Sugar Season Gears Up with Safer Trucks, Storage Boost
The 2020 New South Wales cane crushing season is in full swing across the three Northern Rivers milling areas and is estimated to yield 1.6 million tonnes of sugarcane from June to November.
Hauling cane from farms to factories, a new fleet of Mercedes Benz trucks have been welcomed across all three sugarcane growing areas delivering performance, reliability and fuel economy benefits, the new trucks also boast state-of-the-art environmental and safety features.
Safety features include adaptive cruise control and an automated emergency brake feature that can automatically initiate braking for pedestrians, as well as providing lane-keeping assistance and fatigue alerts.
“This fleet is an important asset when it comes to balancing running costs with community safety, with the coastal areas in which sugarcane is grown becoming more and more populated,” said Sunshine Sugar CEO Chris Connors.
In addition to the New South Wales sugar regions’ upgraded truck fleet, a state-of-the-art, $9 million warehouse has been opened at the Harwood Mill and Refinery, in an official launch by Federal Member for Page, The Honourable Kevin Hogan.
“This modern facility has already proven a tremendous asset during spikes in product demand and with sugar production in full swing,” said Mr Connors.
Favourable growing conditions have seen an uplift in crop yields. This is a welcome result following a protracted dry period last year that had set back the early growth of plant and ratoon sugarcane crops.
As an essential agriculture and food business, Sunshine Sugar has re-invested in its already strict hygiene measures that it has in place since the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Australia.
“The additional procedures we have put in place have allowed us to maintain full production in our refinery to keep up with consumer demand,” said Mr Connors.
“These procedures will remain in place, and flow through to the broader harvesting and milling operations.”
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