Drought-breaking rain across the Maryborough region has brought smiles to the faces of MSF Sugar and its growers.
While the rain – estimated to be around 200 mm since early October, with heavy falls expected to continue until Wednesday (18 October) – has interrupted crushing at the Maryborough Mill for the second time this harvest, the falls have been welcomed in the drought-plagued region.
MSF Sugar General Manager Maryborough Stewart Norton said the “good soaking” rain was widespread across the district.
“Provided it’s backed up by an average wet season, this recent rain will set us up for the 2018 growing season,” Mr Norton said.
“It’s the best rain we have received since March this year when Tropical Cyclone Debbie came through, but prior to that we hadn’t received any significant rain since July 2016.”
Mr Norton said the rain had interrupted the harvest, with the mill shutting down for a week in early October and facing another halt in operations this week.
“We are not expecting to restart crushing until mid-next week at this stage,” Mr Norton said.
Mr Norton said while the rain had supplemented the Mary River and Tinana Creek water storages, it did not remove the urgent need for the proposed 6,000 megalitre Glendorf Off-Stream Storage adjacent to the Mary River.
“The rain is a welcome relief to our region, however, the need for additional storage capacity remains a priority,” Mr Norton said.
