WHILE the future of Bowen agriculture is promising, producers continue to face hurdles including rising input costs, lack of government initiative and the Green party.
Bowen Gumlu Growers president of 16 years Carl Walker, has taken the year off growing to focus on advancing the agriculture industry's sustainability, attending symposiums, workshops and trade missions in Tokyo, New Zealand, Brisbane, Canberra and Sydney, as well as a Fall Armyworm symposium in Brisbane two weeks ago.
He has met with Western Australian growers and plans to head overseas to discuss export and industry growth opportunities.
The Bowen Pipeline project has been an exciting addition to the region, pending the final green ticks from government to commence funding and work on the project.
"There will be 65,000 megalitres for farmers, 40,000 for green hydrogen and ammonia reduction as well, which is fertiliser," Mr Walker said.
"With that will come solar. They will build about 60 hectares of solar so our ammonia pipeline will be net zero. All the pump stations will be driven by energy captured by the sun and if the government ticks it off...by the end of 2027 it will be up and running.
"There will be massive amounts of growth...places in Saudi Arabia are looking for food for 2.5m population increase.
"If Australia can maintain good bio-security, we could feed the world."
Mr Walker said the country not only has the opportunity to use fresh produce but to also value add and work on other projects to turn product into other goods such as powders and paste to prevent wastage.
"What farmers hate the most is the fact we product 100 per cent but only sell 50 because it doesn't meet the supermarket standards. Some of it has changed but at least 25 per cent of what we produce is wasted...(because) it might be out of spec or not as pretty," he said.
"We could almost double our farm income by processing products we throw away. We've done all the studies and the state government has been great in supporting us - there is a massive amount of information on what we can get out of products and turn it into.
"We can even use water to make health drinks. There are so many things you can use but it's a matter of finding a partner."
Bowen Gumlu Growers has adopted bio-degradable plastic to reduce water and fertiliser use, create better quality produce and less inputs.
"We recycle trickle tape but plastic is still an issue," he said.
"We're using bio-degradables but there's still a bit of work to do yet. It will be good in the future, but it still needs more work on the lifetime of it, how it actually works and the cost...which could be 2-3 times the cost of normal plastic."
Mr Walker usually grows tomatoes, capsicum and cucumbers, but said last year was the worst financial year in 20 years.
"We had great weather. We had about 20-30 per cent extra production...the previous two years had been good, (but) economically people were suffering because interest rates were going up," he said.
"My personal opinion is it'll be a bit better than last year and next year it will stabilise. New Zealand is in a recession. I don't think we're quite there but business is slowing down, interest rates are higher and there's not as much confidence."
The Whitsunday grower expressed disappointment in the state and federal government for not embracing "food security" given the global impact of the Covid pandemic.
"Food security is the most important thing," he said.
"This year's going to be interesting. Economically, the country's still hurting. Half of the problem is the price of everything has gone through the roof.
"Most farm inputs have gone up between 30-100 per cent for everything and labour's gone up, freight's gone up."
A major issue impacting Bowen growers is the increase in fuel levees for carting produce or cattle.
"You could pay between 7c-30c/litre, which is a lot of money," Mr Walker said.
"Someone told me last year that they pay as high as 30 per cent.
"I've seen it 18-20 per cent on top of normal freight. Say your freight is $300/pallet, you add 30 per cent to that - that's a lot of money."
Last year, Bowen growers lost around 10 per cent of their input costs of running their business.
"Say your turnover was $20 million. They've lost $2m out the gate. Turnover is not profit, it's turnover so your actual profit would only be $2m," Mr Walker said.
"I haven't seen prices just as fast as they have (like this before) and the prices at the gate have gone down.
"If the supermarket is fair dinkum, they'd pay us a fair price and they'd still make a fair markup and the consumer gets a fair (price)...but they're just screwing everyone left, right and centre."
Mr Walker said a couple of the local growers would "fall on their sword" if they were to suffer another rough year this season, with discretionary spending to fall and businesses to suffer from no spare funds.
"I don't think people would cut back this year but if it hurts this year, (they will) next year," he said.
"(And) if we don't get some adverse weather conditions in winter this year, there will be way too much production. Interest rates might fall a bit later in the year but it'll be too late for us."
While producers would previously grow three or four different crops, most are now focusing on one.
"It's changed a bit that way which is better but worse if money is really bad, you lose heaps," Mr Walker said.
Mr Walker said labour was a focus of the growers group, ensuring costs don't cripple producers.
While the 'Green Movement' does a great job at ensuring producers are aware of environmental responsibility and conscientiousness, Mr Walker said the excess regulations will eventually impact growers in Bowen.
"The biggest danger to our democracy and our future sustainability is the 'Green movement'," he said.
"People in cities have no knowledge about what happens in rural areas.
"(At) the last Green meeting I went to...they were talking about things that happened 20-30 years ago. They have no idea what we're doing now to make our farms as sustainable as possible...(including using minimal) chemicals, fertiliser and water to put out products at the best price we can for as little impact.
"We want to look after our land because it makes us money. It's not rocket science."
