Here comes the sugar as the crushing begins at the Broadwater Sugar Mill on June 24.
The mill is expected to process about 470,000 tonnes of cane from across the Richmond Valley.
Sunshine Sugar chief executive Chris Connors said this is a remarkable achievement by the Broadwater growers who have been recovering since the worst known flood devastation on record just two years ago.
The crop is forecast to increase year on year for the next few years as existing cane fields recover to full production and new production areas come online, Mr Connors said.
The Richmond Valley has 1200 hectares of new cane production area on the books, with growers attracted by a forecast price of circa $60 per tonne for the next few years.
The other Sunshine Sugar sites at Harwood and Condong are ready to crush too.
The Harwood Sugar Mill will crush for its 150th consecutive season since 1874, with 560,000 tonnes of cane set to be harvested across the Clarence Valley.
The mill will start crushing on June 24.
Condong Mill will fire up on June 17 processing a crop of about 475,000 tonnes from the Tweed Valley.
The cool, fine weather is providing good ripening conditions which boosts sugar content and yield.
Sunshine Sugar and the NSW sugar industry will celebrate their progress with an outdoor community event to be held at the Harwood Cricket Oval on Sunday, August 25.
The information in this report was provided by Sunshine Sugar.
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