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In this project , 50 per cent of surveyed growers had applied for at least one grant or financial assistance to do things on property . Of those received in the last 5 years , 84 per cent were from Reef Rescue , 4.5 per cent from drought programs , 2.3 per cent from Cane BPS Water improvement and 9.1 per cent were from the Reef Trust Tender . A majority of these programs were seen as being extremely useful or at least useful . The most important things mentioned by sugarcane growers that they hoped to achieve with Reef Rescue program included implements or tools that they were able to purchase and elements of practice change . The implements / tools included shielded sprayers , GPS , trickle irrigation and compost turners .
� The main sources of information about the grants were NQ Dry Tropics ( 23 per cent ), SRA / Canegrowers ( 15 per cent ), and extension officers ( 13 per cent ).
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When applying for grants and funding , the most important things that sugarcane growers were hoping to achieve were water quality improvement , decrease in use of nitrogen , sustainability , profitability , decrease in costs and erosion control .
Nearly 59 per cent of surveyed growers participated in workshops , training programs and extension activities such as field days . Some growers participated in 2 or 3 workshops and / or training programs . Six Easy Steps and Smartcane BMP were the most popular workshops / programs and both programs were useful to the land managers ( the mean usefulness score for those programs were 4.45 for Smartcane BMP and 5 for 6 Easy Steps ). The most useful workshops and training programs indicated by growers were Project Catalyst , Reef run-off workshops and Soil biology & health .
The main sources of information about these workshops and training programs were extension officers ( 29 per cent ), friends / peers ( 16 per cent ), and NQ Dry Tropics ( 12 per cent ).
The most important things mentioned by sugarcane growers that they hoped to achieve with 6 Easy Steps were : correct nutrient application rates , keep up with modern trends , get new information and knowledge to improve practice .
Examples of feedback on what could be done to make grants , training programs , workshops and / or extension activities work better for sugarcane growers to help them meet their personal goals included : the importance of considering the productivity and profitability implications of practice change , practical demonstration and clear explanation of why practices are useful and important , and the need for easier application processes .
Suggestions of future support required to help sugarcane growers make farm improvements were varied , however , comments particularly relevant to this Implementation Plan include those relating to : governance and the need for greater understanding of government policy direction ; more grants supported by greater scrutiny on how grant money is being used , with follow up ; specific needs for additional technical support , training and information ; provision of information on innovations ; ways to improve irrigation efficiencies and reduce costs ; and greater coverage of water quality monitoring .
Canegrowers were also asked specific questions about irrigation practices , calculating fertiliser application rates and managing run-off . These results are not shown here due to the very small sample size ( N = 38 ), but responses to questions about water use , runoff , use of irrigation scheduling tools , methods for calculating fertiliser application and the use of recycle pits are presented in Farr et al . ( 2017 ).
7.4 Coordination platforms , delivery partners and capacity
Implementation of broadscale changes in management practices in sugarcane in the Lower Burdekin will require engagement of the existing delivery partners in the region , with a strong foundation for coordination and collaboration . It is fully recognised that the desire to establish and maintain a coordinated and collaborative process to water and pollutant management in the Lower Burdekin is not new and has been recognised and initiated several times before . Substantial experience exists in the region to guide this process going forward , being careful not to repeat challenges that have prevented progress in the past .
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