150 Years of Continuous Operation and Australian Ownership
With the 2024 crushing season kicking off next week, the NSW sugar industry has more than just crushing cane and making sugar to be done this year.
The Harwood Sugar Mill will crush for its 150th consecutive season since 1874, with local cane crops estimated to achieve higher than expected yield. Some 560,000 tonnes of cane are set to be harvested across the Clarence Valley, with the mill commencing crushing operations on Monday 24th June.
The Broadwater Sugar mill will also start crushing on the 24th of June and is expected to process around 470,000 tonnes of cane from across the Richmond Valley.
“This is a remarkable achievement by the Broadwater growers who have been recovering since the worst known flood devastation on record just two years ago”; said Sunshine Sugar CEO, Mr Chris Connors.
The crop is forecast to increase year on year for the next few years as existing cane fields quickly recover to full production and new production areas come online.
Favourable weather conditions and record-high sugar prices are driving a resurgence in cane farming interest across the NSW Northern Rivers, as one of the regions’ oldest and most reliable agricultural industries regains favour.
The Richmond Valley alone has some 1,200 hectares of new cane production area on the books, with growers attracted by a forecast price of circa $60 per tonne for the next few years.
Moving on to the northern-most mill at Condong, it will be the first to fire up this year. On the 17th of June the Condong Sugar Mill will start processing a crop of around 475,000 tonnes from the Tweed Valley. The cool, fine weather is delivering good ripening conditions which boosts sugar content and yield.
Sunshine Sugar and the NSW sugar industry have plans to make the most of the milestone sesquicentenary season, with a line-up of industry and community events and activities happening at Harwood (near Yamba) in August. The celebrations with culminate in a massive outdoor community event to be held at the Harwood Cricket Oval on Sunday 25th August.
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