Former Property Council of Australia executive officer, Steve Greenwood, has stepped into the top job as chief executive of the Canegrowers lobby group and is keen to talk up the green credentials of the industry.

"Unfortunately, I think the message really isn't out there, so one of our big challenges for the immediate future, is to communicate the fact that our Australian cane growers are performing at a very high level environmentally, and on a worldwide comparison they're right up there, they're leading."

Cane farmers have come under increasing scrutiny, with the introduction of mandatory environmental risk management plans in the next few weeks.  The plans aim to reduce environmental damage to the Great Barrier Reef by monitoring chemical run-off from cane and cattle farms.


The paperwork has been described by farmers as onerous, and there has been criticism of the wording of the forms.