STANDING in the baking hot sun on an unseasonably warm day, Bloomsbury cane farmer Scott Simpson has the undivided attention of Coca-Cola South Pacific chief executive officer Roberto Mercale and World Wildlife Fund Australia chief executive officer Dermot O'Gorman.

Coca-Cola and WWF are partners with Reef Catchments in Project Catalyst, a network of just under 80 farmers up and down the Queensland coast that are trialling innovative farming practices to produce sustainable sugar cane.

Hosted by Catchment Solutions' (the commercial arm of Reef Catchments) Rob Eccles, the two CEOs visited Mackay farmers Gerry Deguara and Tony Bugeja, before heading to Mr Simpson's farm.

Speaking with animation, Mr Simpson explained his "skip row" cane trial and its benefits to the two men, who were clearly impressed with his results.

"It's been an incredible experience," Mr Mercale said.

"It's one thing to read about it and it's another thing to come here with Gerry and Tony and Scott and just see the great things that they do, the passion with how they do it and the impact that they're having," he said.

Mr O'Gorman was equally as enamoured with what he saw during his visit.

"I've been out to the farms a number of times over the last four-five years, and to see the progress and also the confidence from Scott to talk about what he's

doing, it's fabulous," he said.

"Farmers can be the hero in trying to help save the Great Barrier Reef, they just need the right support and that's where companies like Coca-Cola come into the partnership.

"(Coca-Cola) is one of the world's largest buyers of sugar so it sends a signal to the market that that's where the future is; producing sustainable sugar that will meet consumer demand but saving the Great Barrier Reef as well, which the consumers also want to see."

The Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report 2014 stated that poor water quality from land-based run-off continued to be one of the greatest risks to the reef's future, and the recently elected State Labor Government is promising to slash the amount of nitrogen flowing on to the reef from key catchments by 80% and total suspended sediment by 50% by 2025.

Mr Simpson's "skip row" trial is an example of innovative farming practices that at first glance seem crazy.

With traditional farming methods, cane is planted 1.5m apart. But with Mr Simpson's trial, the rows are spaced 1.9m apart and the in-between row is planted with legumes, which return nutrients and organic matter to the soil.

"The major benefits of skip row is you use half the fertiliser and half the grub control. It's half the distance for the cane harvester to travel," Mr Simpson said.

"You can access the paddock at any stage of growing the crop and the pour rate of the harvester is probably up around 140/tonnes an hour. The normal rate is about 90/tonnes an hour, depending on how good the crop is," he said.

Mr Simpson is expanding his trial, which is in its seventh year.

"The skip row system, I believe it's ready to go now," he said.

"That's why I'm putting in another 20 hectares this year, because I just feel that after doing seven years of trials with it, it's time to put my money where my mouth is."

Mr Simpson had a request for his fellow growers.

"I'm just doing the trials on my farm and the figures are working out really good and at the very least, all I could ask other farmers to do is to trial it on some of their difficult-to-harvest blocks," he said.

"If farmers would like to have a talk to Sugar Services Proserpine's Peter Sutherland about it, Peter will show them the figures."