Sustainable Farming Day draws a crowd

Cane, banana and tropical fruit producers shared sustainable farming practices with a crowd of more than 100 people recently.

Guest speakers at the Tully Sustainable Farming Day spoke about challenges across the industries and opportunities now and into the future.

Wet Tropics Sugar Industry Partnership’s Alex Lindsay said an all-Tully cast of speakers – including cane farmers Jamie Dore and Graham Maifredi, banana grower Leon Collins and tropical fruit producer Peter Salleras – shared their experiences on topics ranging from feral pig control to crop diversification and farm management changes.

The morning also included one-on-one talks with agribusinesses, farming extension officers and representatives from government departments.

“There is a lot of good news to share locally and that’s what this event was all about,’’ Mr Lindsay said.

There were 24 information booths at the event, a new one for the Tully region. Lucky door prizes included GIS and crop monitoring services, metagenomics soil testing and a tonne of fertiliser that was coated to resist leaching.

The Wet Tropics Major Integrated Project’s Fiona George said there had been good feedback from participants.