General News
22 May, 2025
Sugar is on everyone’s lips
UNBELIEVABLY, we are already past the halfway point of May and heading towards the middle of the year.
Normally this would be a period of preparation for the upcoming cane season in the Douglas Shire, but, once again, there is much uncertainty as to whether or not the cane paddocks, now with maturing sugar cane, will be used this year.
Currently, we await feedback on expressions of interest from potential Mossman Sugar Mill purchasers, these being requested back in mid-March by the mill’s liquidators.
Suffice to say, it has been more than clear for many months that any chance of the mill returning to its former glory is extremely unlikely.
The question for many innocent bystanders like myself, and this includes local businesses who have a vested interest in the survival of the sugar town, is whether or not the current crop will be transported down to Gordonvale to be processed at the Mulgrave Sugar Mill?
This was eventually achieved last year with the overall cost heavily assisted by the Queensland Government, which provided a subsidy for transporting sugarcane south.
About $6 million from the $12.1m Mossman Region Transition Package was allocated to assist growers with transport and address standover cane.
Some Mossman residents will say that subsidies have been the problem for a number of years, with the mill itself having to be subsidised to keep it afloat. They go on to explain that this is why we need to move on and do something different.
Either way, it would appear that even some seasoned members of the Douglas Shire farming community are still not sure of the final outcome for 2025. This does seem quite incredible at this late stage.
At recent meetings in Mossman, experts together with community members have addressed survival plans for the town, together with ways in which local industry can adapt to alternatives such as beef farming.
While some of the more optimistic locals and farmers still believe there is a cane industry future for the Douglas Shire, others have already made the move to alternative farming.
Visible already, when driving around the Shire’s farmland, is that alternative horticultural options have been adopted to replace the traditional farming methods of the last century, including those that see a future in the beef cattle industry.
For the previously mentioned innocent bystanders, who have no real understanding or knowledge of life on the farm and maybe even those that do, the most burning question is what will happen for the remainder of this year and more importantly what will the next decade and beyond look like for Mossman and the broader Douglas Shire?
For many, it is the frustration of the unknown together with the extremely slow process of finding a successful solution, if hopefully there is one.
Maybe an answer will appear from somewhere or somebody very soon?
I’m off to the nearest paddock to keep my ear to the ground, so for now it’s Gazza signing out.
Send your stories to gazza@cairnslocalnews.com.au
