Queensland Sugarcane - A Journey

Welcome to Queensland's sugarcane industry in virtual reality. What is sugarcane? Sugarcane is a plant that contains a rich source of sucrose. In the same way that animals store fat, the sugarcane plant stores energy that it doesn't need. This extra energy is the sweet juice in the plant's stalks. When ripe, sugarcane stalks are harvested and the juice is extracted and processed into raw sugar crystals. How is it grown? Sugarcane is grown by replanting part of a mature cane stalk. Growers cut some of the fully grown cane stalks into 40 centimetre lengths called sets. These sets are planted by special machines which drop them into furrows, add fertiliser and cover them with soil. After two to four weeks, shoots break through the soil surface. Each set can shoot up to 12 stalks, forming what is known as the stool of sugarcane. To grow successfully, sugarcane needs strong sunlight, fertile soil and up to 1.5 metres of rain. If growers do not receive the correct amount of rain, irrigation is then required. It takes 9 to 16 months to grow a cane crop, then it's time to harvest. Heavy duty machines called cane harvesters cut the cane stalks off at their base. As they move down each row, the cane is collected and cut into shorter 30 centimetre length pieces known as billets. A second machine called a cane haulout drives alongside the harvester to collect the billets. In Australia, sugarcane is harvested annually during the drier months of June through to November. Once full, the cane haulout unloads its contents either into a semi-truck for transport to the mill by road or mill bins at local sidings on the nearest railway track. The sugarcane industry maintains a network of nearly 4,000 kilometres of narrow gauge rail lines to get cane from the paddock to the mill quickly and cost effectively. Sugar mills crush cane to extract and separate the sucrose from the water, impurities and plant fibre contained in the billets. Using a computerised scheduling system, the sugarcane is monitored as it moves through a four-step milling process. Around 35 million tonnes of cane are harvested and crushed annually in Australia to produce 4.5 million tonnes of raw sugar. Queensland mills produce raw sugar, a product not to be confused with the raw or brown sugar that we use to sweeten hot drinks. Raw sugar crystals are kept dry and stored in big sheds. 85% of raw sugar is exported by ship to the world. Refineries make the raw sugar fit for human consumption. It's then packaged up for sale. That concludes our journey. Next time you taste sweetness, you will know where it comes from. We are cane growers.