More than 400 attendees filed through the gates of the Mareeba Turf Club on July 29 for the inaugural FNQ Growers R&D Field Day.
The advocacy group for fruit and vegetable growers across Far North Queensland hosted the event, which showcased the evolving horticultural landscape with traditional crops alongside new and emerging opportunities.
Locals and visitors alike took the opportunity to network and engage with an array of peak industry bodies, industry stakeholders and commercial operators - from mangoes, citrus, papaya, bananas, avocados and cotton - to learn about the latest in horticulture.
FNQ Growers president Joe Moro said diversification had driven the industry's development as growers worked to remain sustainable and protect their enterprises from extreme weather events.
"The farming landscape in Far North Queensland has changed immensely," he said.
"Mainstay crops have made way for other commodities, helping position the region as a horticultural powerhouse in northern Australia.
"The region's billion-dollar agricultural industry is headlined by bananas, with avocados, sugar, blueberries and citrus (lemons and limes) all featuring in the top 10.
"At the same time, traditional production areas in crops like bananas and sugar have expanded geographically, from the coast to the hinterland and further west."
A notable feature of the day-long event was the forum series in which leaders of key commodity groups dissected current and future issues impacting the horticulture industry.
Barbara Ford of Air Freight Handling Services discussed potential export opportunities for northern growers out of Cairns airport.
AFHS handled both Qantas and Jetstar domestic, along with all international airline imports and exports of cargo at the local base.
Ms Ford said the idea was born out of the need to make a difference for exporters in the local region with a purpose built facility in the development stages in Cairns.
"We are now at the roof on stage for our 100 square metre facility and we will have 130 square metres of coolroom area," she said.
"We've got 1000 square metres of freight processing and we will have all the security and biosecurity requirements for putting freight on aeroplanes.
"This facility will be up and operational by mid November."
Ms Ford said flights were now operational back into regions such as Japan, New Zealand, Singapore and New Guinea.
"We're going to be ready to assist exporters in moving their freight internationally direct out of Cairns," she said.
"That is something we're really focused on; to look at what we can do to improve that for the different regions that we need to go to.
"We're working with Cairns airport, specifically on aviation attraction, on what airlines we can get to come back into Cairns.
"If we can export directly out of Cairns without having to go south that is a huge benefit to our exporters.
"It's a great story to tell the end retailers and the end customers about the fresh green area that we come from."
Ms Ford said the facility would assist exporters to market and enhance their products directly out of the local region.
"We are going to be able to take up to 100 tonnes a day through our facility," she said.
"We just need the planes to make that work."
Cotton Australia general manager Michael Murray touched on the respective 'new kid on the block' and said cotton gave farmers in the region another production choice.
"While recognising this year's wet season fell short of average, leading to tough growing conditions in North Queensland, interest in the crop remains high," he said.
"We have seen approximately a doubling of area from the 20/21 season to the 21/22 season, and we expect further growth in Far North Queensland when this year's crop is planted in December."
Mr Murray said the whole crop could be utilised across different agricultural industries to attract more return.
"For every tonne of cotton you produce as lint, you produce a little bit more of a tonne of cottonseed," he said.
"That's been great not only particularly for beef cattle, but used as feed for a whole range of livestock.
"Certainly during the drought of the last three or four years, no cottonseed was exported, it was all used, keeping herds alive during the drought.
"People think of the lint, but that's only half the story, that cottonseed is an equally important product in terms of the return.
"The greater return is in the lint, but the return from the seed is not to be sneezed at either."
Mr Murray also offered advice to keen farmers interested in growing the crop in the northern region.
"If you're thinking about growing cotton, if you want to take a first step up here, find yourself a good agronomist," he said.
"There's not a cotton grower in Australia that does it entirely by themselves. You need good advice.
"It's a crop that rewards you well, if it's managed well.
"Also find yourself a picking contractor and certainly, this year has probably been more challenging than other years, but you want to make sure you've got someone to pick it.
"Get those two things in place and I'm sure the rest of it will fall in."
A biannual event, the next FNQ Growers field day will be held in 2024. Check out the gallery of images from the day below.
Zoe Thomas
Northern based journalist at North Queensland Register and Queensland Country Life.
Northern based journalist at North Queensland Register and Queensland Country Life.
