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Cane Cutting Gang cutting cane on the Leanoardi Farm (1930s)

SUGAR RUSH

HARVESTING THE LEGACY

OF ROMANCE AND HARD WORK

WORDS by Tanya Snelling for Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort, Port Douglas

Joe Leonardi & Sam Leonardi
rom war-torn poverty to sugar prosperity, discover the story of three 1800 cocoa trees that are harvested for a growing sustainable market. The rest
families who set out from war-torn Europe in the hope of a better life. of the cropping land is under sugarcane.
Setting sail for Australia in the 1920s, the Leonardi, DiPalma and Puglisi Angelo senior runs the operation with his son, fourth generation farmer
families left the post-war poverty of Sicily and Naples with little more than Gerard, a forward thinking man in his forties. Gerard is proud of his heritage,
self-belief, a will to work and the buzz of economic opportunities in Australia well aware of the toil and sacrifice it has taken and the effects of rising costs
ringing in their ears. They were bound for the little-known town of Mossman and blindside events in farming that easily chomp into the sweet spot of profit
in Far North Queensland which, at the time, was on the cusp of major sugar- margins.
related expansion.
Best practice and working smarter underscore Puglisi Farming’s ethos in
As fate would have it, these men were destined to sow the seeds of a modern the fertile Whyanbeel valley at Miallo, just north of the administrative
farming dynasty that continues to build on their affinity for the land, ability to hub of Douglas Shire. Like their forebears, they keep a weather eye out for
see and seize an opportunity, and willingness to innovate to foster growth and diversification, innovation and moving with the times while being quick to pull
the future of the sugar industry. the belt in when things get tight.
In time, the Puglisi and DiPalma families were farming neighbours, and more As his father transitions towards retirement, Gerard hopes his son, Angelo
when romance blossomed between shy Mary DiPalma, granddaughter of junior, who helps on weekends, will be the fifth generation farmer. Like Gerard,
patriarch Paolo Leonardi, and Renaldo Puglisi, aka Angelo, the charming boy who completed a boilermaker trade at Mossman sugar mill, Angelo junior
next door. The tragic death of Mary’s only brother Albert as a young man saw pursues a trade in town as a small engine mechanic apprentice – another useful
the running of the DiPalma sugarcane farm pass to Mary and Angelo. skill on the land.
The heritage of the Leonardi, DiPalma and Puglisi forebears is combined Today, Gerard is a shareholder and director of the cane grower-owned Far
under the Puglisi Farming label, a successful diversified family enterprise based Northern Milling, formerly the Mossman Mill, a director of Australian Cane
around sugar, cocoa and koalas. Today it has 188 hectares under crops. Of Farmers Association and director of Mossman Agricultural Services. He has a
this, 2ha are leased to Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures, where it grows three swag of awards recognising his achievements as a young farmer, a diversification
Salvatore (Sam) DiPalma & Joe Leonardi Cane Cutting Gang cutting cane on the Leanoardi Farm (1930s) eucalypt species to feed koalas across its tourism ventures. Puglisi Farming farmer and an innovative industry leader. “We were one of the first six farms
provides maintenance, pruning and mowing. A further 2ha is planted with that came on board to give cocoa a go back in 2006 after Cadbury’s and the
60 Port Douglas Travel Planner PORT DOUGLAS MAGAZINE 61