DAVID Bartlett tried to escape it.

But just as others have tried and failed before him, the lure of the land proved too great for this Tweed canegrower.

Born and bred in Murwillumbah, Mr Bartlett grew up tending the tall, green grass that is the backbone of the Tweed economy, just as generations of Bartletts - farming pioneers of the region - had done before him.

As a young man he left the region and travelled the world for more than five years, until he felt the call of the cane once more.

"I was in Egypt somewhere and we pulled up near a little paddock," Mr Bartlett recalled.

"And then I heard a noise I hadn't heard in years. It was the distinctive sound of the wind blowing through the fields.

"I thought 'that's sugarcane' and walked back, and sure enough there was a cane paddock. I had not heard that sound in five years.

"When I heard that noise, that was it. I made a decision to come back and farm."

That was more than 20 years ago and Mr Bartlett still loves life on the land, despite the knocks it has delivered.

Today, as Citi Farm general manager, he oversees production on 13 cane farms in the Tweed, which are expected this year to deliver a combined harvest of 59,000 tonnes, accounting for more than 10% of the region's 550,000 tonne crop for the year.

"We've had a good season," said a cautiously optimistic Mr Bartlett, while warning of the crucial coming month and its often heavy downpours.

"You can't really put your finger on the reason for it. It was like a benign year weather-wise, where nothing went wrong. The weather was just average and everything grew well, which is typical of this valley.

"Buderim (in Queensland) is the only area that grows better sugar than us. But we had five years of heartache and we're just coming out of that."

Citi Farm, the parent company of Breeton and Zashvin farms, is owned by Chinese-Australian multi-millionaire Sam Chong, who fell in love with the Tweed Valley as a young man before making his fortune in coal.

Some 40 years later, Mr Chong invited Mr Bartlett to go into share-farming together, and the rest is history.

Working alongside Mr Bartlett is a trusted core team of farmers - John Martin, Graeme Farrell and Shaun Maddox. They're all men of the land who, like their boss, are wedded to the soil.

"Dad was a cane cutter in the area," said Mr Martin.

"He started around the 1930s. He was 54 when he retired and was the second oldest cane cutter.

"Ever since I left school, I've been in the cane paddock. I tried to get out but kept coming back."

His tale is echoed by Mr Maddox, who was born on a New Zealand dairy farm. He too fought the call of the land, to no avail.

"I left the farm to become a chef and many other things, but hello, here I am back farming," he said.

"The country is in your blood. It's hard to get away from it."

Asked if the industry would remain viable, the men agreed that cane, if not sugar, had a strong future.

"It will be grown not so much for consumption but for other things, like ethanol," Mr Maddox said.

Mr Bartlett agreed.

"Cane produces 100 tonnes to the hectare annually. Who else grows that every year?" he said.

Mr Bartlett said the Tweed cane industry was in good stead, remaining the only region in Australia certified by Bonsucro, an international body working to improve the industry's sustainability.

"You take sugarcane away from the Tweed and the quality of the Tweed River would go down," Mr Bartlett said.

"A lot of people would question that statement, but I'll back myself."

Asked if they would encourage their children to follow in their footsteps, the men laughed cautiously.

"I hope not," Mr Bartlett half-heartedly joked.

"It's an industry that requires a lot more work. It is a family sacrifice. If you're involved in farming it affects the whole family - it is a seven-day-a-week job."

But Mr Farrell disagreed.

"As stupid as it sounds, although I've spent a lot of years not making any money, if I had my time over, I probably would do it again," he said.

"It ain't always about the dollar. Money can be a pretty nasty thing."

The others agreed.

"We need a new generation with fire in their belly to give the industry a big shake," Mr Bartlett said.