Overview of region

• The Burnett Mary Region covers approximately 56,000 square kilometres of land and includes another 40,000 square kilometres of marine area. 
• It has a diversity of landscapes and communities and covers five major river basins: Baffle, Burnett, Burrum, Kolan and Mary and a series of coastal rivers (Isis, Gregory, Elliott). The region also contains major urban areas, including the cities of Bundaberg, Hervey Bay, Maryborough and Gympie. 
• The Burnett Mary is home for close to 250,000 people and there are 22 Local Government Authorities and parts of five more shires that fall within the planning boundaries.
• All of Fraser Island World Heritage Area and part of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area occur within the Burnett Mary region as does the Great Sandy Strait, a Ramsar listed wetland of international significance.
  

Horticulture industry in region

•  A number of different horticultural products are grown in the Burnett Mary region. These include:
  • Citrus (including mandarins, oranges, lemons)
  • Grapes
  • Macadamias
  • Avocadoes
  • Mangoes
  • Watermelons
  • Vegetables (including pumpkins, potatoes, tomatoes, zucchinis, capsicums)
  • Lychees
  • Strawberries
  • Bananas
• Macadamia nuts were the focus of this project. They are the only product indigenous to Australia that has been widely and successfully commercialized. 
• In Australia there are 18 000 hectares cultivated to macadamias. These are produced by 945 growers with 40% produced in Queensland and the other 60% mainly grown in NSW.
• In 2006 the industry produced 40,000 tonnes of nut in shell.
• The macadamia industry in the case study region around Bundaberg covers approximately 2,504 hectares comprising 1,013,805 trees which produce 6,187 tonnes of “nuts in shell” per annum.
  

Incentives for region
None identified in region

Case study of horticulture in Burnett Mary

Project title / summary

• NRM Report on Macadamias in the Burnett Mary

Project author/s

• Patrick Logue, Growcom
• Margie Milgate, Growcom

Objectives of project

• The aim of the Macadamia Project was to get a better understanding of NRM and what issues were concerning Macadamia growers in the Bundaberg region.
• The Project would then attempt to assist growers in meeting their expectations on the NRM activities identified – in particular the loss of top soil in orchards and loss of nutrients from the orchard floor. 
• The project commenced in 2006 in the Burnett Mary area working through the Growcom Macadamia Industry Development Officer for the region.
• The case study was also developed in conjunction with Growcom and the Bundaberg Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association (BFVG).

Methodology

•  In order to fulfil the first objective of this case study it was decided to travel down two pathways in endeavouring to establish a close working relationship between industry and the regional NRM body, in this case BMRG.
• Firstly a key unifying platform for discussion amongst the key institutions identified above was that all members based in Queensland participated in a steering committee for the AgSIP 16 project. This steering committee meet every three months and the agenda was expanded to encompass wider discussions and planning about how other projects and programs could collaborate and provide support to each other.
• The second pathway was a one-on-one survey of the macadamia growers which had a number of aims. Firstly it was designed to identify and benchmark what farm practices the industry was using to manage their environmental duty of care. Secondly it was to identify environmental issues that were of concern to growers and their thoughts on how to handle them, and lastly to benchmark grower knowledge about BMRG and the role of the organisation under the current regional arrangements.

Key findings

• The results of the survey demonstrated a high level of industry uptake of good environmental practices. In most cases all growers were unified in their responses and they saw themselves as doing a good job to date.
• The macadamia growers were keen to be involved in the new and developing practices and to have input into well planned and organized programs such as the water quality monitoring program.  All growers were very interested in the results of the water quality monitoring project and were keen to see how they could implement a monitoring system and how practical applications of the project could be utilised on farm.
• Most farmers had heard of the Burnett Mary Regional Group and had formed the impression that the group was only a “watch dog” for environmental issues.
• The attitude towards BMRG has changed throughout the life of this project and growers have indicated having worked with BMRG that they can now see the benefits. Growers are now putting forward future projects for the BMRG to look at.
• These new projects have helped to bring the growers closer together and work as one unit in attempting to control pests in new and innovative ways. This was the object of the exercise.
• Overall macadamia growers demonstrated that they are progressive and they want to be seen as the leaders in the field of conservation in agriculture. They are keen to be perceived as doing the “right” thing and to be setting an example to other growers.
• The key to our continued progress in better managing NRM in the region is our relationships. Without the resources to allow the various industry groups, research and regional bodies to plan and work together the on ground activities could not happen.
• Although an original focus of this Horticulture for Tomorrow project was on looking at the Targets for Change model and seeing how industry was meeting the regional NRM targets what has actually has occurred is quite different but still valuable.

Recommendations

• Future programs need to be delivered through existing grower networks and effective industry extension programs.
• During design of research programs, growers must have input at an early stage and it must be agreed that all bodies share knowledge throughout the project
• Regular regional meetings between industry, researchers and regional NRM bodies need to be built into future NRM programs.
• Regional NRM bodies need to have dedicated agricultural industry specialists in their organisations to allow for greater engagement with industry.
• Good communications plans need to be incorporated into future funding of NRM projects.