Japanese and Australian communicators link

When the Japanese rural media wanted to learn more about the impact of disastrous floods on the sugar industry in Australia, the international contact network was put to good use.

Yamada Masaru of the Japanese Agricultural Journalists Association got in touch with his colleagues at the Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists.

ACAJ immediate past president Gordon Collie became a tour guide for Hana Saito, a photo journalist with the daily Japan Agricultural News who flew to Brisbane in January.

Ms Saito had briefings with sugar industry leaders who outlined the impact of a huge wet season and flooding – more than $500 million losses with an estimated six million tonnes of cane unable to be harvested in 2010.

Japan is a major customer for Australian sugar which has been in tight supply as months of soaking rain brought a soggy end to the crushing season.

Ms Saito, a London university graduate, travelled to the southern cane growing region of Bundaberg to report on the aftermath of December floods.

She got a close-up look at paddocks where top soil had been swept away and sick cane crops inundated by waters overflowing from the Burnett and Kolan rivers.

Her photos were emailed back to Tokyo from a wireless laptop at a farmhouse within minutes of being taken to meet tight deadlines.

Pictured above: Hanna Saito inspects the aftermath of Bundaberg floods with Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists immediate past president Gordon Collie. Flood waters stripped this cane field of top soil replacing it with rocks and rubble which will be a major headache to remove.

Pictured below: Hanna Saito prepares her report and photos for dispatch to Tokyo.