Cane

This social monitoring data presents the opinions of cane growers engaged in practice change projects to reduce sediment, nutrients and pesticides being lost to local waterways.

During 2021 and 2022, many growers engaged in practice change projects, with over 590 responses to before and after surveys about their practice change journey from 10 sugarcane practice change projects.

Prior to completing the survey, the cane grower is asked to select if they are changing their fertiliser, pesticide, soil or irrigation management. Most cane farmers selected ‘changing my fertiliser management’ which encompasses a range of different practices, all contributing to reducing loss of nutrients from the farm in run-off to local waterways. The quantity of data varies across the practices and in some cases was below the threshold, so data were aggregated.

Attitudes

Holding positive or negative views on doing something can influence whether we will do it. This data tells us how positive or negative cane growers’ views are of the practice change.

Cane growers responded to the statement "I think this farming practice is a positive thing to do on my farm.”

Before

357 cane growers answered this question at the start of their project in relation to their specific practice (e.g. changing my fertiliser management, etc.)

After

237 cane growers answered this question at the end of their project in relation to their specific practice (e.g., changing my fertiliser management, etc.)

Confidence

Our view of how easy something is for us to do can influence whether we do it. This data tells us how easy or difficult growers think a practice may be to use on farms.

Cane growers responded to the statement “I feel that this farming practice is easy to do on my farm.”

Before

357 cane growers answered this question at the start of their project in relation to their specific practice (e.g. changing my fertiliser management, etc.)

After

237 cane growers answered this question at the end of their project in relation to their specific practice (e.g. changing my fertiliser management, etc.)

Motivations

Identifying the benefits that attract cane farmers to practice change helps us understand what is important to them. Different motivations are not inherently ‘bad’ or ‘good’. Variations in the most common motivations over time may reflect broader industry changes.

Cane growers selected up to three of their main motivations for making a practice change.

Before

357 cane growers answered this question at the start of their project in relation to their specific practice (e.g. changing my fertiliser management, etc.)

After

237 cane growers answered this question at the end of their project in relation to their specific practice (e.g. changing my fertiliser management, etc.)

Barriers

The more obstacles that people think might get in the way of being able to do something, the less willing they may be to do it. This data tells us about what can make practice change more difficult for cane growers and helps us identify opportunities to remove those obstacles.

Cane growers selected up to three of their main barriers to making a practice change.

Before

357 cane growers answered this question at the start of their project in relation to their specific practice (e.g. changing my fertiliser management, etc.)

After

237 cane growers answered this question at the end of their project in relation to their specific practice (e.g. changing my fertiliser management, etc.)