- More than 86% of Queensland is now drought-declared due to the ongoing drought and depleting water resources. The drought has extended to eastern coastal regions including the Burdekin, Townsville, and Whitsunday areas. - Local farmer Rob Stockham has started growing rice as a fallow crop between sugarcane harvests in order to boost his cash flow during the drought. Rice provides a reliable price and can be harvested in 140 days compared to 18 months for sugarcane. - Stockham was drawn to rice because it can be processed locally at SunRice's Brandon mill. He believes more cane growers will start growing rice due to SunRice's expansion plans and price certainty compared

1. 14 LIFESTYLE FRIDAY DECEMBER 4 2015
BADE01Z01MA - V1
Fromthe
editor’s
desk
THERE’S a fair bit of negative
sentiment in the rural
community at the moment.
The past month has seen the
creep of drought extend to
Queensland’s eastern coastline,
with the Burdekin, Townsville
and parts of Whitsunday region
among seven new areas added
to the drought list.
More than 86 per cent of the
state is now drought-declared
and water resources are
depleting. Even the mighty
Burdekin Falls Dam has dipped
to 47 per cent – the lowest level
in more than 20 years – while
Townsville’s Ross Dam is at 27
per cent.
The strong El Niño pattern
gripping Queensland makes a
decent wet season unlikely, so
producers have no choice but to
dig in for a bit longer. I hope they
can.
The latest Rabobank rural
confidence survey, released this
week, confirms what we hear on
the ground: more than 40 per
cent of North Queensland
farmers are pessimistic about
the year ahead, mainly because
of high input costs and drought.
But as always in times of
gloom, there’s a bright light. This
month that bright light has come
in the form of Ingham’s Daniel
Melvin who, at 19, is probably
the sugar industry’s youngest
harvesting contractor. His story
is in this edition.
Thanks to all of our readers
and advertisers for supporting
Rural Insight in its first year of
publication. This is our last liftout
for the year. The first liftout for
2016 will be published in the first
week of March.
leanne.oliveri@news.com.au
LEANNE
OLIVERI
SUGAR and spice? Try sugar
and rice.
Local farmer Rob Stockham
is one of many Burdekin cane
growers who recently turned
to rice as a fallow crop in a bid
to boost his cash flow, and he is
happy he did.
He harvested his first crop
at Giru on Wednesday, with
about 100 local farmers and
suppliers looking on as part of
a field trip organised through
the SunRice field day.
Mr Stockham said he was
drawn into rice growing be-
cause it represented such a
good cash crop and because it
could be processed locally at
SunRice’s Brandon mill.
“The returns on cane are
just not here anymore,” he
said. “I started with rice this
year and am about to plant my
second crop.
“I’ve got 17,000 acres of land
here, and about 600 acres we’ll
now be cropping beans, with
about 200 acres of that being
rice. If I had more water then
we’d definitely be doing more
rice.”
Mr Stockham said price cer-
tainty was a major reason for
entering the rice market, add-
ing that the price he would re-
ceive for his rice was more
stable than current world
sugar prices.
“At least with rice, before
we go to plant we know what
the price is going to be, and
then we go from there.” The
other drawcard of rice was its
short growing cycle.
“If you plant cane in March
and then you get through to
now, and all of a sudden you’ve
got no water, then you’ve got a
crop sitting there and what are
you going to do?
“At least with the rice it’s
only 140 days and you’ve got
your money at the end … with
cane you’ve got to wait at least
18 months before you get some
money out of it.
“We’ll still be growing cane
but the rice provides us with a
good cash flow right now.”
Mr Stockham believes Sun-
Rice’s announcement of a new
North Queensland t range and
expansion plans for the Bran-
don Mill will get more local
cane growers to grow rice.
“Not everybody is going to
grow rice; not all paddocks are
suitable,” he said.
“But so far, it’s working for
us. We won’t be stopping any
time soon.”
Sugar and
rice a nice
mixture
Bernice Kelly
At least with the
rice it’s only 140 days
and you’ve got your
money at the end
Rob Stockham
SunRice's Mike Hedditch, Tom
Howard and John Bradford with
local rice grower Rob Stockham
Picture: BERNICE KELLY
SunRice product development
manager Kari Cook Local rice growers Matt and Rob Stockham
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TXT the editor: 0416 907 499
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