigators to have greater pricing certainty, simplicity and transparency to allow them to plan for future years,’’ Dr Lynham said.

“As part of the review process, extensive consultation will be undertaken with stakeholders and water users to ensure we strike the right balance between the interests of customers and businesses. The QCA will be required to limit annual price increases similar to previous reviews.”

“I encourage all SunWater and Seqwater irrigation customers to get involved in the QCA consultation process. The more customers that participate in the process – the more informed the Government will be when it is time to consider the QCA recommendations and lock in irrigation prices in 2020,” Dr Lynham said.

The key objective of the investigation is to recommend irrigation prices for the period 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2024. The Government will begin its consideration of future prices with the release of the QCA’s draft report in August 2019.

Public consultation will be a key part of the QCA’s decision-making process and QCA invites customers and other stakeholders to register to receive ongoing information about the investigation http://www.qca.org.au/Subscribe

Depending on stakeholder interest, QCA also plans to conduct regional workshops during this investigation. Please register your interest in attending workshops http://www.qca.org.au/IrrigationWorkshops . Workshops with interested stakeholders are likely to take place January/early February 2019. read more