It gives me great pleasure to reflect on 2019 and I’d like to thank you for playing a part in it.

Despite challenges delivered to the sugar growing sector this year, it makes me incredibly proud to have had a front seat to the commitment and innovation of the sugar cane farmers we serve along the Queensland east coast from Mackay to Mossman.

For our company, those same challenges have applied, but our team has worked hard to match the commitment and innovation of growers.

We’re pleased to report that we saw PlantStarter sales increase by 18% on last season and BigShot sales rise by more than 20% on 2018.

The newer market of Mackay has responded incredibly well to LiquaForce offerings this past season, with nearly 3-million litres being applied across the district. Plans are now underway for the opening of a plant in the Mackay region in mid to late 2020. We look forward to keeping you posted on this development.

To meet demand across the supply region, LiquaForce also built four new liquid applicators in 2019, and another nine have been commissioned for build in 2020 to ensure increased service availability.

We are also pleased to see many of our clients recognised at various awards nights in 2019.

The most impressive being at the Tully Cane Productivity Awards Night where all eight district areas featured LiquaForce growers in the top 10 cane producers for CCS, with three of the districts dominated by LiquaForce clients.

LiquaForce growers were also represented in the top ten growers for all eight mill districts in the Best Nett $ Return per Hectare.

2019 also marked some new collaborations for the LiquaForce brand.

In July we officially announced our partnership with north Queensland biotech company Pacific Bio to offer two of our key products in combination with each other.

Every load of BigShot is now delivered to growers with additional benefits of Pacific Bio’s PlantJuice product, which is a bio stimulant produced from green macroalgae.

We also teamed up with CHT Australia, to offer Gypsum alternative, Aqua-Sil.

CHT Aqua-Sil aims to help adapt the soil for better distribution of LiquaForce liquid fertiliser products, by activating the capillary potential and water holding capacity of soils, in turn improving draining, and reducing run off and nutrient leaching.

Made in Germany and developed specifically for sodic soils, Aqua-Sil is also a liquid application product that works to improve root growth, reduce plant stress and increase water retention.

These partnerships are just two examples of LiquaForce committing to assisting our customers to get the best results out of their crop and their land.

Which leads me to tell you some exciting news about another new partnership LiquaForce is bringing you in 2020: Local Area Nutrient Data-Hub (LAND)

For the past 12 months LiquaForce has been developing the Local Area Nutrient Data-Hub – known as LAND.

Utilising the most current AG-Tech tools such as EM Mapping, Drone Imagery, remote sensing of weather and soil moisture and complimentary facilities for herbicide/pesticide management, the LAND platform will put all these tools into your everyday over the counter agronomy services from LiquaForce.

Just as importantly the platform will record all this data in highly secure data safes which you and only you own. It will accumulate data year after year which will be available on your desktop, tablet or smart phone, in the paddock and on the run. This means, absolutely no more paper-based Farm Nutrient Management Plans.

The platform will produce a range of reporting options on yield, nutrient use efficiency and cost benefit analysis of practices and practice change as well as comprehensive record keeping. LAND works to give you best access to your data, for your decision making, which ensures you avoid missing opportunities and manage costs where possible.

The greatest benefit from all of this will be that you will now have the digital capacity to optimise farm inputs while maximising production outputs.

When you onboard with LAND you are protected by the most comprehensive regulatory compliance system available in the sugar and horticultural sectors within Great Barrier Reef Catchments.

Not only will LAND help you to safely and easily comply with the Queensland Government Reef Regulations that were introduced on December 1, 2019, but it will offer data sets compatible with BMP and branding requirements.

LAND will onboard the first pilot farms between now and March 2020, and by April 2020 it will be ready to onboard over 200 established clients within the LiquaForce Australia community.

If you’d like to know more about LAND, please register your interest in onboarding for adoption in April 2020 by emailing luke@liquaforce.com.au or cameron@liddles.com.au

Thanks again for your support throughout 2019.

We look forward to seeing you again soon at any number of our field days and demo visits along the Coast.

I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and on behalf of the team, have a safe and happy 2020.

Kind regards,

Cameron Liddle
Managing Director
LiquaForce
December 2019