Archived News

Impact on Sugar
Leadership Training Program
Presentation to participants in Mackay, Queensland.

Dave Erba: Cane Farmer, Munbura, Qld

“I live on a 94 hectare farm at Munbura with my wife and three primary school aged children.

My grandfather came to the region in 1926 cutting cane and four years later bought his first farm.  My father has been involved in farming his whole life and at eight-three years young he plans to retire at the end of this season.  (I have heard this before).

I believe that if you don’t like the answers, ask a different question.  To date my career path has been a series of questions with very different answers.

After completing school in Mackay I spent twelve months in the American mid-west as an exchange student.  It was a rural area and I lived on a farm and attended the local high school where I was able to take agriculture classes.

I quickly discovered there is more to farming than just sugarcane and a lasting impression of that time was how professional farming in America was in comparison to Australia.  Most rural schools have an agricultural department and many farmers also had tertiary qualifications in farming or agribusiness. Hedging of prices was widely practiced and farmer co-opertives were used to purchase inputs.  Expenses and crop input costs were carefully evaluated against the projected prices in order to plan what mix of crops to plant each season.  Technology uptake was high and many farms had an animal enterprise as well.

I returned home in July 1980 enthusiastic and ready to begin a career as a farmer working with my father.  A couple of years later a downturn in the industry saw Dad advise me I should seek a job elsewhere as the farm could not support both of us.  So in 1983 at the age of 21 I commenced an apprenticeship as a diesel fitter with MIM at their Newlands mine.  I still helped at home on week-ends when I could.  After five years at Newlands, farming still called me so I left and purchased a milk run. A six day a week business that left my afternoons free to help Dad on the farm.  During this time we cleared the former grazing block at Munbura and established a cane farm. After four years we sold the milk run and while my wife continued to teach fulltime, I began farming fulltime again.

In 1994 we purchased the farm from Mum and Dad. Shortly after we began our family and with the rented house in town becoming too small we built and moved to our present home at Munbura.  I began to plan for a solid future in farming – but then the turmoil of the wet 1998 crushing, low prices and orange rust left me (like a lot of other farmers) feeling stressed and depressed.  It took me a while to seek help and recover from depression and I am thankful that I always had the full support of my family, particularly my wife.

My passion for farming hadn’t dwindled but I questioned my choice of occupation while working a variety of off farm jobs including contracting and taxi driving to help pay the bills.  For reasons of wanting to be with my young family I chose not to return to my trade at the mines.  Instead I opted for something completely different and in 2001 I commenced a Batchelor of Business degree at Central Queensland University (CQU).  So now I was a full time student and a part time farmer.

Early in 2003 my wife and I started a small food distribution business after securing the exclusive rights to sell a Greek Style yogurt product.  We began selling this every Saturday morning at the showgrounds markets and soon began wholesaling to shops as well.  After a trip to the Brisbane markets looking for new products, we decided to add coffee to our business and secured the rights to distribute Di Bella Coffee locally.  I undertook a Barista course and purchased a coffee machine and began selling coffee at the markets along side the yogurt.  This business provided us with a much needed cash flow, while the farm still struggled to make a profit.

During this time I continued juggling study and farming and was involved in starting the organic cane growing group along with Devon Blines and Stephen Bartolo.  I read many different farming publications and books and was particularly interested by developments in organic farming around the world.  This seemed like an efficient way to value add our product. (this at a time when returns were in the low $200 per tonne and organic sugar was in the $400-$600 range).  Without the full support of the industry the potential gains were never realised and small quantities of organic cane were crushed for only three years.

I continued with study at CQU and in July and in 2004 began working three days a week at a local accounting firm. I cut back to two subjects a term but by early 2005 I was struggling to maintain motivation to complete my degree.  I was now a student, a graduate accountant, a farmer and a small business operator.

With the return of profitability to the sugar industry I quit my job as an accountant and returned to full time farming and scaled back the retail business to wholesale only.

What I needed was some extra incentive.  I have had an interest in dirt bikes for thirty years and had recently begun reading riding with two local dirt bike clubs on my twenty year old trail bike. I decided to motivate myself with a reward of a newer bike and maybe an adventure trip somewhere when I finished my degree.

While on holidays in  I listened to a relative (Phil who is a dairy farmer on the Sunshine Coast) talk about his accident on the Gunbarrel Highway involving a mob of ‘roos, his motorbike and a free trip to Perth by the flying doctor. He was heading home after riding the Canning Stock Route when he hit a roo in the dark.  Unable to continue and all alone he activated the EPRB his wife insisted he always carry, and two hours later was at the closest cattle station waiting for the RFDS (Royal Flying Doctor Service) to ferry him to hospital.  He was surprised to find out from the doctor and crew that the Government contributes very little to this world class service and they rely on donations to maintain their organization.

For years Phil had been motivating himself for the relentless slog of milking cows morning and night, by taking to heart the words of New Zealander, Peter Alexander “….sometimes the best investment for your farm is a three day week-end.”  Phil had kept himself enthusiastic by regularly exploring this big country from the seat of a dirt bike.  Back at work on his dairy farm Phil began to plan a trip with a difference, a fundraiser for the RFDS to say thank you.  He came up with a way to stand out from the crowd and have a little fun at the same time – ride a postie bike across Australia.