Mossman-Daintree Sugar Industry

The first sugar cane was grown in southern Queensland in 1862 and gradually the industry spread northwards. Sugar cane has been grown in fertile pockets of the tropical north coast of Queensland since the 1870's.

The early pastoralists had begun exploring inland in the 1850's, but kept clear of the the coast fearing malaria and other tropical fevers, but in the 1860's the first settlers arrived on the Daintree coast. Chinese labour was employed in clearing the vegetation, the Chinese having originally worked in the goldfields which for a time flourished in the hinterland but, with the decline of the gold, they gradually turned to agriculture.

Between 1863 and 1904, 60,000 South Sea islanders, known as Kanakas, were forcibly brought to Queensland to work on the sugar plantations and, until legislation was passed in 1904 banning their further employment, they formed the bulk of the workforce. Their loss caused a significant labour shortage and Japanese and also Indian workers were later employed until, after World War I, many Italian migrants arrived. Many more Italians came after World War II - they worked hard to save for their own land and many of their descendants are successful cane-farmers here today.

In the early days cane was harvested by hand and moved by horse-drawn wagons to the tramways, which were established at the same time as the construction of the Mossman Sugar Mill in 1897. The development of harvesting equipment revolutionised the industry and today all the cane is cut and processed mechanically. There is an interesting memorial to the early cane-cutters in George Davis Park just north of Mossman.

The first lands selected for cane production were north of the Daintree River and on the river flats around Daintree Village but following the establishment of the Mossman mill transporting the cut cane from these, then inaccessible, areas was found to be unviable. Today the whole coastal region from south of Port Douglas to the turnoff to the Daintree Ferry is a major cane-growing area and during the June to November crushing season it is a hive of industry.

Sugar cane is grown from mature cane stalks, which are planted by special machines, and is ready for harvest 12 months later. Originally the cane was burnt before harvesting but nowadays in the tropical north it is generally cut 'green'. Giant cane-harvesters cut the cane by removing the leafy tops of the cane stalks, cutting the stalks off at ground level and chopping the cane into small lengths which are immediately loaded into wire bins drawn by a tractor alongside the harvester. Each full load is tipped into huge cane bins for eventual transport by either cane-truck or by railway to the mill. The remaining roots then produce new shoots and several crops may be grown from the same stock before ploughing and replanting is necessary.

From June to November visitors driving through will see the harvesters at work and must also watch out for the cane trains where the rail tracks cross the roads. In some areas huge cane trucks will be busy ferrying the cut cane to the mill.

Unfortunately today the local industry is facing an uncertain future as poor world sugar prices, adverse weather conditions and other factors are causing major problems. Many farmers are looking to diversify into other crops and there is much discussion on the viability of the mill itself being adapted for the production of by-products.

Credits

Courtesy of Daphne Titus-Rees from Daintree Valley Haven.