A Burning Issue

In the 2000s, the fields of Proserpine were lit in violent shades of amber and red, ablaze almost every night in the cool harvest winds.

It’s rarer now to see sugarcane burning in the night; the old ritual is becoming an all but a forgotten art, especially in the Whitsundays, according to local farmers.

But, for those outside the industry, the question remains: what happened to the hot nights when fire fled across the fields in sugarcane country?

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Why Do We Burn?

Burnt sugarcane is far easier to cut, according to the Proserpine Historical Museum.

“When I first came to this district, the locals always referred to the black fallout, [the ash] - from the fires as ‘black gold’,” a Proserpine Museum spokesperson said.

“The burnt cane was a lot easier to cut and load; it’s as simple as that.”

The history of preharvest burning dates to the 1940s when most sugarcane crop was “cut green” – a practice which saw residual ‘trash’ – green leaf matter that grows on the plant’s stalk – left on the plant during the harvest.

Preharvest burns were uncommon in that time but may have been born during high infestations of rats which led to an exposure for labourers to leptospirosis, better known as Weil’s disease, a potentially fatal illness spread in rat urine.

Burning the fields – mostly in areas close by to mills and with high rat populations – became vital to stopping the diseases rampage through labourers, who, at the time, were cutting by hand.

When labour shortages arrived during World War Two, widespread use of pre-harvest burning to speed up harvesting came with it. Rising post-war labour costs saw burning become a standard for its ease, and it became even more popular when it was deemed to be extremely effective.

The early mechanical harvesters in the 1960s were even initially designed to cut for this burnt system and were not well adapted to cutting green.

According to Proserpine sugarcane farmer Tony Large, harvesters have improved, and green cutting has become the norm after experimentation in the ‘80s saw it an easier method after heavy rainfall.

“The machines could only handle that burnt cane, not the biomass, and now they’ve made the machines that are capable of cutting green,” Mr Large said.

“Back in the day, people weren’t cutting as much. The fields grew bigger and burning the cane was necessary; it was smarter to burn and produce faster.”

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What Happens Next?

The tides have turned on the sugarcane burns, and tourists who visit Proserpine are lucky to witness one – but sometimes the tradition is still necessary.

The Burdekin Region is one location in North Queensland that, despite the almost industry-wide change, continues to burn almost all its crop. A district with a high yielding one- or two-year crop, the Burdekin has largely avoided green-cane harvesting because of difficulties in cutting its fast-growing, thick produce which is well irrigated.

But for Proserpine, it’s a different story: some years farmers must burn, but the problem is now finding the help they need.

“Twenty years ago, you could get anyone to come with you for a burn; now that’s not the case,” Mr Large said.

“The experience just isn’t there anymore in the young farmers. I’d say most blokes under 35, 40 have just the basic knowledge of it, but they don’t know how to make it work.

“I have a neighbour who I burn with – I’ve been doing it with him for years – but one day that might stop. Those youngsters will have to learn.”

An iconic Queensland image may just be disintegrating before the Whitsundays’ eyes.

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Sugarcane burning has slowly fazed out in the Whitsundays, and locals are asking why the iconic Queensland scene is a becoming a rarity

Proserpine sugarcane farmer Tony Large said that burning sugarcane is rare, depending on the season

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