General News
12 October, 2025
Exacting farming practices
AN Innisfail cane farmer is navigating the triumphs and trials of farming with vigour, adopting new practices to build on his family’s legacy.
Brendan Calleja is among the most productive sugarcane growers in the South Johnstone Mill region, the result of his adaptability, enthusiasm and persistence.
The area he farms spans fertile, flood-prone river flats to red-soiled ridges and his operation is a patchwork of multi-generational knowledge, a solutions-focused mindset and a readiness to embrace change.
But as Mr Calleja tells it, the road to where he is now – managing 182ha (450 acres) across multiple farms – has been anything but straightforward.
After growing up on a cane farm, he began his career as a fitter and welder, working in local engineering firms and in the mines, along with stints in harvesting. The desire to farm, though, was ever-present.
“I started leasing land while I was still working full-time in the mines,” Mr Calleja said.
“Eventually, I decided to lease more and go into full-time farming. To supplement my income, I also invested in contract billet planting gear and I also do contract over-row spraying in the off season.”
His success, which includes being named the region’s most productive grower in recent years, is evidence that the leasing system has merit. Along with managing his parents’ 53ha (130 acre) farmlands, he leases a further 130ha (320 acres).
His wife, Maria – also a third-generation farmer – is integral to his success, taking care of all of the administrative responsibilities, from accounts to payroll, as well as acting as a general factotum.
The blocks they manage in the South Johnstone and Boogan areas are all relatively close, but the terrain and soil types vary significantly.
It’s a logistical and agronomic juggling act, requiring precision and foresight.
“You’ve got heavy clays, fertile river flats and then those high-PBI, acidic Red Ferrosols on the ridges,” Mr Calleja said.
“You can’t manage all of them the same way.” On the red soils, soldier fly is a constant battle. To combat this pest, Mr Calleja fallows strategically and rotates with varieties that have higher resistance to the pest.
“That’s the biggest challenge on one particular farm. We’ve got them nowhere else,” he said.
“There’s no chemical we can use so I’m hoping my variety selection will help extend the crop cycle. Previous varieties only lasted until second or third ratoon.
“Rocks are a challenge on that farm, too. I’m still pulling boulders out of the ground.”
Extreme weather events in this part of the world also present a challenge and even the highest points of his farms are not immune to wet season difficulties.
Mr Calleja applies mill ash to replenish lost topsoil on his erosion-prone ridges, however, it’s the river-side blocks that have proven to be particularly prone to monsoonal events.
In December 2023, ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper delivered a deluge of water down the South Johnstone River, causing it to cut a new path across one of his most fertile blocks. The result was two giant holes, each around 50m long and 3m deep. The flooding also deposited sandy silt on blocks where the cane remained standing.
Remediation work involved dumping 210 loads of dirt using the tray of a 12-tonne truck. That equates to about 1800 cubic metres.
It’s events such as these, early in the season, that underscore Mr Calleja’s uncompromising standards when it comes to precision in farm management.
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