Sustainability

Cubbie Ag management believes that the production of irrigated agriculture and a viable environment can co-exist in a sustainable manner and the company has designed and managed their properties to achieve this goal.

An Environmental Sustainability Plan has been compiled for Cubbie Ag properties at Dirranbandi.

Cubbie Ag has developed a Salinity Management Plan for all properties. Over 60 Piezometers (bores that allow you to measure the depth of underground water tables) exist over the Cubbie Ag properties allowing management to closely monitor the below ground water aquifer network.

Cubbie Ag formalised Land and Water Management Plans in 2013 and every year evaluates its farming practices, accounts for water usage while checking and balancing the natural resource reserves. This annual evaluation is a critical corporate governance standard set by Cubbie Ag management. This process is also used for determining and goal setting future practices to further benefit the sustainability of the properties.

Cubbie Ag’s development has received all the necessary approvals.

All development, where necessary, has also undergone evaluation through community consultative processes. Initially, all levees at Dirranbandi have been assessed and comply with the Lower Balonne Floodplain Management Plan. This plan was developed by the Lower Balonne Advisory Committee. Its goal was to develop a plan that would assess development proposals under a voluntary ‘Code of Best Practice’ methodology.

Over recent decades, water reform evaluation processes through community stakeholder engagement have delivered critical natural resource stewardship. Firstly, completion of the Condamine-Balonne Water Resource Plan gave critical certainty to all resource beneficiaries while providing the necessary water governance framework in Queensland.

The Queensland progression has been followed by the Murray Darling Basin community stakeholder engagement process which requires a Plan, to be actively governing all natural resources beneficiaries in the basin to be implemented by 2019.

Cubbie Ag continues to set its own stewardship standards while also participating with the cotton industry’s ‘Best Management Practice’ evolving process.