{"id":5648,"date":"2019-01-02T11:08:45","date_gmt":"2019-01-02T01:08:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nesptropical.edu.au\/?page_id=5648"},"modified":"2019-01-02T11:32:48","modified_gmt":"2019-01-02T01:32:48","slug":"successful-forum-gets-scientists-and-farmers-talking-about-future-of-reef-water-quality","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/nesptropical.edu.au\/index.php\/news-events\/e-newsletters-2\/january-2019\/successful-forum-gets-scientists-and-farmers-talking-about-future-of-reef-water-quality\/","title":{"rendered":"Successful forum gets scientists and farmers talking about future of Reef water quality"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2018 Innovative Nitrogen Use in Sugarcane Forum held in Cairns in November was a major success with 130 attendees taking part in collaborative discussion on the subject of nitrogen runoff in the Great Barrier Reef catchment.<\/p>\n

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Water quality scientists and sugarcane farmers deep in discussion at the Innovative Nitrogen Use in Sugarcane Forum. Photo by RRRC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The forum featured presentations from several key Tropical Water Quality Hub presentations including Project 25 <\/a>(promoting behavioural change through fine-scale water quality monitoring)<\/strong>, Project 3.1.2 <\/a>(using Internet of Things technology to improve irrigation management)<\/strong>, Project 2.1.8 <\/a>(trialing enhanced efficiency fertilizers for reducing total nitrogen use)<\/strong> and Project 4.10<\/strong> <\/a>(evaluating the potential of converting marginal cane land to wetlands)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Growers were also able to get their voices heard on subjects important to them including the delays between practice change (and associated risk) and seeing results in water quality improvement.<\/p>\n

A good example of the success of the forum\u2019s intent \u2013 to get farmers and water quality scientists talking to each other \u2013 was a discussion during a lunch break between Mossman grower Scott Fasano and Dr Peter Thorburn from CSIRO, who talked about wetland conversion.<\/p>\n

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Bringing people together – Grower Scott Fasano shakes hands with Dr Peter Thorburn from CSIRO. Photo by RRRC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt was great [to talk to Dr Thorburn],\u201d said Mr Fasano.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was pulling out my phone to see my farm on Google Maps and pointing out spots on the property that would make good wetland. I think there\u2019s a lot of potential in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt Kealley, CANEGROWERS Senior Manager for Membership and Innovation, said limiting nitrogen runoff was important for both the health of the Great Barrier Reef and the farmers\u2019 business.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the last five years, the cane industry has made tremendous strides in science and research underpinning practices to improve the effective use of nitrogen in farming,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of this supports grower production and reduces impact on the Reef.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Back to the January 2019 e-Newsletter contents<\/strong><\/a><\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2018 Innovative Nitrogen Use in Sugarcane Forum held in Cairns in November was a major success with 130 attendees taking part in collaborative discussion on the subject of nitrogen … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5649,"parent":5632,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5648","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t