Where is sugarcane grown in Australia?
Most of Australia's sugarcane is grown along the coast of Queensland, between Mossman in the north and the New South Wales border, with a smaller industry in northern New South Wales. Queensland produces about 95 percent of Australia's raw sugar.
The industry developed in the second half of the 1800s. Early plantations relied on the labor of South Sea Islanders, many of whom were brought to Queensland under exploitative conditions, a practice known as blackbirding.
Major sugar regions include the areas around Cairns, Innisfail, Ingham, the Burdekin, Mackay, Bundaberg and Maryborough. Mackay is often described as the sugar capital of Australia.
From cane to sugar
Sugarcane is harvested by machines during the crushing season, roughly from June to November. The cane is taken by narrow-gauge cane trains to mills, where it is crushed and processed into raw sugar.
Most of the raw sugar is exported through bulk sugar terminals at ports such as Mackay, Townsville and Bundaberg. Australia is one of the world's largest exporters of raw sugar.
Cane farming also has a famous environmental mistake. Cane toads were introduced in 1935 in an attempt to control cane beetles, but they failed to control the pests and spread widely, harming native wildlife.
Did You Know?
Molasses and bagasse, the fibrous waste from crushed cane, are used for animal feed, ethanol and power generation.