Browsing by Author "Muscat, J"

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Building young farmers' capacity for change in the central district : final report BSS271
(2005) Muscat, J
In agriculture, young farmers are rapidly becoming a scarce commodity and any encouragement and assistance for existing young farmers will play an important role in the future of that agricultural industry. The sugar industry is no exception, and must assist in capacity building of its young farmers, as they will be the future managers of this industry. As the sugar industry comes to terms with the challenges that face its growers and their survival, the investment in building young farmers capacity for change will play a vital role in industry sustainability. This study tour allowed 13 young farmers from the Central Region to investigate, observe and discuss issues that the group had highlighted earlier at a group meeting. The young farmers in this group have been active for a number of years, but activity declined in the last two years because the downturn in the sugar industry (low sugar price and droughts) has forced members to seek alternative income for survival. The experiences of the study tour have reinvigorated the members of this group and the group is keen to look at the challenge that confronts this industry with optimism it deserves
Grower Group Network : Final report
(2012) Trendell, C; Muscat, J; Aylward, C
SRDC commenced funding Grower Group Innovation Projects (GGIPs) in 2005 engaging with Grower Groups, this new funding stream required a higher level of support and management services, than had been traditionally offered by SRDC.
Investigating marketing strategies for sugar and other crops and alternative cropping by the Mackay district young farmers' group : SRDC Final report BSS292
(2006) Muscat, J
This aims of this project were to investigate and develop a better understanding of: Marketing strategies utilised in the sugar industry and other options; Marketing strategies utilised in other industries (particularly cotton); Developing alternative crops/options and the marketing of those crops/options.
Investigating renewable feedstocks such as (Hibiscus Cannabis – Kenaf and Crotalaria Juncea – Sunn Hemp) for generation at Mackay Sugar Limited : final report GGP063
(BSES, 2014) Muscat, J
As the Australian sugar industry embarks on the opportunity to value add from its waste streams our industry will become more sustainable into the future. This project has investigated the opportunity to replace the coal feedstock at the Racecourse Mackay Sugar co-generation facility with fibre, produced from fibre crops such as Kenaf and Sunn Hemp to power the steam boiler to generate electricity. The co-generation unit produces 31mwh of electricity and is powered by bagasse the waste stream from the sugar process and coal when the bagasse runs out. 30,000 tons of coal is burnt firing the steam boiler to generate electricity in conjunction with bagasse, the coal feedstock would require 90,000 tons of fibre to allow for the total replacement of coal. The fibre feedstock would also attract a green certificate value as the product is a renewable source.
Nutrient management from variable rate technology in a control traffic system by the Oakenden Grower Group : SRDC Grower Group Innovation Project final report
(2008) Muscat, J
The aim of the project is to determine the benefits of nutrient management system in a controlled traffic farming enterprise in an environmentally sustainable manner. The project will determine the cost benefits by comparing the conventional nutrient application to variable rate application. It will determine the difference between narrow chute planting and wide chute planting. The project will compare different legumes and the impact on the following cane crop. Oakenden Grower Group has documented a fact sheet to enable growers some insight when choosing a GPS system in a question and answer style information sheet. The Oakenden Grower group was keen to understand the economic impact of these trails which are highlighted in the trial results.
Project Mackay alignment of grower services (MAGS) : Final report MAP002
(Sugar Research and Development Corporation (SRDC), 2010) Ashburner, BJ; Markley, JA; Muscat, J; Latter, K
The Mackay Sugar region recognised that there was room for improvement of grower services which were available in the region and many issues were discovered to exist. An Alignment group was established which consisted in its final form of 33 people covering 8 organisations with 8 elected grower leaders, 9 informal grower leaders, 11 management level leaders and five other selected staff members (from three organisations). This group appointed a Project Committee and from this Project teams were formed to complete specific tasks. There was also a Stakeholders Group which was selected by the Chairmen of Mackay Sugar Limited and Mackay Canegrowers Limited. This was to enable decisions and negotiations to take place with sufficient authority (power).
Validation of fibre cropping in rotation with sugar cane by Mackay Fibre Producers : SRA Grower Group Innovation Project final report
(2008) Muscat, J
The ultimate aim of this project was to investigate the feasibility of improving the profitability, sustainability, and robustness of the sugar industry in the central region through the incorporation of fibre rotation crops. MFP (Mackay Fibre Producers) and its partners have investigate production and processing systems of Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus), Sunn Hemp (Crotalaria juncea) and Industrial Hemp (Cannabis sativa) in the central region. Through out the life of this project the group members have been enthusiastic in relation to answering the many questions that are attributed from these new crop options. The local and whole sugar industry community have also been keen to keep abreast of the findings of this project. Fibre cropping in rotation with sugar cane has been extremely successful with a number of key finding emerging, one of the key finding is Sunn Hemp which is a new legume rotational crop option, its traits like root knot nematode resistance, its drought tolerance, it high bio-mass and nitrogen fix and short cropping cycle all attribute to its ability to become a real legume cropping option for the sugar cane cycle. Another finding is the effect that Kenaf has to address packametra spores in the soil in a normal Kenaf cropping cycle. The science of why this effect happens, is a research question still to be answered, the evidence that MFP group has compiled is that in two different trial sites in different years there was a significant reduction in packamtrea spore counts. One of the important findings is the economic impact that fibre crops have on the following cane crops, there is a significant improvement in gross margins and will impact positively on growers bottom line. When developing a new crop option in any industry there are many challengers to over come and this has been no difference in the case of fibre crops. For a new crop option the agronomics are important and will determine the cost of production, this is coupled with the yield achieved as both of these aspects are important for the future viability of that crop option. Marketing of that particular crop option also plays a significant role to its future viability, in the case of the Fibre crops, marketing will play an important role to its sustainability and its future role in the sugar industry.