2017 Cotton Yearbook by Greenmount Press

Volume 38 No.6 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; $20

COTTON YEARBOOK

2017

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INNOVATION & NEW TECHNOLOGY

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126 Developments in autonomous tractors 134 Phantom spraying

SPRAY APPLICATION

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40 CSD’s next step in multimillion dollar redevelopment 42 Let’s talk family business in agriculture 46 A wake-up call for on-farm telecommunications

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PRECISION FARMING

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146 Drones in cropping – Where to now? 150 Managing your ag data

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THE INDUSTRY IN FIGURES

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154 What is the value of IPM in cotton production systems? 160 Maintaining beneficials can help control silverleaf whitefly

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RESEARCH & EXTENSION

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Lloyd O’Connell

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PROCESSING & MARKETING

PRODUCTION MANAGER Mick Allan

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178 Up-to-date marketing information including Processing, Marketing, Merchants and Classing Organisations

ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES Michael Cook 07 4659 3555

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ACCOUNTS Deb Meddleton

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202 Major industry organisations; Associated industry bodies; and, Regional cotton grower associations

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SUPPLIERS’ DIRECTORY

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Contents of advertisements are the responsibility of the advertisers. All statements and opinions expressed in the COTTON YEARBOOK 2017 are published after due consideration of information gained from sources believed to be authentic. No portion may be reproduced without permission from the publisher.

COTTON YEARBOOK 2017 — 1

SUPPLIERS’ DIRECTORY

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Boosting the cotton industry workforce Promoting new industry talent Increasing capability in cotton Benefits of beneficial bats

INDUSTRY ORGANISATIONS

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PROCESSING & MARKETING

98 Water wins for growers, but much work remains 101 Reliable river flow forecasts put Australia on the front foot 104 Bringing overseas overhead experience back home 106 Smarter irrigation technology tour – lessons from the south 110 Cotton water storage snapshot

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RESEARCH & EXTENSION

WATER MATTERS

MANAGING EDITOR David Dowling

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Recognition of Australian cotton scientists Australian rural R&D on the rise Canberra’s high resolution plant phenomics centre CottonInfo: Meet our team CRDC list of current projects

INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT

162 164 166 168 169

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EDUCATION & THE ENVIRONMENT

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Published by The Australian Cottongrower PO BOX 766, TOOWOOMBA. 4350. Phone: (07) 4659 3555 Fax: (07) 4638 4520 Email: cotton@greenmountpress.com.au www.cottongrower.com.au

PRECISION FARMING

Macquarie Valley Namoi Valley Border Rivers St George–Dirranbandi Central Highlands

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COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

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AREA ROUND~UP

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INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT

SPRAY APPLICATION

An up-to-date look at the cotton industry in tables and figures.

114 118 121 124

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THE FUTURE

68 72 82 87 94

EDUCATION & INNOVATION & WATER MATTERS THE ENVIRONMENT NEW TECHNOLOGY

138 Tackling off-target spray drift 141 The Australian Ground Spray Calculator 144 Taking “all reasonable steps” to avoid drift

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Southern NSW Bourke Gwydir Valley Darling Downs Dawson–Callide

AREA ROUNDUP

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64 71 78 84 92

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6 Oh, what could have beenr 6 Cotton production estimates 2016–17 8 A tough year but with some success 14 Directions for US cotton research 18 Cotton Seed Distributors celebrates 50th milestone 22 Griffith ‘mini-conference’ a huge success 26 Industry awards celebrate excellence, achievement 30 Touring the world’s farming frontiers 34 Cotton scientists defy winter chills

THE INDUSTRY IN FIGURES

OVERVIEW

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COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

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THE FUTURE

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Oh, what could have been.................................................. 6 Cotton production estimates 2016–17................................ 6 A tough year but with some success................................... 8 Directions for US cotton research...................................... 14 Cotton Seed Distributors celebrates 50th milestone......... 18 Griffith ‘mini-conference’ a huge success.......................... 22 Industry awards celebrate excellence, achievement.......... 26 Touring the world’s farming frontiers................................ 30 Cotton scientists defy winter chills ��34

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Oh, what could have been

he regional reporters in Section 4 of this Yearbook, have a fairly uniform assessment of the 2016–17 cotton season. “The season from hell,” says one. “A season to forget,” and even “Armageddon.” That maybe taking it a little far, but you get the drift. The season took a huge toll, not just on the cotton crop, but everyone working in the industry – especially those in the field every day who had to watch such promising crops wilt under the onslaught of the relentless summer heat wave. It all started out with so much promise. The wet winter of 2016 replenished dams, soil water supplies and the hopes of the industry which had taken a tumble in the previous two seasons of limited water. There were high hopes for irrigators who had been getting exceptional yields for several years and for dryland growers who were released from their planting window shackles by the release of Bollgard 3. There was a massive move to dryland cotton and a good result could have established cotton as the go-to summer crop over most of northern NSW and Queensland.

But it was not to be. Apart from the stinking hot summer, there were a few other problems as well. Cold weather at the start of the season, poor ground preparation in some cases and some very high insect pressure added to the woes. For new growers in the industry, at least they have the comfort of knowing that if they survived this season, they can probably survive anything. In the wash-up, Australia still produced a crop of four million bales, which is around the fifth highest on record. If yields had followed the trend of recent years, it would have been a record. The overall average yield was 6.84 bales per hectare and you have to go back to 1999 to get a lower average. But in that year, the irrigated yield was less than 7.0 bales per hectare, while even in this “season from hell,” irrigators had average yields over 10.0 bales per hectare. Which shows just how much our expectations have changed in 20 years. Hopefully, the coming season will fulfill those expectations.

AUSTRALIAN COTTON PRODUCTION ESTIMATES 2016–17 Irrigated Hectares

Dryland

Yield bales/ha

Bales

Hectares4

Yield bales/ha

Total Bales

Hectares

Bales

Queensland Emerald1 Biloela/Theodore Darling Downs St George Dirranbandi Total NSW Macintyre2 Gwydir Upper Namoi Lower Namoi3 Macquarie Bourke Lachlan Murrumbidgee/Murray Total Aust. total

17,500 4300 37,000 17,520 14,300 90,620

9.2 9.2 9.7 10.9 10.2 9.9

160,200 39,600 360,000 190,900 145,800 896,500

5000 800 48,000 1000 2500 57,300

1.4 1.5 1.8 1.3 0.9 1.7

7200 1200 85,000 1250 2250 96,900

22,500 5100 85,000 18,520 16,800 147,920

167,400 40,800 445,000 192,150 148,050 993,400

51,000 50,400 17,000 50,800 24,700 10,000 12,250 45,800 261,950 352,570

11.4 10.2 10.3 10.0 11.4 9.2 9.4 9.1 10.3 10.2

583,930 515,000 175,240 510,100 282,700 92,000 115,150 415,000 2,689,120 3,585,620

27,000 34,000 41,000 52,000 7000

1.5 1.2 1.7 1.2 1.9

41,720 42,000 67,800 61,680 13,300

500

1.0

500

161,500 218,800

1.4 1.5

227,000 323,900

78,000 84,400 58,000 102,800 31,700 10,000 12,750 45,800 423,450 571,370

625,650 557,000 243,040 571,780 296,000 92,000 115,650 415,000 2,916,120 3,909,520

Overall average lint yield: 6.84 bales/ha (1553 kg/ha). 1 Includes Mackenzie and Belyando. 2 About 40% of Macintyre cotton is grown in Queensland. Includes Mungindi. 3 Includes Walgett. 4 Planted area is in field hectares, not green hectares. Acknowledgement: Drawn largely from estimates supplied by Cotton Compass.

6 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

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A tough year but with some successes By Adam Kay, CEO, Cotton Australia

he 2016–17 season turned out to be a tough year for our growers and industry – water was reasonably available in many areas, but extreme temperatures challenged everyone. Despite this, the industry produced around four million bales and generated $2.5 billion in export income for our nation. I am proud of the gains Cotton Australia has made in the past year across all areas of our portfolio – Policy and Advocacy, Research Direction, Stewardship and Community and Capacity. There have been successes in the area of water policy, driven by collaboration and coordination with other irrigator groups at valley, state and national levels. Cotton Australia has also worked on ongoing advocacy with other partners to ensure the retention of matching R&D funding and the fuel tax credit scheme (diesel fuel rebate). Persistent advocacy in the arena of electricity costs produced a win for growers, when the Australian Government directed the ACCC to review retail electricity pricing. Cotton Australia and its associates also continue to pursue practical programs to reduce growers’ electricity bills through other means, such as tariff trials and efficiency workshops. Cotton Australia’s Cotton to Market program continues to accelerate, bringing benefits to the industry by growing the number of Australian and global brands and retailers committed to specifying Australian cotton in their supply chains. With a very modest investment, along with government support through an Export Market Development Grant, this program has generated many tangible outcomes as well as a lot of positive media for the industry. Providing advice on the direction of research to the Cotton Research and Development Corporation is a key role for Cotton Australia and I thank the growers who attended the many local research priority workshops our team ran, and especially those who represent their Cotton Grower Association at our General Meetings where R&D advice is debated and then drawn together. Cotton Australia’s achievements in our key policy areas are detailed elsewhere in this Yearbook – following is a snapshot of our 8 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

Adam Kay.

successes in the fields of research direction and stewardship, mining and CSG, education and communications.

Research direction and stewardship For the 2017–18 research funding round, the CRDC Board approved $22 million in research investment for 200 projects. Cotton Australia continued its efforts ahead of the 2018–19 round to ensure grower priorities are reflected in the CRDC’s research investments, under each of the five research and direction themes: farmers, industry, customers, people and performance. Cotton Australia’s team of regional managers worked with each cotton grower association (CGA) to facilitate workshops to gather grower research priority feedback. As many know, Cotton Australia facilitates the Transgenic and Insect Management Strategies (TIMS) Committee, which continued its work to develop, review and oversee the Australian cotton industry’s insecticide, herbicide and Bt resistance management strategies. Over the 2016–17 season, the major work of the TIMS Committee focused on: • Monitoring insecticide resistance, responding to emerging issues and placing new products in the Insecticide Resistance Management Strategy to manage potential resistance issues;

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• Identifying R&D needs and refining the Bollgard 3 Resistance Management Plan; • Developing a new industry-led stewardship framework to regulate herbicides and address emerging resistance issues; and, • Assuring availability of pesticides, fungicides and herbicides where growers are limited by treatment options.

Mining and CSG While the environment for growers in NSW remains tenuous, it was a year of success for landholders in Queensland. NSW The past year has seen mixed results for growers affected by resources operations in NSW. Significant congratulations go to the landholder groups on the NSW Liverpool Plains for their advocacy win, after the NSW Government announced it would buy back BHP’s licence for the Caroona Coal Mine in August 2016. The exploration licence had been issued in 2006 for approximately 344 sq km on prime agricultural land. It was a decade-long fight to protect landholder rights, and Cotton Australia was proud to support the local landholder groups. We have asked the NSW Government to consider applying the same methodology on other mining and CSG projects affecting agriculture. Cotton Australia will support local advocacy efforts around the Narrabri Gas Project, Watermark, Arrow’s Tipton Expansion and Vickery Extension projects in the coming year. But the news was not all positive for farmers affected by resources operations in NSW. The State Government has updated the statutory

compensation caps for landholders, which are borne by gas exploration companies. Exempt activities are capped at $1500, and assessable activities at $2500. In the event that issues require mediation or arbitration, the new regulation states ‘reasonable costs’ are to be covered by the gas company. We have advised the NSW Government that the caps are clearly inadequate to meet the requirements of provision of legal advice, technical advice and landholder time, and will continue pressing the Government to introduce satisfactory caps for landholders, and take in to account expert advice on the true costs borne by landholders. Queensland Following several years of setbacks on resources issues in the state, Queensland growers posted several wins over 2016–17. In June 2016 we welcomed the Queensland Government’s commitment to $7 million in funding for the Coal Seam Gas Compliance Unit (CSGCU), over two years. The announcement came after Cotton Australia’s submission to the Review of the GasFields Commission, in which we stressed the importance of continuing to monitor and regulate gas developments. That positive outcome was followed up in December 2016 with the Queensland Government’s announcement of a shake-up to agencies that support landholders negotiating land access and resolution of disputes between landholders and resources companies. The GasFields Commission has been refreshed, with the appointment of former Queensland Farmers’ Federation CEO Ruth Wade to the role of Chair. In addition, Theodore cotton grower (and Cotton Australia Board member), Fleur Anderson, was appointed as a commissioner. The GasFields Commission is now wellserved by commissioners with considerable and appropriate experience of the issues. Both Fleur Anderson and Ian Hayllor are cotton growers whose experience with intensive irrigated farming has meant significant engagement with resources companies over land access issues. The Government also announced it would appoint an Ombudsman – a new role for this regulatory environment – whose role will focus on resolving disputes between landholders and resource companies.

Education Cotton Australia expanded the reach of educational resources in 2016–17. 10 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

Cotton Australia expanded the reach of its educational resources over 2016–17. More than 15,000 unique visitors access Cotton

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Australia’s online Cotton Classroom each month, representing a significant increase on the previous period. Cotton Australia’s network of regional managers also work directly with primary and secondary schools and communities in their valley, organising farm tours for students and teachers, attending school events, supporting teachers with education resources, and participating in careers events. Cotton Australia continues to work closely with organisations such as the Primary Industries Education Foundation Australia (PIEFA) to produce new resources and enhance the reach of our educational materials.

Scholarships help build capacity In 2016, Cotton Australia sponsored 23 undergraduate university students studying agriculture-related courses. The scholarships were enabled by the Cotton Catchments Communities Co-operative Research Centre’s Legacy Fund. The scholarships sponsored attendance at the 2016 Australian Cotton Conference, supported two students undertaking a final year project relating to the cotton industry and jointly supported two students to attend Emerald Agricultural College with the Central Highlands Cotton Growers’ and Irrigators’ Association (CHCGIA).

Transport Cotton Australia liaised with federal and state regulatory authorities to overcome transport issues, particularly regarding the movement of heavy machinery at critical periods during the

season.

In the past season, Cotton Australia was able to secure permanent permission in Queensland for the transport of cotton modules up to 4.6 metres high, hauled in what is commonly referred to as ‘Collier-Miller’ systems. In NSW, Cotton Australia secured permission for the cartage of cotton on extended road trains across the state, where previously permission existed only in Queensland.

CottonSafe: practical workplace health and safety resources Safety is an important component of every farming operation. To help growers keep everyone safe on farm – from families, staff and contractors to visitors – Cotton Australia delivered its annual CottonSafe campaign. Cotton Australia’s resources are linked to the industry’s myBMP program, specifically its modules on human resources and WHS, pesticide management and petrochemical storage and handling. These modules provide growers with practical safety tools to implement best practice on farm.

Communications Cotton Australia’s communications program elevates important issues on behalf of growers, and shares our industry’s story with key stakeholders such as legislators and the public. The organisation attracted more than 1000 stories in the media over 2016–17, the majority of which present positive messages about our industry and highlight key issues important to growers. Cotton Australia’s website engagement also experienced growth, attracting 615,000 page views in the past 12 months (up more than eight per cent) from more than 235,000 unique users. Year on year, Cotton Australia’s social media engagement also grew. Through platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and YouTube, Cotton Australia continues to connect our cotton communities with important issues and opportunities, reach new audiences, and connect with influencers and the media, and support partner organisations. I trust that this brief snapshot, and the other content in this Yearbook, provides you with an overview of the organisation’s many activities on behalf of growers and the industry, and proves the value of Cotton Australia as a representative organisation.

To keep everyone safe on farm, Cotton Australia delivers its annual CottonSafe program, linked to myBMP. Pictured: Nigel and Beth Burnett and family. 12 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

On behalf of the Cotton Australia team, I wish you all the best for a safe, productive and profitable season, and look forward to meeting you at a Cotton Australia event soon.

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Directions for US cotton research

By Ryan Kurtz, Director, Agricultural and Environmental Research, Cotton Incorporated

In September, Ryan Kurtz was one of the keynote speakers at the Association of Australian Cotton Scientists’ conference in Canberra. Ryan is a director of research at Cotton Incorporated in the US. We asked him to give his thoughts on the current status of US insect problems.

s the Director of Cotton Incorporated’s entomology research program, I have to admit I was quite pleased with the results from our most recent survey of grower concerns. Nothing related to a specific insect made it into the top 10 and tarnished plant bug (Lygus linolaris – similar to mirids) squeaked in at number 12. That’s not to say US growers don’t face significant challenges from insect pests, but of all the issues they face, at least recently, insects haven’t been the major concern they once were. But history has proven growers can never be complacent with insect management and new problems can arise quickly. In 2016, US producers harvested approximately four million hectares of cotton producing around 17 million bales across 17 states spanning from Virginia on the east coast to California on the west coast. The top five yielding states in order were Texas, Georgia, Mississippi, Arkansas and Alabama. In all growing regions, high input costs was the top concern. In the arid far west, input costs were followed by concerns about adequate water supply and drought tolerance, while in the more humid regions of the cotton belt, herbicideresistant weeds and weed control were the next biggest concerns.

Creation of Cotton Incorporated In the mid 1960s, cotton’s dominant share of the apparel and home fabrics market was slipping way with the success of new synthetic fibres. Reacting to the decline in market share, farmers in the Texas High Plains called for a collective national marketing and research effort. With support from regional organisations, cotton growers successfully petitioned the US Congress into passing the Cotton Research and Promotion Act of 1966. This act established a funding mechanism, based on producer assessments, to 14 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

Ryan Kurtz.

recapture cotton’s market share and led to the creation of Cotton Incorporated in 1970. Now, Cotton Incorporated is still funded by US upland cotton growers but also importers of cotton and cotton textile products. The company is focused on improving the demand for and profitability of cotton through research and promotional activities guided by the Textile and Agricultural Research and the Consumer and Global Supply Chain Marketing divisions. In an average year, Cotton Incorporated funds over 400 research projects with the majority of these focused on agriculture. The objectives of most of these projects centre around input-use efficiency; applying only the needed volume of input as precisely as possible to preserve yield. While Cotton Incorporated has significant inhouse textile research capabilities, all agricultural research is conducted externally by university research and extension scientists, as well as by US Department of Agriculture and contract research scientists. Each year, proposals are solicited and projects are funded based on current research needs. I cannot overstate the importance of these research and extension scientists and their efforts supporting US cotton growers and their constant battle with pests.

Top insect pests In any given year, the top insect pests are plant bugs, stink bugs (a species complex

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including the green veggie bug), thrips and heliothines. In 2016 alone, damage by these species accounted for over 660,000 bales of lost yield. Of these, our two plant bug species (Lygus linolaris and Lygus hesperus) are often the most yield limiting, but heliothines (Helicoverpa zea and Heliothis virescens) are the most expensive to control when including the trait fee for Bt varieties. Thrips and stinkbugs are generally less expensive to control, but impact the largest number of hectares. So these four insect groups are the species of greatest emphasis in Cotton Incorporated’s entomology research program. Two significant events have dramatically changed cotton IPM for key pests in the US over the past 30 years – eradication of the boll weevil (Anthonomis grandis grandis) and the introduction of Bt cotton varieties. As an example of their impacts, growers in the southeastern state of Georgia sprayed insecticides nearly 16 times a season in the mid 1980s. Last year, they averaged just over two which is also in line with our national average. As mentioned earlier, while insects are not among the top grower concerns, there are several incipient situations that could dramatically impact insect management without a concerted research and extension effort.

Pressure on Bt Unlike in Australia, US farmers also have access to Bt corn hybrids which rely on the same or very similar Bt proteins that are expressed in Bt cotton. Given that corn plantings generally exceed 35 million hectares, and the vast majority are planted with Bt hybrids, H. zea has seen extraordinary selection pressure for Bt resistance over the past 20-plus years. Scientists have argued for almost a decade about whether H. zea has developed resistance to the Bt proteins in both corn and cotton based on laboratory bioassays, but now the insects seem to be settling that debate for us. This current growing season, research and extension scientists in Texas, the mid-south, and southeastern states have identified populations of H. zea that are causing significantly more damage to Bt cultivars and requiring more supplemental insecticide sprays than ever before. Meetings are currently being planned for this winter to develop an action plan for managing this emerging situation.

Arrival of armigera While not currently an issue in US cotton fields, an invasive species with which Australians are all too familiar, has recently been identified in Florida. In 2015, several Helicoverpa armigera were caught in pheromone traps near tomato 16 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

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fields. Despite subsequent trapping, no additional moths have been identified on the US mainland, but this species has established in nearby Puerto Rico. Unfortunately, H. armigera is virtually indistinguishable from our H. zea and is resistant to insecticides to which H. zea is currently susceptible. Furthermore, the two species have been shown to readily hybridise. I can only imagine what it will be like to one day manage a pest carrying the fittest genes from each species. Scientists at the University of Florida have also discovered another invasive species, the Q-biotype silverleaf whitefly (Bemisia tabacci), in an open air environment for the first time. This species has been a greenhouse pest in the US for over a decade and is resistant to key crop protection products used to control the endemic B-biotype whitefly. Hopefully, these two invasive pests never establish as a threat to cotton production, but state and federal research scientists are monitoring the situation closely and providing key information to growers of potentially affected crops to prevent the spread of Q-Biotype whiteflies. The US cotton industry has faced and overcome significant insect problems in the past and will undoubtedly develop solutions to new problems that arise. The solutions scientists and growers are developing and implementing are more environmentally responsible than ever before. In fact, growers’ concerns for consumers’ attitudes about agriculture’s impact on the environment has risen from 31st place, reported in a previous survey, to 7th place in the most recent survey.

Reliable cotton chain solution To offer manufacturers, brands and retailers a reliable cotton supply chain solution and confidence that their raw material is responsibly produced and identified, Australia and the United States initiated the Cotton LEADS program. Cotton LEADS is committed to responsible cotton production and founded on core principles consistent with sustainability, the use of best practices and traceability in the supply chain. The Cotton LEADS program is driven by the worlds leading producers, scientists and professionals striving to make sure cotton is produced responsibly now and for years to come. Relying on latest science-based management practices and technologies, US and Australian cotton farmers are among the most efficient and responsible growers in the world. Cotton Incorporated is committed to serving as a partner across the supply chain to continually improve this already leading position.

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Cotton Seed Distributors celebrates 50th milestone

otton Seed Distributors (CSD) has celebrated 50 years of service to the Australian cotton industry with a gala dinner at its ‘Shenstone’ cotton seed processing plant and laboratory near Wee Waa, and functions in other cotton regions. Founded in April 1967 by a group of cotton growers in the Namoi valley, CSD is Australia’s sole supplier of cotton planting seed and is one of few independently owned and controlled cotton seed companies in the world today. Over 300 guests, including past and present growers, staff and industry partners, gathered to mark the occasion and recognise those who have contributed to the sustained success of the

company. CSD Managing Director, Peter Graham said the dinner was an opportunity to reflect on the achievements of the past half-century, and also to look to the future direction of the Australian cotton industry. “This is our opportunity to thank the founders of CSD, our staff and our customers – the cotton growers. CSD is, and has always been, a member based and grower focussed company. “CSD has been able to thrive and grow both in Australia and internationally, while staying true to the vision and values on which the company was founded.”

From humble beginnings The modern Australian cotton industry began with limited irrigated production in south west Queensland in the early 1960s. Around the same time, a number of American cotton growers were recognising the suitability of the Namoi valley for cotton production, and began growing cotton there, along with a number of local growers. A group of growers had the vision to invest in the production of cotton for seed, rather than lint, and on April 5, 1967, Cotton Seed Distributors was formed to manage the production, processing, treatment and distribution of this seed.

CSD Managing Director Peter Graham flanked by Norma and Frank Hadley.

Frank Hadley was a Californian cotton grower who immigrated to Wee Waa with his family in 1961, and was the first chair of the CSD Board. In a video shown at CSD’s gala dinner, Frank recalled the vision of CSD, and the commitment made to growers in the early years. “Right from the beginning, the goal of CSD was to have the best available seed and to have enough seed for maximum planting, regardless of water,” said Frank. So from humble beginnings, CSD began a five decades-long road to success as Australia’s largest provider of cotton planting seed, in an industry which has experienced ups and downs with floods, droughts, insects, pests and threats from market competitors.

CSD’s three surviving Chairs: John Grellman, James Kahl and Frank Hadley. 18 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

Remarkably, in a history spanning half a century, the CSD Board has only had four chairs – Frank Hadley (1967–1968, 1990–1997), Richard Williams (1968–1989), John Grellman (1997–2008) and James Kahl (2008–current).

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CSD attributes much of its success to the strength of the partnerships that have been formed over decades of shared vision and transparency in every relationship – with members, cotton growers, CSIRO, biotechnology developers, seed chemistry partners, resellers, industry partners and regional communities. CSD has had a long-standing relationship with CSIRO through the development and release of over 100 different cotton varieties since the 1980s. In 2007, CSD and CSIRO formed Cotton Breeding Australia (CBA), a joint venture to fund long-term cotton breeding research projects. To date, both CSD and CSIRO have equally invested $72.5 million towards the research and breeding of future cotton varieties for Australia. By 2024

this equally shared investment is projected to total in excess of $145 million. The cotton breeding cycle from initial crossing to commercial release can take up to 10 years, so the success of the CBA joint venture is a result of the long term commitment of both staff and funding. CSIRO Chief Executive, Dr Larry Marshall was a keynote speaker at the gala dinner, and said the 46-year collaboration between CSIRO and CSD set the gold standard for research and industry collaboration that shapes future prosperity. “Both CSIRO and CSD recognise the importance of investing in innovation to ensure a robust and profitable cotton industry in Australia, today and into the future. “I congratulate CSD on reaching this milestone and we look forward to many more years of strong collaboration.” CSD’s relationships with leading developers of biotechnology traits have provided industry choices and new solutions to difficult production challenges. For over 20 years, close relationships with Monsanto and Bayer have allowed CSD to commercialise multiple varieties containing herbicide and insecticide tolerance traits. In 2017, 99.9 per cent of Australia’s cotton crop is grown with varieties containing biotechnology traits.

CSD as an information provider

Jenny Cleton, Jorian Millyard (CSD Extension & Development Agronomist), Carole Storrier, Paul Storier and Paul Cleton enjoy the celebration at Griffith.

In keeping its commitment to deliver innovative solutions to growers, CSD has also invested heavily in extension and development, through a comprehensive variety research trial program conducted by a dedicated agronomy team strategically located throughout all cotton growing regions. In 2012, CSD partnered with CRDC and Cotton Australia to form a joint extension program, CottonInfo, designed to facilitate industry research and development communication between researchers, growers, consultants and other industry groups, in order to achieve best practice.

Raising the bar

Adam and Edwina McVeigh with Mary O’Brien at the CSD Toowoomba function. 20 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

In January 2017, site works commenced on an $85–$90 million redevelopment of CSD’s ‘Shenstone’ cotton seed processing plant and laboratory. Peter Graham said that the existing equipment and infrastructure was now 30 years old, and while it serviced the industry well, an upgrade was necessary to expand capacity for a growing industry. The new plant is expected to be fully operational for the 2018 processing season.

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Griffith ‘mini-conference’ a huge success

oth geographically and demographically there’s a world of difference between the Gold Coast and Griffith. But the ongoing success of the biennial Gold Coast cotton conference format was the impetus behind the 2017 ‘non-conference year’ staging of a ‘mini’ conference in Griffith. More than 500 cotton growers from across Queensland and NSW flocked to Griffith in July to discuss issues of importance facing the industry and catch up on the latest developments in cotton farming. On 26-27 July growers, consultants, researchers, processors and service providers were invited to attend the two-day Cotton Collective with its scheduled research and policy forums and then break out into the trade display area. The Cotton Industry Awards were also held in Griffith on the evening of 26 July. And attend they did – more than 500 cotton growers from across Queensland and NSW (together with prospective growers from Victoria) flocked to Griffith. Both new growers and the old hands couldn’t help but be excited by the ‘buzz’ of the enthusiastic crowd. There were 14 sponsors and over 40 indoor exhibitors to greet them in the Trade Display Hall together with another 20 companies on the outdoor sites. As with the Gold Coast Cotton Conference, the Griffith trade display was co-ordinated by the Australian Cotton Trade Show organisation. After two decades of operation it was felt that

Both new growers and the old hands couldn’t help but be excited by the ‘buzz’ of the enthusiastic crowd that travelled to Griffith in July. 22 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

Cotton Australia Chair Simon Corish opens the event.

the ‘stand-alone’ trade show format had run its course and the Cotton Conference fully integrated format better met the needs of the modern cotton industry. The Australian Cotton Trade Show organisers worked with Cotton Australia to take the mini conference on the road to Griffith in the midst of the rapidly expanding southern cotton growing region.

Cotton Collective industry forum The two-day Cotton Collective industry forum covered a huge range of topics, from research and development, connected agriculture and

Cotton Australia’s Rebecca Fing spoke on workforce and productivity.

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Cotton Australia Director Peter Tuohey speaks on the Great March South.

Cotton Australia’s Brooke Summers speaks about Cotton To Market.

technology, to positioning Australian cotton in the world fibre market. Cotton Australia CEO, Adam Kay, says the organisation convenes the event every two years, with this year’s Collective gathering an impressive line-up of expert speakers. “The 2017 Cotton Collective brought together the whole industry to discuss the most important issues facing growers,” Adam says. “It was also an extremely valuable forum for those in the industry to learn about the latest technology, which is crucial to maintain the industry’s high standards for productivity. “This year’s program and speaker line-up was extremely diverse, giving attendees a broad variety of topics covering many issues affecting cotton growers.

“The cotton industry has grown rapidly in southern NSW in recent years, with many farmers becoming cotton growers for the first time, so we were happy to devote a significant portion of the Collective’s agenda to issues important to new growers.” Some of the highlights of the forum included sessions on: • Technology For Change • Agriculture Towards 2030 • Connected Agriculture For Smarter Farms • Happy Workforce, Productive Farms • The Great March South • Australian Cotton in a Global Market • Challenges for agricultural chemistries

Next Cotton Conference Planning is ramping up for the next Australian Cotton Conference to be held August 7–9, 2018 and an enthusiastic committee is working to ensure the buzz is back on the Gold Coast in 2018. As soon as suppliers – and costings – are locked in, the 19th Australian Cotton Conference Exhibitor Information brochure will be distributed to all previous supporters and the information will be posted on the Conference website. Conference sponsorships and display spaces in the Trade Hall are closely held – companies that have not recently sponsored or exhibited but are looking to participate this time around are encouraged to contact the organisers to discuss opportunities.

Cotton plant breeder Warwick Stiller speaking at the forum. 24 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

Conference Secretariat – Contact: Tracey Byrne-Morrison M. 0408 799 185; E. cottonshippers@bigpond.com Trade Display Hall – Contact: Brian O’Connell M. 0413 130 777; E. brianoconnell@bigpond.com

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Industry awards celebrate excellence, achievement

ore than 380 cotton growers and industry representatives gathered in July to celebrate the recipients of the 2017 Australian Cotton Industry Awards. For the first time in the history of the awards, recipients for the awards’ five categories were announced in a ceremony held in Griffith, Southern NSW. The awards program recognises excellence and achievement in Australia’s cotton industry throughout the supply chain, from growers and ginners to product suppliers, consultants, agronomists and researchers. The 2017 Australian Cotton Industry Awards recipients are:

Monsanto Grower of the Year Cavaso Farming – Tony, Joyce, Matt and Daisy Toscan, Darlington Point, NSW Cavaso Farming Partnership has achieved impressive results since introducing cotton to their rotation just seven years ago. On the 4200 hectare enterprise the Toscan family grow 1100 hectares of cotton, along with other crops like Durum wheat, popcorn, maize and prunes. They use siphon and bankless irrigation on a cotton, wheat rotation, employing minimum till and controlled traffic approaches. Irrigation channels are controlled remotely by an automated system and they are now achieving average yields of 12 bales per hectare.

AgriRisk High Achiever of the Year Mark Cathcart, CSD Farms, Wee Waa, NSW Mark Cathcart has been growing cotton for 35 years and currently farms 260 hectares of irrigated cotton on CSD Farms, near Wee Waa. CSD Farms have three principle functions – early generation seed increase, cotton crop research and technology demonstration. Mark and his team take the breeder seed provided by CSIRO and over successive years screen and produce volumes of potential varieties which can then be grown out by commercial seed growing partners. Mark and his team are also responsible for conducting a vast array of trials including screening of new varieties for diseases such as verticillium, crop spacing and row configuration for dryland and irrigated systems, irrigation technologies, crop nutrition, seed treatments as well as new biotechnologies.

Winner of the High Achiever Award: Mark Cathcart.

ADAMA Chris Lehmann Trust Young Achiever of the Year Fiona Norrie, Moree

The Toscan family: Winners of the Monsanto Grower of the Year award. 26 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

Fiona grew up on a mixed farming operation near Narrabri, and was attracted to cotton operations from a young age. Fiona started out spending her summers bug checking while studying a Bachelor of Rural Science at UNE. She now works as an agronomist with Integrated Crop Management Services in Moree,

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Cotton Seed Distributors Researcher of the Year

Paul Grundy, QDAF, Toowoomba and Steve Yeates, CSIRO, Ayr

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Young Achiever, Fiona Norrie.

helping many local growers improve yields, sustainability and farm performance. In 2016 Fiona was named the Gwydir Valley Cotton Growers Association Young Achiever of the Year recognising the significant contribution she has already made in agriculture.

Paul and Steve are dedicated cotton research scientists with over 40 years combined research experience. Both researchers have made significant contributions to the wider cotton industry and mainstream Paul Grundy. research through their systems analysis and understanding of cotton physiology. They teased apart the intricacies of the Central Queensland production system and this work has led to yields in this region increasing by up to four bales per hectare with significant Steve Yeates. improvements in lint quality. Their work is having a profound impact on the profitability of cotton growing in this region.

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Michael Bennett: IPF Service to Industry Recipient 2017 Michael Bennett has made an extraordinary contribution to water policy in agriculture since he became a partner on the family farm, “Killowen,” near Narromine in 1971. While running the farming and grazing operation he has taken on a long list of community, industry and leadership roles which has seen him help shape the agriculture industry as we know it today. Since 1981 he has served in numerous roles related to water and irrigation – often at the very highest levels. He has tirelessly sought equitable implementation of water reforms and a sustainable future for irrigators.

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Touring the world’s farming frontiers Kropping the Klondike Word had quickly passed around after our 2016 Greenmount Travel farm study tour to the US/Canada and Alaska, that this was a great part of the world to see. Two groups duly saddled up in July 2017 for a return to a region

Just another impossibly beautiful vista in the Canadian Rockies – Moraine Lake is not too bad to look at either.

offering stampedes, stunning scenes and stoic farmers. As it is in Australia, successful farming in challenging environments like Alaska and the Klondike, is very much determined by innovative skills and resilience. A great Alaskan example of this is the Wrigley family at Delta Junction. In 1983 Bryce and Jenny Wrigley and their young family migrated north from the ‘lower 48’ to grow pigs. A worldwide crash in the price of pork forced them out of the pig business. But the Wrigleys had learnt how to grow barley – under Alaskan conditions – to feed their livestock. Today they are among the biggest barley growers in Alaska. It took a number of years and innovation to arrive at a farming system which produces good quality barley. The innovation continues as the Wrigleys now process barley flour on-farm and supply food products directly into the Alaskan market. This was just one example of farmers on the frontier adapting to the prevailing and very difficult conditions, and making a go of it. The Alaskan Inside Passage, Vancouver Island, the magnificent Rockies, the Canadian prairies and rolling hills of the Pacific North-West all added up to a journey filled with amazing scenery and diverse agriculture. The tours were so good, we are heading ‘North to Alaska’ again in 2018.

Steppe-ing into Mongolia and Siberia

Alberta farmer and consultant Steve Larocque, discusses canola growth stages with Kropping the Klondike group members. After picking Steve’s brain, the group also picked the farm’s just ripe Saskatoon berries before galloping off to the Calgary Stampede. 30 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

Australians farmers tend to enjoy Mongolia – from the Gobi Desert in the south, across the steppes to the mountains in the north. We suspect because it’s largely empty, empty of people anyway, pretty much like home. And like us, Mongolians tend to love their horse racing, particularly during the Nadaam Festival in July. The horses aren’t big and the jockeys are certainly not big, or very old for that matter, but the ‘Racing Carnival’ enthusiasm is as big as anything you will see here at home. The main horse race during Nadaam appears to have a 30 km canter as a warm up before they race back over those same 30 km. The eventual winner is quite rightly acclaimed; the horse is ridden home and the jockey may well return to school with bragging rights that you wouldn’t believe.

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Our study tourists were provided with the best possible transport and safety headwear as they braved the perils of the Gobi.

Horses are a measure of a nomad’s wealth and status – and they are a fine food and beverage source. Fermented mare’s milk, called airag, is an acquired taste. The taste grows on you – and possibly in you. Siberia is famous for their cold winter days. But in spring and summer it’s a very different matter. The countryside comes alive with a green so intense it almost hurts the eyes. Things grow, and they grow quickly because they have to. The locals are justifiably proud that they prosper – let alone just survive – in a land that was viewed by the authorities as a far-away penal/punishment colony. Does that ring any bells for you?

Galloping Gauchos There is probably nowhere else in the world you can find such diversity of cultures and landscapes as you can in South America. It never ceases to amaze – from Machu Picchu and the Andes of Peru, to Iguacu Falls and the incredible large scale farming in the Mato Grosso of Brazil.

Some of the group checked out the plentiful water resources in Brazil. 32 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

A typically understated South American restaurant.

Buenos Aires was a particular favourite for our Greenmount Travel farm study tour group in August. It is a warm, welcoming and cultured city and our group felt right at home. The magnificent agricultural land of the Pampa adds to Argentina’s many attractions. Farming is now staging a strong recovery since a change in government last year. Farmers are now feeling a bit more love from their government as export and other taxes are being dismantled, and they are acting accordingly to increase output of cotton, grains and beef. It is a theme which is common on most of our study tours. We can look at the fertile soils and reliable rainfall of countries such as Brazil and Argentina and think how lucky they are. But there are always other factors, often not so obvious, where Australia has great advantages. Things like corruption at all levels of government, dramatic shifts in government policies, inflation rates of 25 per cent and more and it’s all compounded by a lack of financial and logistics infrastructure. Chile is often underrated as a destination in South America, but in many ways it is the best of the lot. Wonderful scenery which changes constantly because of its unique geography as a narrow strip tucked against the snow capped Andes mountains. From Patagonia to the beautiful Lakes district and the northern desert, you are never far from the ocean or the mountains. It was a fitting place to end what had been a fantastic tour – stayed tuned for the next South American installment in 2019.

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Magical Myanmar – Vital Vietnam

September 2017 was the first time Greenmount Travel had ventured into Myanmar – and it won’t be the last. The wonderfully friendly and enterprising locals go about their business amid some very big social and political challenges. Excellent soils and generally favourable climatic conditions provide a subsistence living (at best) for millions of Burmese. But most of the benefits of large natural reserves of forests, gas, oil and precious stones are shared amongst a very privileged few. We visited some exciting projects involving Australian agencies such as ACIAR, as well as private companies, where the introduction of modern agronomy and crop varieties on a village-based scale, are showing great potential in lifting the incomes of the rural Burmese. Our travels through beautiful Vietnam gave us a glimpse of how an ostensibly communist country can be full of budding capitalists getting on with the job of increasing their personal wealth and owning the best scooter or house in the street. Vietnam is booming and it is now one of Australia’s biggest grain importers. And the First World trappings of wealth are not lost on the Vietnamese population. Burma and Vietnam are great countries to travel through – and they come complete with intrigue and contradiction around most corners.

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The water of Inle Lake is the lifeblood for the local Burmese farmers and the unique leg rowing fishermen. But uncontrolled logging in the surrounding mountains is causing enormous soil erosion – the lake is literally shrinking as the sediment builds up.

us through not only impossibly beautiful and winding country lanes, but also the complex social and political history behind the evolution of Great Britain and Ireland. We learnt that land ownership and farming are very central to the story. Affable Irish farmers, the Scottish Highlands – and its wonderful way of transforming barley into a “Nectar of the Gods” – Military Tattoos, sheep dairies in the Dales, the Lake District, the Cotswolds, bustling London and much more made this tour a wonderful glimpse into, for many of us, the world of our ancestors.

The Isles have it! The remote islands of the Scottish Hebrides was just one stunning highlight of our study tour through the British Isles in August. Excellent local guides were able to steer

Burmese crop yields have plenty of upside as long as modern agronomy and varieties are appropriately applied.

An impromptu early morning farm visit by our eager to help group members found that on Islay at least, it is never too early in the day to fortify oneself with a ‘wee small dram’ for the cattle work ahead. COTTON YEARBOOK 2017 — 33

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Cotton scientists defy winter chills

By Dr Danny Llewellyn, CSIRO Canberra

wintery chill blowing down from the Snowy Mountains was not enough to deter the gathering of 150 cotton scientists from all over Australia attending the three day Association of Australian Cotton Scientists’ 3rd Australian Cotton Research Conference in Canberra in early September. The conference entitled “SiCott2017: Cotton Science Delivering Impact” was held in the Discovery Centre at CSIRO and attracted delegates from as far afield as Adelaide, Melbourne and Dalby, with several travelling from the United States. Huddling together to conserve warmth they delivered over 80 presentations on a diverse range of aspects of cotton science from genes, through to genomes up to whole plants, fields, farms and farming systems, and attended a number of functions where they could network and develop new interactions and collaborations. The major sponsor for the conference was the CRDC with additional sponsorship from CSD, CSIRO and Monsanto. Cotton Australia sponsored four undergraduate agriculture students to attend the meeting.

Digital agriculture focus The first day of the conference had a digital agriculture theme highlighting the growing use of digital imagery, sensor technologies and computational sciences in research underpinning breeding, crop management and crop physiology.

Dr Juan Landivar Bowles from Texas A&M’s Agrilife Research and Extension Centre in Corpus Christi kicked off the conference with a keynote talk on Texas A&M’s program using drones to collect crop images from the air across a range of sensor technologies to determine the growth rates, flowering and boll production that contribute to the productivity of cotton (and other crops like sorghum) and how they use that data and growth simulation models to predict final yields. As image capture is almost instantaneous, thousands of research plots can be examined with each drone flight and it is hoped that they can eventually be used to help the selection of the best performing lines in breeders’ fields to accelerate their breeding objectives in a more cost effective manner. The same technologies are also being used to assess a range of plant health and stress status parameters of cotton that could also be used as aids in crop management. The digital agriculture session was finished off with a number of presentations on the ways Australian researchers are using drones, and fixed and machinery mounted sensors to manage irrigation scheduling, variable rate irrigations, crop nutrition and yield predictions in cotton crops from Queensland down to Victoria.

Southern research A highlight of the conference was the increasing research on southern cropping systems and the involvement of new players in cotton research, particularly those like Deakin University, now that there are cotton crops closer to those centres and co-operators willing to benefit from allowing researchers onto their farms to run trials.

Pests and diseases

Dr Paul Grundy, new President of the AACS. 34 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

Day two covered those important issues of pest and disease management with keynote talks from Linda Smith (QDAF) highlighting the ongoing battle with fast evolving pathogens in monoculture cropping systems like cotton and from Mary Whitehouse (CSIRO) who gave a history of the devastating spiral of pesticide release and loss through resistance development that plagued the industry over the

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AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURER LEADS THE WAY At a time when the Australian manufacturing industry appears to be falling apart with the closure of Australia’s iconic Ford and Holden production facilities, family owned and operated company, Big Tyre, is stepping up its game. In operation for over 60 years, Big Tyre has weathered many storms and learned many lessons to become Australia’s leading specialist in tyres, wheels and rubber tracks.

Since its beginning in 1954, when it was known as Vacu-lug, Big Tyre has maintained a strong focus on the agricultural sector. For its first 40 years, Big Tyre’s work was mainly focused on relugging and repairing tractor tyres. Over the last 20 years, Big Tyre has reconditioned over 1,000 rubber tracks for agricultural tractors, rebuilt thousands of undercarriage wheels, become a world leader in the manufacture of solid underground mining wheels, and, yes, they still relug and repair tyres. In recent years, Big Tyre has led the way in switching from the use of rubber to polyurethane on rebuilding mid-rollers (to handle the high loading) whilst still maintaining the use of rubber on the drive and idler wheels to maximise grip. In the last couple of months, Big Tyre has also released its own new and

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In keeping with its name, a Big Tyre Store has been created on-line providing the most comprehensive catalogue of tyres in Australia complete with prices, photos and tyre specifications. Even without car and 4WD tyres, which will be added once fitting and wheel balancing services have been arranged throughout the country, Big Tyre lists over 4,500 different tyres (www.bigtyre.com.au) that they can supply throughout the country. In an age of global economic uncertainty, it is refreshing to see this Australian manufacturer not only surviving major changes and challenges, but actually extending their services to the agricultural industry by focusing on continual development, applying new innovative technologies, and actively pursuing new opportunities as they arise.

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past three decades and how Bt-cotton halted that cycle and allowed greater adoption of IPM approaches. In both cases, development of varieties with greater resistance to pests and diseases has been critical to keeping the industry sustainable, but there is little room for complacency and both speakers stressed the importance of on-going vigilance in monitoring and adherence to best management practice to prevent the emergence of new pests and diseases and to manage those we already have. Kristen Knight (Monsanto) introduced the new GM trait for Lygus control developed by Monsanto in the US. It is just starting to be evaluated in northern Australia, but little data is yet available on its efficacy against Australian sucking pests such as mirids and thrips (watch this space).

Dr Gunasekhar Nachimuthu (right) receives his Early Career Researcher’s Award from Mike Bange and Karen Kirkby.

Texas A&M’s Agrilife Research and Extension Centre Director, Dr Juan Landivar Bowles delivered the opening keynote talk. 38 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

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Improved cotton seed

Tom Wedgaertner (Cotton Incorporated), one of several visiting US researchers who made the trip to Australia, reported on their GM cotton that has very low seed gossypol and its potential benefits as a food and feed beyond the normal range of animals able to ingest cotton seed. They are particularly focusing on the growing aquaculture industry that currently utilises wild caught fish as their source of high quality protein for farmed fish and crustaceans. The final session for the second day looked at farming systems research and it was fitting to see the legacy of Ian ‘Rocky’ Rochester and his long-term crop rotation trials at ACRI emphasised in several talks as an acknowledgment of the important part that these experiments have played in understanding the impacts that different rotations can have on soil health, carbon sequestration and farm productivity. The day was capped off with a Conference Dinner at the iconic National Museum of Australia overlooking Lake Burley Griffin. At the Dinner the Association’s Early Career Scientist Encouragement Award was presented to Dr Guna Nachimuthu (NSW DPI) in acknowledgement of his contributions to soil science, the Service to Cotton Science Award to Dr Lewis Wilson (CSIRO) for his contributions to cotton IPM research and the Scientific Publication Award to Drs Grant Herron (NSW DPI) and Lewis Wilson for their recent publication on resistance management strategies to recover insecticide susceptibility in the cotton aphid in Australian cotton. Nilantha Hulugalle, Ian Rochester (posthumously), Jim Peacock, Geoff Baker, and Stephen Allen were elected Lifetime Members of the Association.

Changing of the guard During the conference Mike Bange stepped down as the inaugural President of the Association and he will be ably replaced by Paul Grundy (QDAF) who was elected as the new President. Paul will be supported by an executive consisting of Mike Bange, Warwick Stiller, Linda Smith, Allan Williams, and Mary Whitehouse. The next Research Conference will be held in 2019 at the University of New England, Armidale. Cleave Rogan (Deputy Chair, CRDC) closed off the conference noting the high international standard of the research being undertaken in Australia and the obvious renewal happening in the research space, ensuring that the research base of the industry is in safe hands for the future. The abstract and posters from the meeting are available from the association’s website at www.cottonresearch.org

CSD commences next step in multimillion dollar redevelopment ��40 Let’s talk family business in agriculture ��42 A wake-up call for on-farm telecommunications ��46

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CSD commences next step in multimillion dollar redevelopment

otton Seed Distributors (CSD) has commenced the next step in the multimillion dollar redevelopment of its ‘Shenstone’ cotton seed processing plant and laboratory, near Wee Waa. In addition to the preliminary $41 million construction investment which commenced in January 2017, CSD is now in the final stages of the design, construction and procurement of the cotton seed delinting and treatment equipment. CSD Managing Director, Peter Graham said that the plant and equipment investment is budgeted at approximately $40–$45 million.

Economic boost to the Wee Waa community “This brings the total investment in our new seed processing plant to approximately $85–$90 million, a significant economic boost to the Wee

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Let’s talk family business in agriculture By Lloyd Russell

ustralian agriculture has been built by family businesses and that is still the case with approximately 96 per cent of all agricultural business entities retained by families with the average being third moving into the fourth generation. In addition, family businesses are unique because of their ‘history’ and ‘story’ that have evolved throughout the generations and shaped the family values and its legacy. But the very mention of ‘family in business’ conjures up positive and negative visions for the average outsider regardless of their involvement with this critical sector of the Australian economy. Why is this so and what is it that drives these paradigms? Let’s put some statistical facts around what is a ‘family business’. Over the past decade there have been many national and international studies, surveys and academic papers written about family business. In Australia, family business is best summarised as:

• A business owned and/or operated by family members that are the second or older generation; • Family businesses in Australia total approximately 870,000; • They employ approximately 55 per cent of the total Australian workforce; • These businesses generate approximately 60 per cent of Australia’s economic activity; • Are found in all industries; • Come from just about every ethnic origin; and,

Australian agriculture has been built on family businesses. 42 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

• Over the next 20 years there will be $6.3 trillion of family business wealth change hands in Australia alone. A significant proportion of this in agriculture. Secondly, let’s explore the negative perceptions that appear to be the ‘norm’ yet are more the result of publicity than the reality. These perceptions include: • All family businesses are dysfunctional – not true because in the main, family businesses are highly functional regardless of internal family dynamics. • All family businesses are small to medium – absolutely not true because there are a significant number of family businesses with annual turnover above $100 million (and up to $3 billion). • Family businesses are not innovative – again this is far from the reality. Yes a lot of family businesses don’t waste time or effort on formally securing intellectual property but they are some of the most innovative and flexible businesses in Australia and internationally. Agriculture is particularly innovative. • Family businesses suffer from the “first generation makes it, the second generation grows it and the third generation wastes it” cycle – yes there is some evidence to support this but it is not the ‘norm’ at all with a number of family businesses in Australia with five, six and up to eight generations of longevity. • Family businesses are mostly partnerships – far from the reality as the vast majority of family businesses operate as companies and there is an increasing number establishing formal boards. Agriculture is no different. So why is this article titled ‘Let’s talk about family business in agriculture’ and not ‘Succession planning in agriculture’. Family business is about multigenerational continuity and by its very nature provides the opportunity to renew, innovate and improve over a long period of time. This longevity necessitates succession stages, but due to improved health and health care, we are often seeing two succession events while family members are living. More importantly, family business continuity is about perpetuity while succession planning is a transfer mechanism. Family business continuity is an ongoing

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process that enables all family members to remain attached to the family business while not impeding its wealth creation, business operations and longevity. In this framework every family member has a role and responsibility regardless of where they are positioned within the ‘three circles’ of family, ownership and business or what they are attached to.

The traditional style of ‘succession planning’ in family business (not only agriculture) is to anoint the succession then hand over the process to the legal and accounting professionals to ‘structure’ the process. Alternatively, the process was to pass the assets and business upon death via the estate plan – that is, a will. Both of these processes have actually facilitated the degradation/destruction of family businesses globally, so families in business and their professional service providers must adopt a new framework otherwise the pending transfer of wealth will result in an unacceptable level of failure. This will not only have an adverse impact on the individual families, it will also have a profoundly negative impact on regional communities and Australia’s agricultural competitive advantage.

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Critical to the success of family business continuity is the development of a ‘team’ that works for your family business. This does not mean adding costs, rather it means the family identifies the expertise they need to successfully strategise, develop and implement a robust continuity plan and who they will invite into this team. These people must have a connection to the family values and legacy to be of real value to the family business plus they must be absolutely committed to cooperating as a group that adds significant value to the family, its business and its wealth. Family business continuity planning is a long term, evolving and continuous process because the family members are forever evolving and developing. This demands a tailored approach that is unique to every family so any stakeholder that offers ‘off the shelf solutions’ needs to be shown the door immediately. In addition, family business structures are extremely variable and can incorporate partnerships, trusts (with many forms of trustee structures), companies and trading entities. In agriculture, this is often complicated by the land ownership legislation requirements. Furthermore, decision making, control of the business entity or land title holding evolves over time and often necessitates staged transfer for taxation and personal security/benefit purposes. One thing that every family in business can do immediately is establish a family council and develop a family charter. The family council has a very specific purpose of enabling all family members, regardless of their involvement/attachment, to have the forum to express their thoughts, personal plans and perspectives. These are separate to the business operations but they may, and usually do, influence business decisions in relation to performance, dividend distribution, wealth distribution and so on. In addition, the family council has the responsibility of developing and reviewing the family charter. Family charters are the most strategically powerful documents a family business possesses and while its legal standing may be low, the charter outlines the expectations, roles and responsibilities of all family members regardless of their status. It is a behavioural document that facilitates the hard discussions needed for the family to develop and revitalise the family business. Lloyd Russell is a fourth generation family business member and an accredited family business advisor who is based in Brisbane while servicing clients throughout Australia and internationally. Lloyd is a specialist in family business strategy and governance with a particular focus on inter-generational transfer. He has more than 30 years’ experience in senior management and is an accredited neuroscience practitioner.

Lloyd Russell. 44 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

Contact Lloyd on 0413 549 748 or lloyd@tcbsolutions.com.au Website – www.tcbsolutions.com.au

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A wake-up call for on-farm telecommunications

new report into on-farm telecommunications to secure a digital agriculture future has found that producers are not constrained by technology, but low levels of awareness and service provider options. The University of New England report is part of the Accelerating Precision Agriculture to Decision Agriculture Project (P2D), which is led by the Cotton Research and Development Corporation and jointly funded by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources Rural R&D For Profit Program and all 15 Rural Development Corporations. It involves research support from three universities, CSIRO Data 61, the Australian Farm Institute and the Data to Decisions CRC. Senior researcher Professor David Lamb said his 12-month study canvased the views and behaviors of more than 1000 producers, as well as technology providers. “We found that the technology options are out there but in some cases, they’re almost hidden,” said David. “The industry needs a much greater push on education so that producers have the information and the confidence to make the most of technology to enable digital agriculture and, in particular, we need market solutions to mobile technology access. “We need an agricultural-oriented, national telecommunications network map for future planning. This data is important for the marketplace, network operators and to second tier providers to step in and deliver solutions for producers,” said David.

The Skymaster satellite. 46 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

“Some farmers are already exploring backhaul infrastructure and second tier providers who, in essence, act as a booster to provide local area options,” said David. He said a key priority for farmers is to improve mobile access to information so that they can make decisions on location and spend less time travelling back to the farm office. “They also want to monitor things across the property remotely, with access to that data wherever they are and whenever they want – to bring peace of mind,” he said. “As a result, mobile phone connectivity will dominate the future for agriculture enterprises, supported by developments like multi-access and mobile point solutions offered through the NBN roll out.”

Big data survey In consultation with P2D project members and participating RDCs, CSIRO designed a survey questionnaire and conducted a survey of 1000 producers across 17 agricultural industries in 2017. Analysis of early experiences with big data applications reveals that their success hinges upon multiple factors. These include the willingness of stakeholders to share and integrate data, enduser acceptance of new technologies, and the existence of protocols for protecting farmers’ rights to privacy, and data ownership and control. Some of the findings of the survey included: • The majority of respondents (74 per cent) knew nothing at all or very little about the terms and conditions for their data collection agreement with service providers. Nearly half of respondents would not be comfortable if service providers had direct access to the data, while only 24 per cent of respondents would be comfortable or extremely comfortable. • Despite a general willingness to share data the majority of respondents reported great concerns over aggregated data in relation to privacy, financial advantage taken by other businesses, and the potential for it to be used to influence the markets such as produce prices and land value. • Cotton growers had the highest rate of connecting to the internet by the mobile phone network (87 per cent) and the lowest level of NBN connection (three per cent). • Cotton growers also had by far the highest level of on-farm telecommunications

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infrastructure at 60 per cent. This includes such things as radio links to devices and mobile data linked services.

Opportunities for on-farm telecommunications Domestic mobile roaming Mobile networks in rural and regional Australia have evolved largely to service the needs of primarily travelling urban clients. This of little relevance to producers who want to see mobile coverage expanded on their farms. There is an opportunity and need to upgrade the existing mobile networks to improve capacity and reduce congestion experienced by producers, as is there a need to more closely consider the way infrastructure could be shared between mobile network operators (MNOs). Analysis has shown that 66.4 per cent of rural properties have a mobile tower within 10 km of their property boundary, 95.8 per cent within 30 km and 98.4 per cent within 50 km. This is useful information given the raft of emerging network technologies which are suited to certain distance ranges. So a considerable proportion of Australian farms are possibly ‘within reach’ of the terrestrial

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network. It may simply be a case of identifying the right solution to get the data from where it is accessible to where it is needed, and using consumer grade, off-the-shelf solutions suited to that distance and physical environment. Steps can then be taken to address any remaining telecommunications technology gaps.

Planning ahead – producers Mobile data speeds are linked to the number of mobile users, and the type of use at any given time. It would be a big advantage to be able to identify windows of opportunity when the network is less busy and more likely to support certain activities. Information on usage data from each cell could help plan important data related activities, such as downloading and installing firmware on machines, transferring bulk data to and from the cloud (eg. during important operational events such as harvesting), accessing and analysis of cloud-stored data, using the mobile network for machine guidance/telematics or recording livestock data (eg. in the yard).

Getting more out of our radio frequency spectrum Creating ‘room’ in the available spectrum is possible either by existing spectrum holders

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(for example mobile network operators) consolidating their holdings and making un-used portions available to the market place, or by reallocation of existing spectrum.

LORA WAN This is a new segment of spectrum to support low power, low duty cycle communications suitable for some types of M2M communications such as smart infrastructure, metering and control – in other words in support of the internet of things (IoT).

White space White space refers to unused frequencies; generally ‘gaps’ between channels within a broader spectrum band. The migration to digital TV channels and subsequent switching off of analogue channels produced some white space in the broadcasting band and this is currently in the process of being allocated.

NGARA The CSIRO has been working on a spectrumefficient broadband wireless technology ‘NGARA’ since 2009. Initially conceived to meet fixed wireless broadband needs under the NBN, the NGARA ‘system’ allows multiple data streams to be transmitted in a single slice of spectrum. By using frequency multiplexing techniques, this system would be capable of providing 12 Mbps symmetric (two way) to a community of up to 1000 residences. NGARA technology has the potential to augment existing and planned network expansion in rural and regional Australia –

CSIRO’s NGARA system offers an improved network solution. 48 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

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namely mobile networks, NBN fixed wireless and NBN Sky Muster. NGARA offers an alternative, arguably a superior, network solution rather than a telecommunications solution.

Other emerging technologies Tailor-made mobile cells Australian mobile network operators are investing efforts into tailoring mobile cells, and in some cases handsets to extend coverage in rural areas. For example Telstra has rolled out high powered ‘Boomer Cells’ (working on the low frequency 850 MHz band) providing extended range out to 200 km radius and 4G ‘Small Cells’ that provide localised coverage in selected small towns. Solar power mobile sites allow installations where power is not available and satellite backhauled micro-cells, that can be broken down into a ‘few carry-bags’ for helicopter transport, allow a capability to connect the most remote of locations during emergencies. Australian company ICS Industries has developed the ‘cell on wheels’ (COW) for deployment in emergencies and have container and trailer based cell solutions for longer term network support (www.icsindustries.com.au).

Deployable networks for transient or moving targets A large proportion of producers involved in the survey identified the desirability of high capacity internet access while moving around their farms or to meet the demands of peak demand at fixed (although temporary) locations during certain operations. This could include cattle yard operations (for example marking), harvesting or similar intensive field machinery operations and local field days. There are numerous innovations worldwide in the area of deployable or ‘nomadic’ networks. These are fully integrated, high capacity, portable wireless platforms. These typically include all components on a roll-on/roll-off configuration to support peak demand data traffic and even for establishing private LTE (mobile) networks (eg. remote field camps) which seamlessly integrate into existing national LTE networks. Virtual Fiber (Redline Communications, www. rdl.com) is an example of a portable wireless network capable of supporting video analytics. It can offer high capacity connectivity from a multi-sector base station (for example, located on a farm house or silo) to moving platforms (eg. vehicles, farm machinery) within line of sight. Another example is FiberinMotion Mobility (www.radwin.com) technology which offers

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2-way communication up to 250 Mbps to moving platforms (cited up to speeds of 350 km/hr). Initially designed for providing video and data connectivity for rail, metro and ferry passengers, it is finding interest in agriculture for its ability to provide direct video access for security and for remote monitoring and control of heavy machinery (currently in use in mining).

Voice communications over Internet and WiFi (VoWIFI) Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is the delivery of voice communications over the internet; effectively telephone calls. This wellknown approach is facilitated by wired links between a telephone or computer and the gateway (the internet connection). Skype from a desktop computer is an early example of VoIP. Voice over a Wi-Fi network to the gateway (VoWiFi) is gaining interest in Australian agriculture. VoWiFi is an option for extended networks over distances from an internet access point (eg. mobile, fixed wireless, satellite or landline) potentially up to a few km away in line of sight conditions as a means of extending mobile coverage on farms. Radio over internet (RoIP) is similar to VoIP but it augments radio communications rather than telephone calls. Ultimately RoIP is VoIP with ‘push to talk’ functionality afforded by radios, allowing 2-way radio communications over vast geographic areas or for linking disparate regions (for example providing coverage over multiple farms separated by distance). These technologies rely on a good internet connection from which to base the extended network. Again, this base could be located at the farm office or shed, utilising Sky Muster, fixed wireless NBN or a

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bonded solution; even somewhere on a hill with a good mobile coverage.

Low-cost LEO telecommunications satellites The US Federal Communications Commission recently approved the entrance into the telecommunications market of OneWeb (www. oneweb.world/), a company focused on mass production and deployment of telecommunications infrastructure including multiple low earth orbit (LEO) satellites and web user terminals to facilitate internet access worldwide. These small satellites are expected to achieve communication speeds up to 36 times faster than existing high orbit satellites. Mass-produced, small and lowcost user terminals, linked to the satellites will act as small cell terminals, compatible with LTE, 3G and Wi-Fi. Importantly, OneWeb does not aim to replace existing telecommunications networks. The system is being designed to extend these networks into rural areas. OneWeb is owned by Richard Branson and may face competition from another wellknown entrepreneur – Elon Musk. His company, SpaceX, has filed an application with the US Federal Communications Commission to begin ground testing of a satellite communications system. SpaceX hopes to create a 4,425-satellite constellation in low Earth orbit for global broadband internet access and remote imaging.

Increasing data speeds on copper – G.Fast and XG.fast G.fast is a digital subscriber line (DSL) protocol standard for copper local loops shorter than 500 metres, with performance targets between 150 Mbps and 1 Gbps. XG.Fast is a 5th generation broadband (5GBB) technology capable of delivering 10 Gbps data rate over short twisted pair copper lines up to 130 metres in length. While this is still in an R&D phase, the potential to deliver broadband over existing copper infrastructure is highly relevant to rural premises, the majority of which have legacy copper connections. Admittedly, lengths of such connections are substantially greater than hundreds of metres but this innovation is nevertheless worth keeping an eye on.

High speed internet over powerlines

SpaceX aims to have over 4000 satellites in low earth orbit to provide communications to remote areas. 50 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

AT&T labs (US) has developed a Radio Distributed Antenna System (RDAS) that utilises existing powerlines. RDAS uses antennas made of low-cost plastic, along with inductive power devices which receive power from the adjacent powerlines without direct electrical connections. The

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transmission of the signals does not occur inside the power wires as they aren’t designed for (nor are capable of) transmitting at that frequency range. The power lines themselves act as a surface guide for the signal propagation through air near the wire, relying upon the so-called ‘skin effect.’ The concept is for the signal to hop along the power poles from a fibre location (POP), until it reaches a pole closest to the end user’s building. The RDAS may be then be able to transmit the signal from the terminating pole directing to an access point within sight of the terminating pole. AT&T even propose the use of the technique for supporting 4G LTE or 5G mobile services, ostensibly by supporting the creation of a cell around a given end-point.

Remote internet access via high-altitude craft Three high-altitude, non-satellite options are being considered as base stations supplying internet access to remote regions; one by Facebook, another by Google, and a third by Australian company Altitude Energy. Facebook’s Connectivity Lab is working on solar powered, high altitude drones (Aquila Unmanned Aircraft), with a wingspan of 42 metres, and designed to operate at an altitude of 60,000 feet. Communication is planned to be via IR laser. The unmanned, autonomous aircraft was launched on its first test flight in 2016 in Arizona and achieved 96 minutes flight, before crashing during landing. Google’s ‘Project Loon’ seeks to develop high altitude balloons carrying, in effect, solar powered cell towers. Altitude Energy is an Australian company that specialises in the use of tethered quad-rotorcraft platforms functioning as elevated mobile phone-towers or as generators of pollution-free electricity (www.altitudeenergy.com.au). About

•

10 of these platforms, tethered at an altitude of approximately six kilometres, would cover all regions of Australia in a direct line of sight.

Mobiles without mobile networks – Serval Serval, a project led by Flinders University is developing technology that allows mobile phones to communicate with each other through their Wi-Fi (and Bluetooth) interfaces, without the need of a mobile phone network. The supporting app allows the user to make phone calls, send secure text messages and share files.

Powering IoT sensors from the mobile network Recently Australian researchers announced progress towards small sensor devices capable of extracting power from the mobile network, ostensibly extending battery life on those devices. Although many years from realisation, the results (currently based on a desktop analysis) found it was ‘feasible’ to use energy harvested from mobile phone base stations, with communication delays typically limited to less than a few hundred milliseconds.

Towards more energy efficient Wi-Fi In order for Wi-Fi devices to communicate, two radio transmitters are required – one of at the plugin device at the network end and the other at the roaming (or remote) device. With passive Wi-Fi, the roaming device effectively communicates back to the plug-in device on the backscattered carrier wave rather than having to broadcast its own carrier. This method is already used in RFID tags where the signal is backscattered back to the dedicated RFID reader (for example for reading cattle ear tags). Passive wifi could extend the battery life of devices considerably. This is potentially applicable to ‘enclosed’ agricultural operations such as aquaculture, cattle feedlots and those reliant upon animal housing sheds such as poultry and pork.

New standards supporting Wi-Fi – HaLow A new standard known as Wi-Fi HaLow, is being developed to extend the range of Wi-Fi connectivity, supporting extended signal range, power efficiency and scalability as typically required by rural Wi-Fi networks. Users will be able to extend the reach of their wireless signal with greater power efficiency. HaLow will also provide support for IoT applications as it is designed to work with relatively low cost battery powered sensors.

Launching a Google Loon balloon. 52 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

For more information on the Accelerating Precision Agriculture to Decision Agriculture project (P2D) go to the Australian Farm Institute web site http://farminstitute.org.au/p2dproject

(PHOTO: David Petrikas)

Australian cotton production ��54 Australian cotton area ��54 NSW and Queensland area ��54 Value of production and exports ��56 Australian yields over time ��56 State area and production ��56 World cotton supply and use ��58 Major cotton producers ��58 World’s highest average yields ��59

Price movement over time ��59 Stocks to use ratio and price ��60 New York cotton futures ��60 World cotton (textile) consumption and market share ��61 Cotton’s market share by region ��61 Australian exports ��62 Australian exports by destination ��62 Major cotton exporters ��62

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THE INDUSTRY IN FIGURES

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AUSTRALIAN PRODUCTION

SECTION 3 THE INDUSTRY IN FIGURES

Australian cotton production

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RIGHT: Production was over 3.9 million bales despite the difficult season.

NSW & Qld area (â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;000 ha)

2016/17

2015/16

2014/15

2013/14

2012/13

2010/11

2009/10

2008/09

2007/08

2006/07

2005/06

2004/05

2003/04

2002/03

2001/02

2011/12

Australian cotton area

2009â&#x20AC;&#x201C;10

124

2010â&#x20AC;&#x201C;11

348 243

2011â&#x20AC;&#x201C;12

358 241

2012â&#x20AC;&#x201C;13

284 159

2013-14

256 136

2014-15

124

2015-16

163 107

2016-17*

391 180

SOURCE: ABARES

ABOVE: The area planted in 2016-17 was close to a record. 54 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

2016/17

2015/16

2014/15

2008â&#x20AC;&#x201C;09

2013/14

2007â&#x20AC;&#x201C;08

2012/13

2011/12

214 121 109

2010/11

2005â&#x20AC;&#x201C;06 2006â&#x20AC;&#x201C;07

2009/10

163 158

2008/09

101

2007/08

2006/07

2003â&#x20AC;&#x201C;04

2005/06

2004/05

290 119 165

2003/04

2001â&#x20AC;&#x201C;02 2002â&#x20AC;&#x201C;03

2002/03

313 151 328 199

2001/02

1999â&#x20AC;&#x201C;00 2000â&#x20AC;&#x201C;01

2000/01

382 180

299 139

1998â&#x20AC;&#x201C;99

*Provisional

NSW Qld

1997â&#x20AC;&#x201C;98

2004â&#x20AC;&#x201C;05

SOURCE: ABARE

Year

2000/01

NOTE: All cotton bales in this section have been converted to Australian standard 227 kg bales.

SOURCE: ABARE and ACG Est.

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www.achmea.com.au The information in this advertisement is general advice only and does not take into account your individual objectives, financial situation or needs (your personal circumstances). Before using this information to decide whether to purchase the insurance policy, you should consider your personal circumstances and the relevant Product Disclosure Statement available from the ‘Downloads’ section of our website www.achmea.com.au. Achmea Schadeverzekeringen N.V. ABN 86 158 237 702 AFSL 433984.

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Value of production and exports ($million)

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RIGHT: Decent prices have helped produce the second highest value cotton crop.

Australian yields over time

2017/18*

2016/17

2015/16

2014/15

2013/14

2012/13

2011/12

2010/11

2009/10

2008/09

2007/08

2006/07

2005/06

2004/05

SOURCE: ABARE

2003/04

AREA

PRODUCTION

State comparison

2016/17

2015/16

2014/15

2013/14

2012/13

2011/12

2010/11

2009/10

2008/09

2007/08

2006/07

2005/06

2004/05

2003/04

2002/03

2001/02

2000/01

1999/00

1998/99

1997/98

SOURCE: ICAC

NSW Qld.

ABOVE: High proportion of dryland cotton and a difficult growing season gave a sharp drop in yield. 56 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

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YOUR KEY TO EFFICIENT BALE HANDLING THIS SEASON.

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Run one tractor with one operator. Carry four bales per pass. Safely collect up to 300 bales a day. Limit the risk of broken bales.

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Dubbo NSW Will Michell 0437 529 103 will@michellmachinery.com.au

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WORLD PRODUCTION World cotton supply and use

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!" $!$ ! #

2016-17

2015-16

2014-15

2012-13

2011-12

2010-11

2013-14

SOURCE: ICAC

Major cotton producers

RIGHT: India remains the number one producer while US production rebounds.

2009-10

2008-09

2007-08

2006-07

SOURCE: ICAC

2005-06

2011-12

2012-13

2013-14

2014-15

2015-16

2016-17

!" $!$

" &

& #$

$ $ $ #

%#$"

58 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

!% $" # ! #

RIGHT: World production has now resumed an upward trend.

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Worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s highest average yields

SECTION 3 THE INDUSTRY IN FIGURES

$ & %" # (! &$',

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This section brought to you in association with

LEFT: The difficult season resulted in Australia losing its position as the highest yielding country.

#$'

* 1$&

'$, , , +

*" ',$'

1 %$+, '

-*% 0

-+,* &$

) $'

%$+, '

(*& . * "

/$ (

* '

SOURCE: ICAC.

(Only countries producing over 200,000 bales.)

COTTON AND FUTURES PRICES Price movement over time

" $

SOURCE: ABARE

2017/18*

2016/17

2015/16

2014/15

2013/14

2012/13

2011/12

2010/11

2009/10

2008/09

2007/08

2006/07

2005/06

2004/05

2003/04

2002/03

2001/02

2000/01

#!" !

NOTE: The Cotlook â&#x20AC;&#x153;Aâ&#x20AC;? index is an annual average figure.

COTTON YEARBOOK 2017 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 59

LEFT: Prices have continued at generally attractive levels.

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SOURCE: ABARE *Forecast

%! $ &$ # % !

2017/18*

2016/17

2015/16

2014/15

2013/14

2012/13

2011/12

2010/11

2008/09

2007/08

2006/07

2004/05

2005/06

!# $%! $ %! &$ # % !

RIGHT: World stocks remain high and any declines are expected to be small.

!% !! ' "!&

Stocks to use ratio and price

SECTION 3 THE INDUSTRY IN FIGURES This section brought to you in association with

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2009/10

â&#x20AC;¢

!% !! '

New York cotton futures: life of May contract

+&!'!$ !$ ,

60 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

(

)

(

)

SOURCE: ICAC

RIGHT: Strong futures prices have provided good hedging opportunities.

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CONSUMPTION AND MARKET SHARE

SECTION 3 THE INDUSTRY IN FIGURES

World cotton (textile) consumption and market share

This section brought to you in association with

LEFT: The decline in per capita cotton consumption seems to have been arrested.

SOURCE: ICAC

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Cottonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s market share by region

$$ # # " $ '$ " $

LEFT: Cotton seems to be holding its own in most markets.

#$ " %" !

"$ "

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

1998

1997

1996

SOURCE: ICAC

& ! % $" #

COTTON YEARBOOK 2017 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 61

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EXPORTS AND IMPORTS

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Australian exports â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 2016â&#x20AC;&#x201C;17

)& *

% #

# ! '

! *'

(# "

# $# '

( & SOURCE: ABARE NOTE: Numbers in brackets are thousands of 227 kg bales

! #

ABOVE: Australian export markets continue to diversify.

BOTTOM: Australia was the 4th biggest world exporter.

BELOW: India and Bangladesh are increasing in importance.

Australian cotton exports â&#x20AC;&#x201D; by destination (â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;000 bales)

SOURCE: ABS

! "! %

# !

! %

Major cotton exporters â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 2016â&#x20AC;&#x201C;17 (million bales) #"$"*+ ' & )((' ,)$& '"*+ ' '"' ) '+"' (+ -(") %" ) ,)$"' *( . $"*+ ' ,*+) %" ) ."% ' " '"+ + + *

"%%"(' % * $

SOURCE: ICAC

62 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

THIS SECTION BROUGHT TO YOU IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Border Rivers �� 82 Darling Downs �� 84 St George–Dirranbandi �� 87 Dawson–Callide �� 92 Central Highlands �� 94

Southern NSW �� 64 Macquarie Valley �� 68 Bourke �� 71 Namoi Valley �� 72 Gwydir Valley �� 78

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Southern NSW

SECTION 4 AREA ROUND-UP

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Lachlan, Murrumbidgee and Murray

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By Jorian Millyard Crop area The 2016â&#x20AC;&#x201C;17 cotton crop was up again on last year for southern NSW with 58,214 hectares being sown (an increase of around 6,304 hectares from last year). The breakup of the area was â&#x20AC;˘ Lachlan 12,401 hectares (including 223 hectares of dryland) up from last season; Southern NSW: Area and production

Ave Day Degrees*

Days

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Cold shock

Hot shock

$ " # " $ "

Total Day Degrees: 2371 (+102); Total rain: 243mm (-9)

Growing conditions The 2016â&#x20AC;&#x201C;17 season was a difficult season. For southern NSW it was a cold wet start which delayed most plantings in the area. Flowering was delayed by about two weeks and February saw a heat wave hit during peak flower. Early planted crops were able to reach their full potential, with some of the highest yields for this season coming from the early October plantings. Crops that were planted late October and into November saw yield declines as well as a decline in fibre quality. Good seed bed preparation and even plant stands were some of the reasons for achieving successful yields this year. There was a mix of row spacing â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 40 inch, 36 inch and 30 inch â&#x20AC;&#x201C; with 30 inch resulting in some good yields this year.

PLEASE NOTEâ&#x20AC;Ś

Hay 2016â&#x20AC;&#x201C;17 seasonal climate

â&#x20AC;˘ Murrumbidgee 42,859 hectares, just slightly up from last season; and, â&#x20AC;˘ Murray 2954 hectares, double from last season. Once again southern NSW continues to grow, and this season made up about 17 per cent of the Australian irrigated cotton area.

$ " #

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

Total

108 (+18)

43 (+14)

*Average day degrees from 1957 to 2016. Source: CSIRO.

64 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

This section contains a seasonal climate graph for each production area which compares day degrees, rainfall, hot days and cold shocks with the long term calculated average. It is important to note that the long term average figures used here relate to the 1957 to 2016 period, and will differ from the Bureau of Meteorologyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s long term average information which generally goes back further (particularly for rainfall). The information used for these graphs was generated using data provided through the SILO project, a business unit of the Bureau of Meteorology, and made available through funding from CRDC. â&#x20AC;&#x201A; Further information regarding these organisations can be found at: â&#x20AC;˘ CSIRO at www.csiro.au; â&#x20AC;˘ CottAssist at www.cottassist.com.au; â&#x20AC;˘ The SILO project at www.bom.gov.au/silo; and, â&#x20AC;˘ The Cotton Research and Development Corporation at www.crdc.com.au.

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Early season: The season started off quite cool and wet which delayed planting. There were above average cold shock days during October, so there was a very narrow planting window early. If ground prep was not done, most crops were delayed by about two weeks. Plant size and development were also delayed due to this cold start, with some crops taking 20 days to emerge. Mid season: With the cold start, early fruit development was delayed with a lot of crops starting fruit on the 9th node. Flowering this season was delayed by 10–21 days from last season. This resulted in a potential yield loss of 2.5 to five bales per hectare. Late season: Crops during the February period experienced some very hot days and nights. Days over 35°C were 187 per cent above the average and days over 40°C were 257 per cent above the average. This caused high cavitation and pollen blasting, which had the flow on effect to final boll weight being reduced and also some discounting on fibre quality. Southern NSW cotton production areas were all above the average for day degrees and solar radiation.

Average temperatures for Southern NSW cotton areas (Oct 1–April 20) Days >40°c Nights >25°c Average max °c Average min °c Average mean °c

B Y

2016–17

2015–16

Average

8.6 4 33.9 17.5 25.7

8.3 5.6 33 17.9 25.5

3.6 1 30.9 16.2 23.6

Rainfall was well up on the average for the months of July to September. September was up by five times the average which made planting during the month of October very hard. The up-side was very little pre-irrigation occurred and so water use was down this year.

Southern NSW

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MAP LEGEND

Insects Wireworm damage was down this year with all crops having some sort of insecticide to either control or suppress these pests. Concerns on residual activity of these products are still high in the south due to the long establishment time. Thrip damage was up this year in some crops, due to the cool weather and slow growth. There was some spraying, but once the heat turned up, the damage was diluted and the thrips posed no problem. Rutherglen bugs were in very high numbers this year. Some crops were getting damage as a result of being next to canola stubble. Crop damage was seen during November and December and as a result were sprayed. Mirid pressure was very high this year with crops being invaded early before flowering (December) and throughout the flower phase of

Water use With a wet start to the season there were very few crops pre-irrigated. As a result of the wet spring, crops were planted late and first irrigation was delayed until mid November. Crops this year used on average 9.5 ML per hectare applied (Kieran O’Keeffe, Cotton Info Survey) with the range going from 7 to 12 ML per hectare, with an average of 1.3 bales per ML. The water use was down from last year mainly due to the damper start to the season and also due to the shorter season. There was an increase in crop water use in February during peak flower, but not as severe as some of the other valleys.

Cotton field day at Swan Hill. COTTON YEARBOOK 2017 — 65

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the crop. Some crops were reported to be 40 per cent tipped out as a result of the early pressure, with up to four sprays on some of these crops. Heliothis pressure was low with the exception of late December when there was a large egg lay. Some crops were sprayed with ovicide to reduce any potential damage, while others were left alone. High levels of early square loss were reported during this time. There was a little confusion around what was causing the loss. Was it heliothis or heat? More attention to insect scouting is required in the area. Approximately 40 per cent of the crops were sprayed for heliothis to help with poor retention. Silverleaf whitefly was not a problem this year. There were some concerns due to the lateness of the crop and some crops did receive a spray as a preventative measure. In most cases silverleaf whitefly didn’t reach thresholds. Mites were seen in some crops this year. The heat during early February exacerbated some hot spots in fields. Not a lot of spraying occurred for mites, and there were some agronomists using drones and VRT maps to target these areas.

is still very low – with growers paying attention not to cause an outbreak or to bring it on farm. Verticillium wilt was no way as severe as last season mainly due to the weather conditions. This could be a “sleeper” problem if growers push the crop into the later/cooler part of the season.

Disease

Defoliation in the south went well this year with picking taking place towards the end of April. Some growers were faced with late crops struggling to open late bolls due to a lack of time/heat to mature them. This season it was common to see three if not four defoliation passes, with the fourth or fifth pass being Reglone or Sprayseed to help dry back and open late crops. Any crops that were finished off at the end of January with cut-out sprays of Pix were able to mature and not have any issues with discounts on micronaire. If the crop was pushed late with last effective flower at the end of February/early March, picking was delayed and depending upon the variety, bolls failed to mature and micronaire issues were seen. Early picked crops had yields coming in around 13.5 bales per hectare, which were good given the season. Some late planted crops only yielded around seven bales per hectare. Ginning started mid May, with early turnouts between four to eight per cent lower than last year. Overall the 2016–17 season was a difficult one. But it did reward growers who were organised and showed the narrow planting window the south has and how you need to keep to it. Next season the south will expand even more. It is expected that southern NSW will have an increase of around 15 per cent of the area planted compared to last year – which would be a record planting for the south.

There was the odd report of seedling disease this year due to the wet start. Black root rot and Rhizoctonia were once again seen in back to back country and reports of disease seen in faba bean rotations. Additional fungicide placed down the slot helped to overcome the incidence of seedling disease, as well as growers planting in warmer temperature. Planting on rising temperatures did pose a problem this year as it extended the planting window out into November before an opportunity presented itself. Fusarium levels were lower this year. Rotations and variety selection have allowed growers to reduce the incidence of this disease. The level

Victorian growers chasing the gold at the end of the rainbow. 66 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

Weeds Weed control programs worked well this year. There were not a lot of escapes. Growers were getting on top of weeds early. There is still a high reliance on just Roundup Ready herbicide in the district, with some selective herbicides being introduced to control weeds such as fleabane. Hormone drift was once again high in some areas. There is still a lot of complacency around the use of these products. This year it was interesting to see some of the more vigorous varieties such as Sicot 748 B3F overcoming/pushing through the damage. Some of these drift effected crops still yielded over 10 bales per hectare, which can be considered a good yield given the late start.

Defoliation and picking

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Macquarie Valley

SECTION 4 AREA ROUND-UP

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By Amanda Thomas

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bout 27,000 hectares was grown in the Macquarie in 2016â&#x20AC;&#x201C;17, including 3500 green hectares of dryland cotton.

Macquarie Valley cotton area

Growing conditions A short turnaround did provide some seed bed issues as we had a very wet winter which made it difficult to get in and get country ready. Some of the crops were planted on moisture and dryland crops were planted to utilise stored moisture across the valley. Some new areas opened up for dryland in the Coonamble region. When we look back on the summer we remember the hot, hot, hot, but before the heat was a cool start that impacted across the whole valley. It was the combination of extremes that impacted our yield potential. It was a bit of wakeup call going from a valley average of 13.5 bales per hectare the previous season to 10.5 bales per hectare this season. One common problem last season was defoliation. CottonIfo REO Amanda Thomas asked Mike Bange to comment from a physiological point of view about what was going on in terms of defoliation. It was not uncommon for three or four passes this season, and from a climatic perspective we had pretty ideal conditions. So, could it have been seasonal as well? The short answer is yes, Mike Bange said that â&#x20AC;&#x153;the extended and extreme heat can

Warren 2016â&#x20AC;&#x201C;17 seasonal climate

Ave Day Degrees*

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Total Day Degrees: 2693 (+185); Total rain: 405 mm (+60)

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Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

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Cold shock

76 (+8)

Hot shock

55 (+24)

*Average day degrees from 1957 to 2016. Source: CSIRO.

68 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

affect the formation of the abscission layer of the leaf.â&#x20AC;? Meaning that the leaf will not drop even when the hormones are added that would usually make this happen. The simple explanation is similar to what we see in crop when we get cavitation or boll dangle. The plant is responding to its environment and trying to stay alive so it lightens the load. For a successful defoliation we need a shift in the internal hormonal balance within the plant. We were also gearing up to harvest another 15 bale crop and fertilised accordingly, so the nitrogen available and a shower of rain at the end of the season caused some regrowth problems.

Insects High insect pressure was present for most of the season, including high Helicoverpa pressure at the beginning of the season. Mirid pressure was very high most of the season. We did see some fields that had SLW in numbers that warranted control.

Diseases Seedling disease was prevalent throughout due to the cool conditions at emergence time. We did see some incidence of Verticillium wilt in isolated areas later in the season.

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Nutrition

There were some issues at the start of the season as some growers were not able to get nutrition down before they planted due to the wet start to the season. In most cases P was adequate and farmers could water run or spread the required amounts of nitrogen needed for the crop. The average amount of nitrogen was around 280â&#x20AC;&#x201C;320 kg, which included some back to back fields.

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The valley did see plenty of 31-3 cotton around. Out turns ranged between 38 and 43 per cent with irrigated averaging around 41 per cent and dryland very variable with anywhere from 25 to 37 per cent.

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Highlights from the year Mike Bennett was awarded the Jim Beale Memorial services to the industry award in the Macquarie, and he then went on to be

Weeds Macquarie Valley: Area and production

For 100 per cent irrigated, yields were around 10.8 bales per hectare and with the semi irrigated and dryland figures in, it will come back to around 10.1 bales per hectare. Quality was generally very good but as the picking went on, grades did suffer a little. Probably around 85 per cent of the crop was excellent.

Final yield and quality

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Weeds were a bit of a problem in some areas as we were not able to control them pre-season as we would have liked. Fleabane seemed to germinate later last season and once established was hard to control. For the most part the lack of rainfall meant we had good weed control in crop. Some growers used chippers to clean up problem areas. Some grasses proved difficult to control with Roundup alone.

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nominated in the national awards and won the services to the industry award which was very well deserved. In February, CottonInfo hosted a great NRM field day that was all about engaging growers and their families and looking at the NRM assets that we have on farm. Phill Sparks pulled out all the stops and brought lots of critters and creatures that we can find on our farms. We combined this with a paddle down the river and had a lovely day.

Field days MCGA hosted two field days that were based around the winners of the crop competition from the previous year. We had one day at Warren and the other around Narromine. The Warren field day was at ‘Marebone’ and ‘Fairview” and the Narromine day was hosted by

Growers checking out the speed tiller at ‘Cowal Park’ with Ian and Tony Corderoy.

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the Corderoy family and the Gainsford family at ‘Central Farms’.

Prospects for the coming season We have started the season well with cotton emerging well and much less incidence of disease than last season. The ground temperature has been adequate and rainfall events have been well timed and regular. This could mean that some dryland is still possible for the region. The projected area for the valley next season is around 39,000 hectares. The dryland figures will be based around planting rain. There potentially will be some cotton planted at Guerie and Dunedoo for the first time to try and overcome some of the issues they are having with Johnson grass and shatter cane.

Fraser Gill and Sally Ceeney with one of Phil’s Friends – Bubbles the python.

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By Bob Ford In summary, record cold shocks, record heat shock, above average water use, high night time temperatures and slow and drawn out defoliation impacted greatly on yield and quality this season at Bourke.

Bourke 2016â&#x20AC;&#x201C;17 seasonal climate

Ave Day Degrees*

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Total Day Degrees: 3283 (+292); Total rain: 220 mm (-41)

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Dec

Jan

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Cold shock

48 (+6)

Hot shock

102 (+45)

*Average day degrees from 1957 to 2016. Source: CSIRO.

Bourke: Area and production

COTTON YEARBOOK 2017 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 71

season which started strongly soon changed into what could only be described as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Armageddonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. The start of the season saw full on-farm storages from good rainfall throughout the catchments leading to good pumping opportunities throughout winter and spring. For the first time in many years, the first two to three irrigations could be pumped from the river with above average water levels in the river right though till December. For example, the Bogan River flowed into the Barwon for three months which is very rare. The same occurred out of the Namoi and Gwydir catchments. There was around 10000 hectares of cotton planted starting in late September, and unlike many other regions, ground preparation was good with fertiliser applied and beds well formed. From this point on, the season turned â&#x20AC;&#x201C; with one of coldest starts on record at Bourke throughout October and into November. Plant growth was halted with above average cold shock days. Insects in the form of mirids and heliothis started attacking the small cotton plants in November with many large egg lays right through into early January. Retention levels got down to as low as 30 per cent and flowering was delayed by about two weeks. From mid November onwards, temperatures started to rise and did not let up to well into March. We had above average 35Â°C days, but also record above 40Â°C days, which dramatically impacted on the cropâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to turn carbohydrate into lint as well as causing lots of seed abortion and cavitation throughout flowering. Crop boll numbers were affected and ranged dramatically from 90 up to 140 bolls per metre with below average weight in the bolls, leading to poor yields. The worst we have seen at Bourke in nearly a decade. The quality of the crop was average, and the early crop had a lot better quality than the late crops which struggled to drop leaf, and grades were affected by this. In an ironic twist, the drawn out season allowed some growers to put on a top crop in late February and March due to the warm and consistent conditions, as long as they had water. Things would have been worse if February and early March had turned cool or wet.

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think most growers and agronomists were happy to see the end of the 2016â&#x20AC;&#x201C;17 crop. The combination of a cold start, heavy early season insect pressure and a record hot summer made for a challenging season. That being said there were some quite good irrigated crops in the upper Namoi and even the odd high yielding dryland crop that got under a storm. After a wet winter and improved water supply ,most farms planted their full area of cotton. A

Narrabri West 2016â&#x20AC;&#x201C;17 seasonal climate

Ave Day Degrees*

% # $ ! #! % #

total of 65,000 hectares of irrigated cotton was planted in the Namoi Valley (including Walgett). Dryland plantings topped 48,000 (green) hectares but about 5000 hectares was removed prior to harvest. It was the worst season for dryland cotton growing that I can remember. Fully irrigated yields averaged 9.8 bales per hectare in the lower Namoi and 10.0 bales per hectare in the upper Namoi. Odd fields yielded up to 14 bales per hectare. Dryland yields in the upper Namoi averaged 1.6 bales per hectare and 1.4 bales per hectare in the lower Namoi.

Planting â&#x20AC;&#x201C; early season

Total Day Degrees: 2823 (+161); Total rain: 486 mm (-8)

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Sep

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Dec

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Cold shock

63 (+7)

Hot shock

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*Average day degrees from 1957 to 2016. Source: CSIRO.

Namoi Valley: Area and production

Ground preparation was delayed because of the wet winter and spring. This flowed through to planting which was delayed due to wet conditions and cold soil temperatures. The majority of the crop was planted after mid October. Temperatures were slow to rise and crop development was delayed. As conditions dried out, lower Namoi dryland growers struggled to plant into November as temperatures increased rapidly. Overall establishment was generally very good despite the cold wet start. Replant was less than two per cent. Insects started to damage the young plants as soon as they emerged. Thrips were not particularly bad but mirid numbers were extreme. As many crops were planted into fields without pre applied fertiliser, growers rushed to get side dressing operations completed. By December, temperatures were really on the rise and crop growth accelerated.

Mid season

Temperatures just kept rising through January and peaked at over 47Â°C in mid February. In fact we had two consecutive days over 47Â°C west of Narrabri. Crops endured week after week of heat shock and although the vegetative growth of well-watered crops was excellent, fruit accumulation was reduced through several cavitation events. Dryland crops generally looked very good in early January but by the end of the month the heat and lack of rain forced the crops into an early cutout and they looked terrible.

72 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

By Robert Eveleigh

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Late season The above average temperatures continued on until late March. The early fruit loss and

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cavitation events meant most irrigated crops put on some late fruit and as temperatures normalised, it took quite a while for this late fruit to mature. Defoliation and picking were delayed. Defoliation proved to be difficult. Leaf abscission was compromised due to the hot seasonal conditions. A lot of crops had three applications of defoliant and the outcome was quite ordinary. Leaf and trash levels were high in the module, so turnout was reduced. Picking commenced in March for the dryland crop and continued on into July for late crops. We had several falls of rain during defoliation and picking. One heavy rainfall event (up to 150 mm) in the upper Namoi caused some crop damage but was too late to help with crop yields. In the end grades were generally base or better but quite a few 41s did slip through. Dryland quality was surprisingly good but as expected there were some issues with short fibre and low micronaire for some growers. Rain in April and May allowed eastern growers to plant winter crop but a very dry

Upper Namoi Valley

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Rod Smith (right) – Winner of the irrigated crop competition and Cotton Grower of the Year (Upper Namoi) with Upper Namoi Growers Association Chairman Nick Beer.

winter and early spring period has seen many crops fail and much lower than average yields. Western areas didn’t plant any crop. Its has been the worst winter cropping season in living memory for many farmers.

Yields and quality

Lower Namoi Valley

74 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

Fully irrigated yields were generally below average in the lower Namoi. Upper Namoi irrigated yields were average or slightly better than average. Lower Namoi yields averaged about 9.8 bales per hectare and growers used up to nine megs to grow the crop. There were just a handful of fields that yielded close to 14 bales per hectare. They were generally later planted and escaped some of the heat. Fully irrigated crops in the upper Namoi averaged just over 11 bales per hectare but many growers in the upper Namoi struggled with water. The lack of useful rain made it impossible for many growers to keep up with crop demand. This limited yields. Fibre quality was OK in the irrigated crop. Colour grades were impacted a little by rain and whitefly. Not as may 21s as normal this season. Leaf grades were a notch higher than normal due to higher levels of leaf in the modules. Dryland crops suffered from a very dry and hot season. Yields averaged about 1.6 bales per hectare in the upper Namoi and 1.4 bales per hectare in the lower Namoi – the lowest average yields I can remember. Quality discounts for fibre length and mic were common in the dryland crop but not as bad as I expected.

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Thrip pressure was lower than expected – given the wet winter and abundance of ripening cereal crops. Mirid numbers were extreme

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during the first few months after planting. Up to four sprays were targeted at mirids and unfortunately this caused some disruption to beneficials. This early insecticide use and the hot season combined to flare mites and whitefly. Most of the crops in the lower Namoi received a spray for whitefly and/or mites. Growers who adopted strict IPM principles escaped the need for whitefly/mite sprays Heliothis pressure was light but constant for most of the season. Up to five sprays were applied for heliothis control on the small area of non Bollgard cotton.

Disease Disease was not a major problem in the Namoi. Despite good conditions for seedling disease we didn’t see any major replants and black root rot infections were quickly out grown with the rapid rise in temperature. The hot season also reduced the incidence of Verticillium. It was hard to find any Verticillium infection in crops.

Next season Neil Barwick – Winner of the Innovative grower award with Upper Namoi Growers Association Chairman Nick Beer.

The extremely dry summer and winter have reduced water supply. We will need at least average rainfall to ensure enough water for river pumpers. Keepit is only 60 per cent capacity and Split Rock is 30 per cent full. On farm storages are generally empty down the Namoi and Barwon. Up to 62,000 hectares of irrigated cotton is expected to be planted in 2017. Dryland conditions are poor and the area could as low as 20,000 hectares in 2017–18.

Mark Hamblin – Winner of the Innovative grower award with Upper Namoi Growers Association Chairman Nick Beer. 76 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

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Gwydir Valley By Alice Devlin

time, profiles were full and the vast majority of irrigated cotton was planted into moisture. But October was cold and the cotton got off to a slow start. Things didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really start to warm up until December with most crops reaching first flower almost two weeks later than last season. From here, the cotton started to power along thanks to welcome higher temperatures, but insect pressure was high around Christmas and didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t ease through January. Very high mirid numbers were seen across the valley, with widespread tipping out and early square retention was low. The mirids persisted throughout December to the point of rapid re-infestations after spraying. The pressure eased somewhat around Christmas time, only to be replaced with unusually high numbers of Rutherglen bugs. Silverleaf whitefly were prevalent later in the season and did require control. The temperatures through January were high, and through February they were extreme. Unprecedentedly high minimums and maximums put further pressure on retentions in stressed crops, irrigation intervals became very tight and dryland cotton struggled to say the least. On the positive side, disease incidence was relatively

he 2016â&#x20AC;&#x201C;17 cotton season in the Gwydir Valley was one that most of us will not remember too fondly. After two years of exceptional yields and near perfect conditions, this season provided a stark contrast â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a perfect storm of extreme environmental conditions. August and September provided a great sense of optimism, with high rainfall across the valley opening up planting opportunities in both dryland and irrigated. In the end, approximately 55,000 hectares of irrigated cotton was planted, with 35,000 hectares of dryland. Come planting

The Gwydir Valley cotton area

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low, as the cooler temperatures favoured by Verticillium that plagued previous seasons simply didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t occur. The rain finally came in March, just in time for defoliation, which caused issues in trying to achieve a clean crop in time for picking. A wet defoliation was exacerbated by crops that had been managed for higher yields and had boll loads concentrated towards the top of the plant, making the plants top heavy and product penetration difficult. Picking lingered on into the colder months, with irrigated yields averaging around 11 bales per hectare. Turnouts were down slightly on previous years, but quality was reasonable. Dryland yields were variable, with disappointing

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results for growers around the one bale per hectare mark. These crops simply couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t handle the extreme heat and lack of moisture. But some good results in the east of the valley saw yields above three bales per hectare.

Moree 2016â&#x20AC;&#x201C;17 seasonal climate

Ave Day Degrees*

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Total Day Degrees: 2942 (+243); Total rain: 465 mm (+15)

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Cold shock

53 (+5)

Hot shock

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*Average day degrees from 1957 to 2016. Source: CSIRO.

Cavitation occurred as a result of extreme temperatures.

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Border Rivers

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By Alex North

he 2016–17 cotton season will be remembered as an extreme year. The season started with plenty of optimism with good rainfall within the catchment, allowing growers to capitalise on high flow events as well as capturing on farm runoff to top up storages. Early season rainfall in September also provided a good start for dryland crops.

Planting conditions Planting commenced around Mungindi during the last week of September and progressed east through the valley over the following weeks. Although most crops were planted during October, some planting extended through

A couple of weeks of scorching hot weather can make a big difference to a crop. 82 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

The Border Rivers cotton area

November and into December on the back of chickpea and cereal crops. Conditions for early planting were fair with many crops planted into rain moisture. Below average temperatures impacted on the growth of seedlings in October and November, with a high number of cold shocks stalling crop development.

Growing season From mid-November, crops began to respond to improving temperatures and scattered rainfall, with dryland crops in particular receiving benefit. The season then turned it up a notch and the first week of December started off with seven consecutive days over 36°C. This burst of heat eventually settled to some degree of normal, and crops responded well. This was critical, as fruiting on many crops was around 10 to 14 days behind through mid-December. The delay in maturity meant that first flowers began to appear around the last week of December with many crops now at around 18 nodes. By the end of the first week of January, we saw the start of an extreme summer kick off with eight consecutive days of temperatures exceeding 36°C. The persistent heat and warm nights played out through the critical flowering and boll filling stage, with irrigated crops flowering for around four to 5.5 weeks and many crops cutting out by late January or early February. Through this period, we observed plenty of boll shedding and cavitation as crops struggled. Growers worked hard to keep crops cool with irrigation schedules shortened up to anywhere from three to seven days. As a consequence, eight to 14 irrigations were necessary and fortunately for most, the water was available to do this.

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Generally speaking, boll numbers were down on the previous season, but fair when kept in perspective. But bolls were smaller because of reduced carbohydrate production due to heat stress. Dryland crops were looking relatively good early in the new year, but the combination of very little to no in-crop rainfall and baking temperatures saw crops begin to decline rapidly. Many dryland crops were cutting out by late January and the heat not only caused shedding but also began to sunburn, bake and blister bolls, causing some to split and open prematurely. Some dryland crops, particularly to the east, did receive some storm events and as a consequence were able to hold up much better. Off target drift events in late December and into January saw 2,4-D damage occur at a key growth stage as flowering was commencing, and damage was exacerbated by the lack of in-crop rainfall, declining soil moisture and persistent hot temperatures.

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;wavesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; observed. Silverleaf whitefly became evident in early January and often required several treatments, while some mite activity was reported late in the season. Mealybugs were reported for the first time in the Macintyre valley.

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2017â&#x20AC;&#x201C;18 season Early October provided the first decent rainfall since last March with falls ranging from 60 to 140 mm across the valley. This will significantly improve fallow soil moisture as well as reduce the burden for pre or post plant flushes. Irrigated hectares are anticipated to be similar to last season, while the dryland area is fluid â&#x20AC;&#x201C; depending on rainfall.

Goondiwindi 2016â&#x20AC;&#x201C;17 seasonal climate Total Day Degrees: 2977 (+200); Total rain: 432 mm (â&#x20AC;&#x201C;25)

Defoliation and picking Some scattered storm events through midMarch saw a run in the Macintyre River reaching a peak of 7.5 metres, and a flow in the Weir River system. Defoliation commenced for dryland crops in late February, and irrigated crops around mid to late March, so it was a drawn-out affair. With leaf slow to drop, many crops required three passes. The irrigated crop yield range was quite wide, from eight to 14 bales per hectare, while dryland yields were well below average, ranging from 0.5 to two bales per hectare. But there were some higher yielding crops reported. Quality was generally good, but tempered by higher levels of leaf, colour and some high micronaire.

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47 (+7)

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*Average day degrees from 1957 to 2016. Source: CSIRO.

Disease No significant disease issues were reported, although a cooler change late in the season saw an increase in Verticillium wilt expression. Fortunately, due to the late timing, there was no significant impact on yield.

Macintyre Valley: Area and production

COTTON YEARBOOK 2017 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 83

Conditions leading up to planting favoured soil insects, with an increase in the presence and number of wireworm. Early thrip pressure was a mixed bag, with some moderate pressure experienced once winter crops were harvested. Helicoverpa presence and pressure was also up and down across the valley. This season saw abundant and sustained numbers of green mirids as well as high densities of Rutherglen bug. Generally speaking, mirid pressure was constant with persistent

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Darling Downs

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he 2016â&#x20AC;&#x201C;17 season is definitely one the Darling Downs would rather forget. After record-breaking yields in the previous season, there was plenty of interest in growing cotton. It was not a perfect start but with reasonable water in storages and the largest dryland planting we have seen for a long time, optimism was high, so we dug in and hoped for the

Darling Downs cotton area

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best. The total planted area was almost 37,000 hectares irrigated and 50,000 hectares of dryland.

Early season Some reasonable but patchy early rainfall provided a very small fresh in the river but no overland flow. The majority of the early rain was on the western Downs with most of the inner region starting the season without a full profile. As one grower joked early in the season â&#x20AC;&#x153;we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need rain, we have good dirt.â&#x20AC;? I think he changed his mind as the season progressed. The tease of early rain and below average sorghum prices was enough to entice many new and returning growers to plant dryland cotton. The most noticeable areas for the expanded dryland planting were the Moonie, Kogan, Chinchilla and Byee areas. Still looking for more rain, many started planting from mid-September to chase the moisture they had. Our usual two to three day mid-October cold snap turned into almost two weeks of very cold weather with some areas getting frosts. Not a great start for the early planted crop.

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The replanted area was about normal and mainly due to seedling disease â&#x20AC;&#x201C; black root rot, Rhizoctonia, Pythium and Fusarium. A bit of long fallow disorder and rotational problems after chickpeas just added to the fun for some growers. As the warmer weather returned, the crop eventually emerged with the handbrake on and that is when the bugs started. The cold snap slowed everything except the insects. There was plenty of variety and abundant populations of apple dimpling bug, thrips, heliothis, green vegetable bug, mirids, and Rutherglen bug among others. The days heated up and there was plenty of wind to dry out any soil moisture present. December brought some thunderstorms but they were small and isolated â&#x20AC;&#x201C; nothing that you could really get excited about. It was just enough to grow a few weeds â&#x20AC;&#x201C; so we (momentarily) stopped chasing insects and started chasing weeds which naturally leads to some spray drift damage but nothing too serious.

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Debbie, Cyclone Debbie that is. Yes, we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do things by halves here. In one foul swoop, the region went from the Darling Desert to Darling Drowns with the only upside being a bit of irrigation water and a kick along to the very late crops. On top of the existing fibre quality of leaf, length, and colour, we added green leaf to the list. Cyclone Debbie was the only widespread rain event for the year. It seems the only things we can count on in life are taxes, death, and picking/harvest rain.

Yield? What yield? Just when we thought the season from hell couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get any worseâ&#x20AC;Ś someone started a picker and along came

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growers had lost their sense of humour but little did they know the worst was yet to come. Any planting moisture and pre-Christmas storm water was long gone. The early New Year brought another lottery of storms but as with golden casket, there were few winners and the vast majority got no rain. The extremely high insect pressure started to ease but mirids and green vegetable bug kept hanging around as well as apocalyptic numbers of Rutherglen bugs. Then came the heatwaves â&#x20AC;&#x201C; weeks of above average temperatures and hot winds, interspersed with just normal hot days, not a drop of rain, and the only thing disappearing faster than irrigation water was the morale of the growers. While we needed some heat units to compensate for the cold start, this just got silly. With the relentless heat, crops started cutting out, shedding fruit, bolls prematurely cracking, and many irrigators ran out of water or let blocks go to save their best. There were a couple of reports of crops ploughed in.

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Many irrigators ran out of water, crops came in early and quickly, with planting date no indicator of crop maturity. As picking progressed, no one wanted to talk about yield. There were no reports of skiting to the neighbours. Yields were down right across the board with the lowest yield that anyone was willing to admit to being 0.3 bales per hectare. But not everyone was feeling down at heel. Those who had enough water and were fast enough to keep it up to the crop, ended up with very pleasing results despite the season from hell. The highest yield reported was 14.82 bales per hectare. The later planted crops did yield better but definitely no world records this year. As for the varieties, 746B3F suffered the most under the adverse weather conditions, while 748B3F and 754B3F generally came out on top with yield. In dryland yields, 746B3F and 714B3F fared the best. 707B3F also performed well but only in a limited number of trials. 748B3F did not perform overly well in the dryland this season.

Highlights The highlight of the Darling Downs cotton calendar is the local Grower of the Year Field Day. This year it was hosted by Ross and Ingrid Uebergang, ‘Tinobah’, Miles on March 1, 2017. It was a huge success with approximately 100 people in attendance to hear from a variety of speakers. The feature presentations were from the Grower of the Year (Ross Uebergang) and the High Achiever of the Year (Mac Baartz) who spoke about their individual operations. This year the DDCGInc Young Achiever Liz Lobsey

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led the field day committee and did a sterling job with everything running like a well-oiled machine. Ross and Ingrid Uebergang (Uebergang Ag) were also finalists in the National Grower of the Year Awards held at the Cotton Collective in Griffith NSW. They certainly were very worthy representatives of the region. The annual Darling Downs Cotton Growers Incorporated awards night was held on Friday 8th September 2017. As always, the night was a spectacular event with 350 people joining in to farewell a very ordinary season. The winners are: • Vanderfield Grower of the Year – Greg and Maryann Bender (Burradoo Enterprises). • Chesterfield Dalby High Achiever of the Year – Simmich Farming Co (Barry, Michael, Sam, Kerrin and Mark Simmich). • ANZ Highest Irrigated Yield – Steve and Jacob Little (14.82 bales per hectare). • ANZ Highest Dryland Yield – Scott and Mitchell Seis (6.5 bales per hectare). • Greg McVeigh Memorial Trophy for Outstanding Yield and Water Use Efficiency – Damien Ebbern – Janerin (2.16 b/ML). • ANZ Grower of the Year Consultant Award – Will Lange CGS. • ANZ High Achiever Consultant Award – John Ash CGS. • Dalby Rural Supplies Young Achiever – Sam Lee (CSD). • Tilco Unsung Hero Award – Brian Hemmings (Big N). • DDCGInc Service to Industry – Jamie Grant.

Next season Rain in the middle of October has lifted spirits and the current crop forecast is 30,000 hectares of irrigated and 30,000 hectares of dryland. Yet again some areas have largely missed out on rain and even those that got four inches don’t have enough to plant dryland yet and are looking for another two to three inches. This good dirt is very thirsty. Unfortunately many growers have a bitter taste in their mouth from last season. The greatest number of cold and heat shock days on record, limited planting rain or stored water, extended cold snap, very high insect pressure, limited to no in-crop rain, a good roasting and finishing off with a cyclone at picking will do that to you. At the risk of sounding like Hanrahan, yet hesitant to be too optimistic, I will rely on my gut feeling which tells me 2017–18 will be a good season. 86 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

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St George–Dirranbandi

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By Dallas King

he 2016–17 cotton season will be remembered as one of the toughest in living memory. This season broke many records (as well as the odd grower and agronomist) though for all of the wrong reasons. The 2016–17 summer was one of extreme heat and extreme dry weather with most growers having applied their most number of irrigations in a season. The majority of fields have averaged between 9–11 irrigations though with turn arounds of only five to six days during the peak heat wave, and a few fields did hit 12 in-crop irrigations. Irrisat data shows that most fields averaged crop water usage of 10.8 ML per hectare during the season. The extreme heat which caused a lot of cavitation of fruit in January and February combined with the high insect pressure meant that we were never going to achieve the high yields of the previous two seasons. For fully irrigated crops St George had an average yield of approximately 11.2 bales per hectare, slightly

This section brought to you in association with higher than Dirranbandi at an average of 10.7 bales per hectare. In a large part this can be attributed to the fact that Dirranbandi at 80 hot shock days suffered an extra 13 hot shock days more than St George. In a season of extremes, cold shock days were also much higher this year at 21 for Dirranbandi and 19 for St George, well above the long term average of nine days. But it is a huge credit to our amazing plant breeders and scientists that the CSIRO has been able to develop such versatile and consistently high yielding varieties for a diverse range of summers.

Planting With the 2016 winter being one of the wettest on record, with St George and Dirranbandi receiving 140 mm of rain during the first three weeks of September, a number of growers planted straight into moisture. Due to the wet winter, soil tilth was generally quite good and trash on the back to back fields had broken down quite well. Although October and

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COTTON YEARBOOK 2017 — 87

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September there was a small flow which filled Beardmore Dam and resulted in some minor flood harvesting. Growers then planted late cotton into these fields in the last week of November and the first week of December.

Early season Due to a very cool start, fields that were planted in early October didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t begin squaring until mid to late November which was 15â&#x20AC;&#x201C;20 days later than normal. Due to the cool weather the Sicot 746 didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t begin squaring on average until the 9th and 10th node while the Sicot 748 kept on partying and remained vegetative until the 12th and 13th nodes. This late pattern of fruiting combined with high early season mirid and heliothis pressure meant that there was very little first position fruit below 13 nodes. Crops that had been planted in October tended to have been tipped out by mirids and heliothis two to three times with some seedlings having up to five tipping out events before 10 nodes. All of these factors combined to delay the crop with first flowers not appearing until the week before Christmas compared to early December in an â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;averageâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; season.

Mid-season At the end of November both Dirranbandi and St George were well below the average day degrees for that time of year. From early December on, Mother Nature was determined to make up for it with excessive heat. December, January and February saw the onslaught of continuous heat waves which resulted in our total day degrees well exceeding the long term average and placing this season as the second hottest summer in the past 57 years. St George had a total of 33 days during Decemberâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;February above 40Ë&#x161;C while Dirranbandi was higher again with a total of 44

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November were generally cooler, two showers of 25 and 30 mm of rain resulted in strong plant stands. This gentle rain combined with the cooler temperatures and good seed bed tilth meant that there were very few replants in the district. Certainly being able to plant into moisture and having a full profile at the start was a great advantage for the season. This was perhaps the only reason why quite a few farms scraped through at the end of a very hot and dry summer. With the chickpea price remaining at an alltime high, a number of growers had planted these into irrigation fields. From the rain in

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days above 40˚C. The hottest day at Dirranbandi was February 12 with a peak of 46.8˚C. A combination of the cavitation caused by this heat along with high insect pressure meant that fruit retention never climbed back much above 65 per cent.

Late season With no temperature relief during February and March, growers continued to irrigate crops as best they could. Due to a lack of any effective rain on the fields or in the catchment area water was becoming tight. A number of growers ran two or three irrigations short and due to a lack of lower fruit, yields were disastrous with some fields averaging between five to seven bales per hectare even after six or seven irrigations. By the end of February some growers were willing to pay up to $500 per ML for temporary water such was the desperation to finish off the crop. While Helicoverpa and mirids had dropped off, whitefly certainly made their presence felt with some fields requiring up to three applications for this pest.

Insects It was an extreme year for insects and their management varied across the region. The

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highest number of sprays on Bollgard cotton I have heard this year was eight and the lowest was two. The farm that had only two applications at St George went on to achieve a farm average of 11.6 bales per hectare with one field on this farm yielding 12.1 bales per hectare. It is encouraging to see similar stories of success with IPM in the current spring issue of the CRDC Spotlight. Fields that were sprayed early for mirids, generally with Regent, tended to end up with infestations of mealybug in January and February. But there were reports that some fields may have been sprayed with pyrethroids for Rutherglen bugs, so it was no surprise that mealybugs and whitefly would become out of control in these crops. Due to the low early season fruit retention and continuous Helicoverpa egg lays in November and December, there was some Altacor used on these egg lays. With some growers having spent an extra $350 per hectare on insect control above the $320 per hectare Bollgard3 fee there must be a sense of déjà vu for the old conventional cotton days. Growers must also be asking themselves is this sustainable?

COTTON YEARBOOK 2017 — 89

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Considering the extremes that growers have just been through, yields overall were better than what could have been expected. Certainly those growers that ran short of water have not had a great result but fields that were fully irrigated did achieve reasonable yields. Fully irrigated fields at St George tended to average around 11.2 bales per hectare while due to the heat, Dirranbandi yields were slightly lower at an average of 10.7 bales per hectare. Quality was perhaps the biggest pleasant surprise of all. With such high temperatures throughout the season, high micronaire was a real concern, especially with the Sicot 746. But perhaps due to the low first position fruit retention and later fruiting pattern we managed to avoid too much high mic cotton. Some growers had a small percentage of cotton with high mic but it was generally limited to only 10 per cent of fields. Colour was also pleasing with the majority of the crop averaging 31s and with a percentage of bales even averaging 21-11s. The lack of colour discounts may have been due to the fact that there was little to no rain during harvest as there was certainly some potential for staining from whitefly honeydew. One of the biggest difficulties that is becoming a perennial problem is defoliation. Once again I suspect that the whitefly are having an impact on this with the honeydew restricting how much product can get through this waxy barrier into the leaf. Certainly leaves in the mid and upper canopy generally defoliate well while the lower leaves with the most honeydew are stuck on. This became even more obvious this year when a number of fields that remained below whitefly thresholds and didn’t require treatment for whitefly were able to be defoliated with two passes. During the past few seasons three defoliations have become the norm. Another reason for the difficult defoliation this year was the fact that most growers are now applying between 250–350 kg per hectare of N on back to back fields. The lower yield achieved by the plant combined with the remaining nitrogen in

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the soil tended to result in a much greener plant and leaf. This in turn may have been responsible for some of the fields receiving discounts for 4-leaf cotton.

The season ahead Having only just survived last season, growers live on to fight another year. Unfortunately though, due to the extremely dry summer followed by what has been a very dry winter, there will be very limited acres planted at this stage. Compared to the peak in 2011 of 60,000 hectares in the lower Balonne, current expectations are that we will see approximately 15,000 hectares planted this year. This consists of approximately 9500 hectares at St George, 2500 hectares at Dirranbandi and 3000 hectares at Thallon. Very few river irrigators at St George and Dirranbandi have any water for cotton at this stage with some using the last of their water on chickpeas during the winter. The irrigation area at St George will be where the bulk of the crop is grown at this stage. The Moonie River being the ever reliable system that it is has seen these two growers full at the end of May and as such will have full acres for this season. Although the above hectares do not bode well, we have been very fortunate to receive 98 mm of rain since the beginning of October. This, combined with the fact that there is now a small flow coming into Beardmore which is expected to fill the dam, will see some extra cotton planted. Currently there is not expected to be much of a flood harvesting event but with the river primed and the BOM forecast looking positive anything could happen within the next month. With areas on the Darling Downs having had 70–90 mm of rain during the past few days, should we be fortunate enough to receive a decent flow, a larger area of cotton will be planted along the river and at Dirranbandi. With the Bollgard III planting window now open to the end of December and the price of cotton still around $500 per bale, growers will jump at the opportunity to plant into early December. Fields planted last year in the first week of December at St George averaged 10.6 bales per hectare and one field achieved 11.3 bales per hectare so it is certainly still a viable option if we have heat at the end of summer. Although growers still happily reminisce about the yields achieved in the 2014–15 season, I am sure this year has given many of them nightmares and as such they will be keen to forget the 2016–17 cotton season. As we keep telling the bank managers, next season will be better!

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he area planted in the Dawson Callide was 4300 hectares of irrigated cotton and 800 hectares of dryland. The split between 746, 748 and 714 was 53, 26 and 21 per cent respectively.

Growing conditions The early crops were sown in August and enjoyed a nearly perfect season culminating in

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exceptional yields and quality. The later crops sown up to the end of December experienced a season from hell and had yields and qualities to prove it. The summer, not unlike other cotton growing areas, had the hottest and driest season on record. A tough call for any farming operation. Unfortunately, the later planted crops bore the brunt of continuous heat (over 40Â°C) from late December to early February. To drive the knife in further, cyclone Debbie in late March caused extensive boll rot. Irrigation water availability started well after an early flow in the Dawson river that saw allocations of 67 and 47 per cent for channel and river irrigators respectively. Unfortunately, there were no further flows until cyclone Debbie. This ensured the later crops always struggled for water.

Insects The usual array of mirids, rutherglen bugs, thrips, broad mites, whitefly and early season heliothis presented themselves. Sprays were required to achieve control. The heavy heliothis

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pressure caused early pin square loss but control measures were seldom required. Mealy bugs decimated some fields with no control measures available. This usually resulted from the previous use of disruptive chemistry. Thrips continue to attract attention for their ability to dislodge early pin squares and later in the crop’s life when they cluster in flowers and also cause leaf distortion. Strangely their destructive ability is overlooked in certain circles.

Diseases Diseases were rarely a problem other than the boll rots previously mentioned.

Weeds Two to three OTT sprays of Roundup Ready were required for most crops. The continuing and escalating tolerance of feathertop rhodes and sesbania to glyphosate has necessitated earlier applications and the use of Haloxyfop OTT for FTR grass control.

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per hectare. Grades varied, although high mic was prevalent and colour was base at best. The dryland yields varied greatly but did not exceed two bales per hectare. The gin turnout averaged 42.6 per cent.

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Prospects for 2017–18 While it is true that a pessimist is never disappointed, it is hard to see cotton growing this coming season, given the current weather forecasts, to be a truly rewarding and satisfying experience. That being said the brave amongst us have already launched out and planted their early fields. The most advanced is 11–12 nodes. As usual (and this never fails to please consultants) cotton is planned to be planted in every month up till the end of December. If the weather forecasts eventuate later in the year there may well be a swing away from cotton to safer alternate crops. On the flip side, interest in dryland cotton may well increase.

The Moura gin processed around 40,000 bales. As previously mentioned the August crops had a dream run and 12+ bales per hectare was common along with excellent grades. The later crops yielded between 7.5–8 bales

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hen asked about the first season of Bollgard 3, there are a few key words growers and consultants tend to use â&#x20AC;&#x201C; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;opportunityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;longâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. In Central Queensland the release of Bollgard 3 allows growers to plant from August 1 to December 31, potentially allowing cotton in the ground (in some form) for nearly 12 months of the year. Approximately 17,200 hectares of irrigated cotton and 3200 (green) hectares of dryland cotton was planted in the Central Highlands during the 2016â&#x20AC;&#x201C;17 season. The crop was planted quite evenly across the planting window with some growers wanting to plant early while other growers planted chickpeas, taking advantage of available water from winter rainfall and the price of chickpeas, before planting a late cotton crop. Like many other regions, it was a season of extremes between the heat, humidity, rainfall, or lack of rainfall, and insects (for some crops) which reflected in the yields. The wide planting window has given many irrigated growers increased flexibility in their cropping rotation program. The extended window which provides additional time for rainfall, and the current price of cotton, have led to cotton now being considered as a dryland crop rotation choice by many dryland growers in

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the Central Queensland region. During the past season the Central Highlands Cotton Growers and Irrigators Association, in conjunction with the Dawson Valley Cotton Growers Association, Cotton Australia, CSD, Monsanto, CottonInfo and Olam conducted a roadshow around Central Queensland to areas that now have greater opportunity to plant dryland cotton to showcase and introduce the industry and people that may be able to assist them in getting started.

Growing conditions Several growers in the Central Highlands were busy planting or preparing to plant in early August (while many in the industry were having a fantastic time at the Cotton Conference) taking advantage of the unseasonal warm winter. These early planted cotton crops had good establishment (around 70â&#x20AC;&#x201C;80 per cent for most growers) and a great start with warmer than average conditions throughout August and soil temperatures that only fell below 14Â°C for a couple of days in late August. Cotton crops planted in the latter half of the planting window struggled for the most part, after being exposed to nearly all aspects of extreme environmental conditions. These crops were exposed to multiple heat shock days and high humidity levels from January until March, with very little rainfall. Unfortunately, the sight of squares and fruit on the ground wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t unusual for growers and consultants. In March, after a fortnight of sporadic rainfall, we received further rainfall when ex-cyclone Debbie became a rain depression. While the rainfall received from this depression wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t as significant as forecast, it still contributed to the monthly rainfall total with growers reporting anywhere from 100â&#x20AC;&#x201C;300 mm of rainfall during the month. Unfortunately this rainfall, particular the rain associated with ex-Cyclone Debbie, did impact growers on the nearby Mackenzie River with 2500 hectares of dryland cotton being inundated with flood water. From March onwards growers saw very little rainfall and sunny days were perfect for getting the late crop off, albeit with slower defoliation programs and shorter picking days due to the cooling temperatures.

Pests and disease One of the unique and defining characteristics of the season was the high Helicoverpa

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populations and egg lays seen early in the season in some crops. These high populations followed from a bumper chickpea crop across Central Queensland, as well as persistent winter

Central Highlands cotton area

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rainfall events in inland Australia which resulted in proliferation of native hosts and provided the perfect conditions for the development of a very large and widespread population of Helicoverpa which eventually made its way into cotton crops. While Helicoverpa egg lays were a constant presence early in the season, there was very little in the way of survival in Bollgard 3 crops. This insect activity was variable on farms across the Central Highlands with some damage

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from mirids and Helicoverpa which resulted in some tipping out and the shedding of squares, with mirid populations requiring spraying. These high insect populations fell during the season with mid to late planted crops having few insect concerns. Mealybug numbers were either low or non-existent throughout the region, but their continued presence emphasised the importance of good farm hygiene and IPM practices. In the early planted crops there were low levels of seedling disease, although not enough to cause plant stand issues. In the latter half of the season, boll rots and tight lock were generally low due to little rainfall on the crop or periods of sunny weather between rainfall.

Yield and fibre Pickers made their way out of the sheds in late January and were seen around the region until late July, and for many it was definitely a novelty seeing a white field ready to be picked next to a green field still being irrigated. The valley average was 9–9.5 bales per hectare with another year of great fibre quality. The better yields were derived from either early planted crops with farm averages of 10–12 bales per hectare or late planted crops where soil types suited the environmental conditions. It was another fantastic year for fibre quality with over 90 per cent of the crop achieving base grade colour. However the constant heat throughout January to March did cause some issues with high micronaire in the late planted crops.

Annual grower awards To celebrate the end of a great season the Central Highlands Cotton Growers and Irrigators Association Annual Awards Dinner was on Friday

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25 August in Emerald. Over 220 guests from around the Central Highlands region celebrated and showcased the region’s cotton industry in style with a masquerade ball. The CHCG&IA 2017 Grower Service to Industry was awarded to Catherine Galea recognising her contributions to the local industry over the past 20 years including being part of the Cotton Dinner Committee for the past 15 years. The Iain Mackay Memorial 2017 Non-Grower Service to Industry Award was awarded to the DAF team (Paul Grundy, Gail Spargo, Ngaire Roughley, Sharna Holman, Jamie Iker and Carlo Stangherlin from Cowal Agriculture) for their work with early cotton planting trials run in the region over the past four seasons. Over this period of time they also ran numerous field days and workshop for growers and consultants to engage with the science and results of these trials. Cowal Agriculture were the winners of the 2017 Irrigated Yield Awards with farm averages of 11.87 bales per hectare at ‘Jabiwarra’, 11.18 bales per hectare at ‘Trawalla’ and 11.07 bales per hectare at ‘Braylands’. The Emerald Agricultural College came a close second with an average of 10.94 bales per hectare, followed by Scott Russell ‘Consuelo’ with 10.91 bales per hectare. The awards this year also included an inaugural rain-grown yield award to recognise and showcase the potential of dryland cotton around the Central Queensland region. This inaugural rain-grown yield award went to Neek and Robyn Morawitz, ‘Windy Hills’, with a raingrown crop average of 4.69 bales per hectare (green hectares). The 2017 Quality Award was awarded to Max and Lynne Mayne ‘Mayneland’ who achieved 399.6 points. Second place was the Emerald Agricultural College, followed by Ross Burnett ‘Barwin Agriculture’. The results from the awards were extremely close and reflected the high quality cotton coming from the region.

Prospects for 2017–18

The Cowal Agriculture team accepting the 2017 Irrigated Yield Award with Sponsor Cotton Grower Services’ Michael Smith. 96 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

With estimates of around 17,500 hectares for the 2017–18 season and 100 per cent allocation, the coming season is looking favourable for cotton growers in the Central Highlands. Approximately 13,000 hectares has already been planted, with majority of the remaining crop to be planted after chickpeas have been harvested. Many dryland growers are waiting for further rainfall to fill the soil profile, so with luck (and a bit more rain) there should be additional dryland hectares planted in November and December

Water wins for growers, but much work remains �� 98 Reliable river flow forecasts put Australia on the front foot 101 Bringing overseas overhead experience back home �� 104 Smarter irrigation technology tour – lessons from the south �� 106 Cotton water storage snapshot �� 110

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Water wins for growers, but much work remains By Michael Murray, Cotton Australia

rom late 2016, an alliance of community and irrigator groups fought hard under the ‘#MoreThanFlow’ banner to successfully bring the issue of the Northern Basin Review to the attention or regulators and politicians. Our alliance’s message was simple : “Enough is enough, stop the water recovery at the current level of 278 GL. Invest the funds that would have been spent on further water recovery on complementary measures, such as reducing cold water pollution and improving fish passage.” The coordinated effort of the alliance built on the great work of all the member organisations, other community based groups and individuals to highlight the impact of a plan that only focused on adding more water. The #MoreThanFlow campaign convinced hundreds of business owners, farmers and community leaders to lodge submissions to the MDBA, sending a clear message to the regulators in Canberra. Cotton Australia’s own Communications team worked hard to bring the harsh realities

of the MDBP’s impact on regional communities to a wide audience. They travelled hundreds of kilometres to conduct video interviews with business and community leaders in towns throughout the Northern Basin. The campaign, and subsequent submissions, were in response to the MDBA’s draft recommendation made in late 2016. The MDBA’s headline proposal in its recommendation was to adjust the Murray Darling Basin Plan (MDBP) to require a total of 320 GL of water to be recovered. Although a reduction from the 390 GL target for 2019 that has been in place for some time, it still represents an increase on the 278 GL that has been recovered to date, and which has already caused significant harm to irrigators and communities affected by the Plan. To their credit, the MDBA recommendation also included the application of a ‘toolkit’ of non-flow measures that would be important to achieving environmental outcomes. But Cotton Australia argued the MDBA’s recommendation fell short, failing both the farmers and the 21 communities affected across northern NSW and southern Queensland. In summary, Cotton Australia believes that water recovery should stop at its current levels, and the funds that have been allocated for further water acquisition should be re-invested in complementary measures including cold water pollution mitigation, carp control and improved native fish passage. While this phase of the Northern Review is now over, our campaign to make managing the Northern Basin about #MoreThanFlow is far from complete. The opportunity to pass judgement on the MDBA’s recommendation may extend to late 2017 or even early 2018.

Southern Basin The MDBP’s Southern Basin also received some attention in the past year, with the passage of changes to the Water Act through Federal Parliament in November 2016. Cotton Australia believes water recovery should stop at current levels. 98 – COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

The legislation granted an additional year to find water saving projects to implement the MDBP, and changes the operation of the

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Sustainable Diversion Limit (SDL) Adjustment Mechanism with the intention of eliminating the need for further water purchases in the Southern Basin. The changes allow an additional 12 months to scope out water-saving projects, with the focus shifting to the states to do the detailed planning required to make these projects a reality in order to deliver the full 650 gigalitres of SDL adjustments. Cotton Australia has been working hard with other irrigator groups to ensure the full 650 GL of offset measures are realised. Should the projects be delivered, the MDBP could be implemented without resorting to additional water entitlement buybacks, which Cotton Australia has strongly argued against in the past. Cotton Australia thanked Deputy PM and Minister for Agriculture & Water Resources, Barnaby Joyce, for driving the changes, and also acknowledged the bipartisan support that resulted in the changes passing through Parliament.

Carp control and other complementary measures Long-term advocacy in conjunction with other irrigation industry organisations produced results for growers in other areas. In May, Cotton Australia welcomed the announcement of a nationally coordinated approach to eliminating the common carp from inland rivers. The $15 million National Carp

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Control Plan has been allocated as part of this year’s Federal Budget, and will be supported by a Ministerial task force which will be established to coordinate efforts over federal and state jurisdictions. The most important element of the initiative is the creation of a National Carp Control Plan that intends to release the carp control virus by the end of 2018 – potentially the single biggest positive towards improving the environmental health of Murray Darling Basin river systems. This program is a great example of a complementary measure with good environmental, social and economic outcomes. In Queensland, Cotton Australia has been diligently working on several infrastructure and governance projects to benefit irrigating farmers. Advocacy has focused on advancing two major projects – the utilisation of additional entitlement on the Dawson River in Central Queensland, and the Brisbane-to-Darling Downs recycled water pipeline, which could bring in excess of 100,000 megalitres of high security water onto the Downs each year.

ADVOCACY ACHIEVEMENTS THROUGH TEAMWORK The wins of the past year in the water security space have been the collective effort of our industry. Very rarely can an organisation claim sole credit for a positive outcome. Cotton Australia’s policy setting is guided by its members, primarily the Cotton Grower Associations. We also work very closely with a wide number of valley or catchmentbased groups. These include Smartrivers, Central Downs Irrigators Limited (CDIL), Border Rivers Food and Fibre (BRFF), Gwydir Valley Irrigators Association (GVIA), Lachlan Valley Water, Namoi Water, Macquarie River Food and Fibre (MRFF) and Barwon-Darling Water. In addition we are formal members of National Farmers’ Federation (NFF), National Irrigators Council (NIC), New South Wales Irrigators’ Council (NSWIC) and Queensland Farmers’ Federation (QFF).

Releasing the carp virus will be a positive move for the river system. 100 – COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

Furthermore, on an issue-by-issue basis, we work with state farming organisations such as, NSW Farmers and AgForce. In addition, we have close relationships with, and support where appropriate, groups like Fairbairn Water, Theodore Water and the St George Irrigation Scheme.

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Reliable river flow forecasts put Australia on the front foot By Thea Williams

ustralia has one of the most variable climates in the world. Irregular rainfall and high rates of evaporation mean that reliable river flows are limited and Australia has “the smallest volumes of run-off of all the inhabited continents,” according to the report, Building resilience to drought: The Millennium Drought and water reform in Australia, published by the Australian Water Partnership. As a result, the report says, “Australia depends on its water storage more than other developed countries do, and stores more water per head of population than anywhere else in the world.”

The trigger for change The severity of the millennium drought triggered a comprehensive response by the Australian Government to reform water management – long-horizon in scope, ambitious in scale and transformative in nature. On paper, one of the changes seems like a bureaucratic piece of regulation, but the federal government Water Act 2007 has revolutionised the way we think about water, simply by empowering good decision-making through knowledge. The Act granted the Director of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology the power to issue national standards for water information, and to collate, analyse and disseminate water information as a foundation for more efficient water use and sharing of Australia’s river and groundwater systems.

WIRADA brings national, reliable water information The Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO subsequently formed a critical partnership in 2008, the Water Information Research and Development Alliance – WIRADA. Using complex science, millions of water and climate measurements for catchments across the continent, and a range of new analysis methods, WIRADA has produced publicly available river flow forecasts and water information. Where once more than 200 different organisations around the country collected information about water availability from rivers,

streams, dams, lakes and reservoirs, Australia now has national, reliable water information covering: • Streamflow forecasts that regional water managers use for decisions about scheduling and allocating water. • Data transfer formats that are now embedded in water industry software and used by water agencies to exchange water information. • Landscape water balance models that underpin national water accounting. • On-going regional water availability assessments. • A digital elevation model for the continent and improved rainfall and evapotranspiration estimates. Eight years and $65 million in the making, this work has involved more than 200 scientists working across 27 research projects.

Empowering water managers and farmers Warwick McDonald, Research Director and inaugural Director of WIRADA: “From a water manager’s perspective, access to reliable water forecasts is of great practical and economic value – this was priority research for WIRADA,” he says. “The Bureau is now providing a series of publicly available products and services that forecast the availability of water in rivers for 0–7 days for the short term, to support flood forecasting, right through to a seasonal outlook for stream flows into our major dams so that allocations can be made by the water authorities.” The seven-day streamflow forecasts mean that, when natural flows are expected, water managers can release less water in irrigation systems. They are also better informed in meeting the high and low flow needs of rivers and wetlands. Reservoir operators are also better informed and farmers can make more informed water management decisions. The seasonal streamflow forecasts can influence important decisions about water allocations, cropping strategies, water market planning, environmental watering, operation of COTTON YEARBOOK 2017 – 101

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multi-storage water supply schemes, and water supply restriction during drought. With more than 100 international science journal papers published based on the work, some in prestigious hydrology journals such as Water Resources Research and the Journal of Hydrology, Warwick adds that the publication record alone shows CSIRO’s contribution to the underpinning science that made the Bureau’s information products and services possible.

A paradigm shift in water management The accuracy of the forecasts was improved by up to 30 per cent, thanks to a significant advance in developing statistical methods to correct biases in precipitation forecasts from weather and climate models. Professor George Kuczera from the University of Newcastle, who specialises in the use of Bayesian statistical methods in hydrological applications, says the research has created a “paradigm shift in Australian water management.” He describes the technical challenges of this work as “formidable” and the research outcomes as “impressive, not only in their originality but also in their elegance.” Dr Rob Vertessy, recently retired as CEO of the Bureau of Meteorology, says the research is a breakthrough for Australia and the world. “Very creative thinking has been applied to a very common problem: How much water will flow in our rivers in the days, weeks and months ahead?” he said. “The project has delivered very novel solutions to a long-standing problem that no-one had previously cracked. In this regard, it is best classified as a substantial advance – or rather a massive breakthrough – in understanding a current problem.” 102 – COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

The Bureau of Meteorology compares the modelled forecasts against historical data for the same three-month period, and indicates whether the forecast flow is more likely to fall into the bottom (low flow), middle (near-median flow) or top third (high flow) of historical flows.

Taking our water forecasting expertise to the world CSIRO researchers and Bureau staff are also helping other countries establish their own water forecasting systems, with almost 50 research collaborators. In the US, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Centre has won a nationally competitive grant to collaborate with the Australian team to evaluate its methods for operational forecasting of seasonal climate. CSIRO’s Dr QJ Wang and Andrew Schepen are principal researchers on this work. Dr Wang is also co-chair of HEPEX, a major international initiative in hydrology. Operations team leader from the Bureau of Meteorology, Dr Narendra Tutja, leads contributions to the World Meteorological Organisation guidelines for water forecasting, which draw on the Australian example of operation water forecasting. Dr Vazken Andréassian, Deputy Scientific Director of Hydrology and Hydraulics at the French National Research Institute of Science and Technology for Environment and Agriculture, says the forecasting methods are “truly remarkable, and effectively unique in the world.” “Of course, the forecasting models will not make rain fall,” he adds. “But, at last, Australia will be able to face the future challenges of water management in a changing climate.” Adapted from an article which first appeared in CSIRO ECOS magazine, October 2016.

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Bringing overseas overhead experience back home

otton growers in Australia are changing the way they farm, after years of drought forced a rethink of water management practices.

industry sponsored Nuffield Scholarship to research the possibilities. It took him to the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Israel, England and New Zealand over four months.

Furrow irrigation has long been the hero of the cotton industry but now increasing numbers of growers are turning to overhead sprinkler irrigation to give them more flexibility over where and how to use their water allocations.

“The idea wasn’t to go and look at just cotton farms overseas,

Tom Quigley, who with his parents and brothers runs ‘Muntham’, a mixed irrigation and dryland farming and livestock operation at Trangie, is among those who now grow cotton under an overhead sprinkler system. The catalyst for Muntham to make the change was the significant government incentives to invest in more water- efficient farm infrastructure, in exchange for water entitlements under the 2007 Murray-Darling basin plan. “We’d been through a long drought and hadn’t had a lot of water, so we wanted the ability to grow any crop into the future, with a wide range of water allocations,” says Tom. But with cotton having been grown under furrow irrigation on Muntham since the 1960s, they faced the question of how to make the best use their new Valley Central Pivot and Lateral Move irrigators. Tom applied for, and won, a $30,000 cotton-

I wanted to meet farmers who have been growing crops under overhead sprinkler irrigation for a long period of time to accelerate our learning,” explains Tom. Armed with his new knowledge, the family began experimenting on their own cotton crops and discovered they could obtain great yields using less water, but it needed a whole new way of thinking. “There’s a real stigma in the cotton industry that overhead irrigation machines can’t keep up with the demand of the cotton crop,” says Tom, “but the crux of it is you can’t grow it the same way as you grow a furrow irrigated cotton crop. You have to treat them as two entirely different crops.” He found growing cotton on the flat as opposed to the traditional raised beds of furrow irrigation was important because it reduces runoff and waterlogging. Ground cover, strip tilling and machine upkeep are some of the other key changes Tom identified as necessary. He says ground cover, such as retained stubble or a cover crop will reduce evaporation, retain soil moisture and help wet the seedbed evenly during early germination – all crucial for high yields and water use efficiency. Cotton is a small and fussy crop to establish but the Quigley family has had success implementing strip tilling at 30 cm strips one metre apart with a 70 cm untilled section to keep the stubble yet still providing a fine seed bed for germination. Muntham has been able to improve its water use efficiency and noticed a 10 per cent increase in their yields. The property is now regularly achieving two bales per megalitre of water applied.

Tom Quigley. 104 – COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

It also enabled them to use small amounts of water to grow opportunity crops when they needed to.

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SUPPORTING COTTON GROWERS with the 5p’s

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Smarter irrigation technology tour – lessons from the south By Amanda Waterman

ew irrigation research offers excellent options for growers to improve efficiency and yield through more precise scheduling and application technology. Last December, a group of 29 cotton growers, irrigators and consultants from northern NSW, the Darling Downs and Kununurra (WA) visited the southern NSW irrigation industry looking at some of the different irrigation layouts and automation systems in action. Their common goal was to learn more about maximising efficiencies in water use, energy and labour. The three-day tour, hosted by NSW DPI’s Sustaining the Basin: Irrigation Farm Modernisation (STBIFM) program and CottonInfo, visited irrigation farms located in the Goulburn–Murray, Coleambally and Murrumbidgee irrigation areas, covering dairy, rice and cotton production systems. STBIFM contributes to building the capability and knowledge of irrigators that maintain or improve irrigation efficiency in communities across the northern Murray–Darling Basin, and the tour aligned perfectly with the program’s capacity building objectives. The STBIFM program strengthens irrigators’ capacity to increase their water use efficiency and offers

Some of the group learning about Padman Stops’ portable timer. 106 – COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

opportunities to learn from leading industry experts and industry advisors across a range of technical areas. STBIFM program leader, Michael Grabham, said the tour was a great way for irrigators, irrigation designers and irrigation consultants to come together to share ideas and learn from other irrigation operations in southern NSW and northern Victoria. “The tour provided irrigators with an opportunity to look at different systems, designs and structures to see what might work on their properties,” Michael said. CottonInfo’s water use efficiency technical specialist, Janelle Montgomery, led the tour and attendees benefited greatly from her understanding of alternative irrigation design and the potential for automation. “The tour gave irrigators the opportunity to hear first-hand from farmers who have fully automated surface irrigation systems and have confidence in the technology. This is important, because the cotton industry is still in its infancy in terms of automation adoption,” Janelle said. Evaluation of the tour showed participants increased their knowledge and understanding of automation equipment and how they could adapt it for use on their farms. In fact, 93 per cent said they would be doing something on their farms as a result of what they had learnt on the tour. This included trialling a different surface irrigation design, adopting remote monitoring, changing scheduling practices, as well as being better informed and knowing what questions to ask when talking with irrigation designers. It’s important to note that a number of irrigators who went on the 2015 irrigation automation tour were inspired by what they saw and heard and have since implemented change on their farms. A cotton irrigator from Macalister on the Darling Downs, said that the trip was an opportunity to see how automation could reduce labour requirements and see how flood irrigation issues such as deep drainage and waterlogging could be mitigated. Another grower commented that there are a lot of new ideas in the irrigation industry and coming on

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the tour was a good chance to evaluate what might be the best for their own system.

The tour visited 10 farms where growers and consultants met the farmers and industry experts who have already initiated some different automated irrigation systems. From this, growers envisaged what they could achieve in their own operation. They also gained important insights into the decision-making processes for investing in these systems, how risk is managed, and adopting complementary water management tools and technologies. Tour participants saw the main benefits of irrigation automation as labour savings – removing the stressful 24-hour monitoring of conventional siphon systems and with minimal tailwater losses.

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cotton and maize farm at Berrigan, and seeing the pipe through the bank system that included a distribution pontoon in action, Ian said he was interested in trialling a similar system. “The reason I like this system is it is so simple, cheap to install and easy to automate. To trial on our farm, we would grade our rotabuck areas out, install a pontoon and put in a pipe through the bank. I can’t believe such a simple system works so well,” Ian said.

Growers sometimes find the economics of adopting new on-farm technology and processes inhibiting. But STBIFM capacity building activities such as this tour are a great way for irrigators to see application technologies and precise scheduling first-hand, and for the irrigators who have embraced new technology to demonstrate how they have used smarter irrigation. Ian Hayllor, a flood irrigator from Dalby using traditional siphons (and a lot of labour!), was on the tour to learn how he can use his water more efficiently. After visiting Noel Baxter’s irrigated

The portable timer installed on pipes through bank.

COTTON YEARBOOK 2017 – 107

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Efficient on-farm irrigation is a team effort. STBIFM looks forward to continued collaboration with irrigators as well as consultants and other industry advisors, to expand irrigators’ knowledge base. Irrigators interested in learning more about STBIFM’s capacity building program are encouraged to visit the STBIFM website. For

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more detailed information about the various sites visited on the tour, read the tour booklet. This tour was a collaborative event supported by the Australian Government’s Department of Agriculture and Water Resources as part of the Rural R&D for Profit and Sustainable Rural Water Use and Infrastructure Program, Rubicon/ FarmConnect, Padman Stops, Cotton Research and Development Corporation, Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, Dairy Australia, Sugar Research Australia and National Centre for Engineering in Agriculture.

Funding to improve efficiency Northern NSW irrigators with eligible entitlements have shared in $111 million funding to upgrade and modernise on-farm infrastructure through the NSW Sustaining the Basin: Irrigated Farm Modernisation program. Infrastructure upgrades have delivered real benefits for irrigators, including greater flexibility in crop choice, improved operation efficiencies, increased yields and increased water efficiency.

Ian Hayllor, Nathan Hewitt and Greg Bender from the Darling Downs on Noel Baxter’s farm at Berrigan, looking at pipes through the bank.

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Cotton water storage snapshot

oing into the new season, the overall water storage situation is slightly less than it was at this time last year, but most irrigators will be looking at above average allocations for the season. Murrumbidgee â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Burrinjuck

Lachlan Valley â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Wyangala

2016â&#x20AC;&#x201C;17

2015â&#x20AC;&#x201C;16

2016â&#x20AC;&#x201C;17

Capacity (ML)

2015â&#x20AC;&#x201C;16

Wyangala Dam

Volume % Sep 30 (ML) full

1,220,000

1,032,852

85%

Capacity (ML) Burrinjuck Dam

Volume % full Sep 30 (ML)

1,026,000

Full capacity (ML)

Current (ML) (Sep 30, 2017)

1,301000 82,000 106,000

Glenlyon Dam Pindari Dam Copeton Dam Split Rock Dam Keepit Dam Burrendong Dam Windamere Dam Wyangala Dam Burrinjuck Dam Hume

TOTAL

617,652

60%

% full 2017

% full 2016

469,500 48,716 15,708

36 59 15

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250,000 312,000 1,362,000 397,000 425,000 1,188,000 368,000 1,220,000 1,026,000 3,005,156

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Boosting the cotton industry workforce

otton Australia has devoted considerable resources in the workforce space over the past year, including advocacy initiatives and programs designed to boost the industry’s access to labour.

Industry-wide workforce plan The Australian cotton industry’s on-farm workforce strategy was endorsed in 2016, setting a clear plan for delivering on priority industry on-farm workforce needs. Cotton Australia is now implementing the industry’s workforce strategy, with key activities including the WHS workshops and working to incorporate People in Ag into the myBMP system. Cotton Australia Workforce and Training Coordinator Rebecca Fing continues to drive key workforce activities alongside Cotton Australia’s regional managers.

$14.7 million training funding secured for NSW growers The NSW Government has announced a $14.7 million investment in training for the cotton and grain industries across the state. The funding is part of the NSW Government’s Ag Skilled strategy, developed in close consultation with Cotton Australia and the GRDC and will be allocated over a three-year period under the NSW Government’s Smart and Skilled training program.

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AgSkilled will fund training around four key pillars: safety, production, technology and business. Cotton Australia is currently undertaking a training needs analysis of the cotton industry to ensure training meets the needs of growers. Training programs have already been rolled out, with more on the way.

Cotton Gap program creates cotton pathways The inaugural Cotton Gap program, facilitated by Cotton Australia, successfully connected six school-leavers taking a ‘gap year’ with cotton growers seeking operational staff. The program assists growers with meeting labour requirements and attracts new entrants to one of Australia’s most innovative and forward-thinking agricultural industries. Employers are supported to ensure they are meeting their workplace health and safety and employment requirements (through myBMP) with ongoing support from Cotton Australia. Additionally, entry-level training is delivered for the new industry entrants. The program for 2017–18 is now being rolled out – for detail, go to the Cotton Australia website: www.CottonAustralia.com.au

Leadership programs boost industry capacity Each year, Cotton Australia and its partners support a number of leadership programs to increase the capacity of the cotton workforce into the future. The courses sponsored by Cotton Australia are vital to build the skills of emerging leaders, helping them to acquire the practical skills and knowledge they need. Cotton Australia and the Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC) continue to support: • The Australian Future Cotton Leaders Program for 15 emerging cotton industry leaders to develop leadership knowledge, skills and experience

Cotton Australia Workforce and Training Coordinator Rebecca Fing. 114 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

• The Peter Cullen Water and Environment Trust’s Science-to-Policy Leadership Program for individuals currently working in the science, policy or management of water. Zara Lowien (Moree) and Tim Napier (Border Rivers) were sponsored for the 2016 program

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• Nuffield Australia Farming Scholarships for exemplary cotton growers or farm managers between the ages of 28 to 40 with a research interest. Daniel Kahl (Wee Waa) was sponsored for the 2017 program. Cotton Australia, the CRDC and Auscott Ltd also support the Australian Rural Leadership Program for established leaders currently working in or for the cotton industry.

Training for employees and employers Again in the 2016–17 season, Cotton Australia ran a series of workshops to help growers in Queensland understand their legal and industry obligations in terms of work health and safety (WHS) and human resources. The workshops – run at no cost to attendees – were

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made possible with funding and support from Cotton Australia and WorkCover Queensland. In collaboration with TAFE NSW, Cotton Australia help secure $30,000 in funding for 40 participants to undertake training in Moree.

Promoting careers in agriculture The People In Agriculture website – www. peopleinag.com.au – was launched in December 2016 to promote careers and career pathways in agricultural industries, including cotton. The website provides information on employment law, news, career management and professional practice – built for all employees and employers within agriculture. The Australian cotton industry was represented on the new website’s steering committee by Cotton Australia’s Rebecca Fing and CRDC’s Ian Taylor.

Backpacker tax issue resolved following coordinated campaign

Mike Bange was one of the 26 participants from CSIRO Narrabri to take part in a ‘Flight Foundations’ drone course with UAVAIR. “It was some of the best training I’ve ever done – the training covered the essentials of drone operation and included some very pertinent practical tips for using the technology and analysing drone data.”

Participants at recent AgSkilled training on drones. 116 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

The issue of working holiday-maker taxation was finally resolved in December 2016, ending 18 months of political games. Cotton Australia worked with its allies to ensure the issue remained firmly on the political agenda until the compromise was reached. Cotton Australia was a part of a coordinated campaign with the National Farmers’ Federation, the Queensland Farmers’ Federation and many other allied groups across farming and tourism in prosecuting the case for a sensible rate of 15 per cent. The Government’s original proposal, if implemented, would have taxed backpackers as non-residents from July 1, 2016, removing access to the tax-free threshold and requiring working holiday visa holders to pay 32.5 cents for every dollar earned. To build the case against the proposed 32.5 per cent tax rate, Cotton Australia participated in a number of Government reviews, lodged numerous submissions, attended face-to-face consultations on behalf of growers, lobbied political leaders to find a resolution and compiled three grower case studies to highlight the impact of the tax on the Australian cotton industry. The organisation also participated in the NFF’s online campaign via the Australian Farmers platform, kept the issue in the media to pressure political leaders, and rallied our allies on social media to seek a resolution. Almost 50,000 people signed an online petition to help stop the proposed 32.5 per cent tax. The 15 per cent tax rate helps restore Australia’s competitiveness as a destination for backpackers. Importantly, certainty was restored for Australian growers, who rely on seasonal labour at critical times of the season, and rural communities that rely on agriculture.

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Promoting new industry talent

he cotton industry has continued to provide opportunities and career paths to the emerging generation of cotton leaders. Timothy Chaffey of Quirindi and Richard Malone of Griffith have been selected as cotton’s participants in course 24 of the Australian Rural Leadership Program (ARLP), supported by CRDC, Cotton Australia and Auscott Limited. Timothy and Richard are among 33 leaders from diverse industries, communities and backgrounds selected to undertake the ARLP: a 15-month leadership program which takes place across Australia and Indonesia, immersing rural, regional and remote leaders in a series of unique experiences to develop their leadership capabilities.

Nuffield scholar Luke McKay from Kununurra, Western Australia has received a Nuffield Scholarship supported by Cotton Australia and the Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC), Luke’s research will focus on issues relevant to tropical cotton-growing systems such as double cropping, rotation crops, irrigation methods, staff requirements, machinery requirements, and resource and environmental management. Luke is farm manager at Kimberley Agricultural Investment (KAI), where he oversees

Luke McKay. 118 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

all KAI’s cropping throughout the Ord River valley, north of Kununurra. KAI were named as the preferred proponent for the Ord expansion in 2012, which has inspired Luke’s interest in further exploring the cropping and irrigation systems best suited to the area. This will focus on finding ways to adjust current systems to allow for cotton production. “KAI and other Ord farmers are not alone in their ambitions to develop irrigated farming in Northern Australia. Outside the Ord Valley, there are currently operations being undertaken to develop and farm large areas in the Flinders and Gilbert catchments of North Queensland, with cotton in mind to be the base crop,” Luke says. “We are confident the cotton industry will grow and be profitable in the North, but on my study tour I want to research the best systems to achieve this.” On his study tour, Luke will travel to Brazil, Canada, China and USA, as well as locally to North Queensland, to learn from other growers in similar farming conditions.

Cotton’s new young champions Jess Lehmann and Nellie Evans have been selected as CRDC’s inaugural Young Farming Champions (YFC). Run by Art4Agriculture, the YFC program identifies youth ambassadors and future influencers working in agriculture.

Jess Lehmann.

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COTTON YEARBOOK 2017 — 119

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YFC program is the latest in a wide range of programs supported by CRDC – from Art4Agriculture through to Nuffield and the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation – all focused on providing development opportunities for people in cotton. It’s a recognition that people really are our most important resource.

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Nellie Evans.

Jess Lehmann is the daughter of well-known consultant, the late Chris Lehmann, hails from the family cotton farm at Narrabri, and works in cotton research. Nellie Evans studied landscape architecture before discovering cotton on the plains of Warren, Bourke and Gunnedah and changing her career direction. She is now a fourth year agricultural science student at the University of Sydney. CRDC has partnered with Art4Agriculture for the first time in 2017 through its support of the YFC program. The

At Dinner Plain the pace is easy going...

Holly Chandler is the recipient of the 2017 Horizon Scholarship, supported by CRDC. Holly is studying agribusiness at Curtin University in her hometown of Perth. The Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation (RIRDC) Horizon Scholarship is awarded to firstyear university students studying agriculturerelated degrees. The scholarship provides $5000 per year for the duration of a student’s university degree. The scholarship offers students industry work placements, access to industry leaders, professional development assistance and opportunities to network and gain knowledge at a range of industry events. Holly’s goal is to make a positive change to an industry which plays an integral role in everybody’s lives. “The agricultural industry must be revolutionised by the next generation to contend with the growing demand for food. I hope to facilitate this adaption by using my degree to pursue a career in sustainable agriculture,” she says. “I’m keen to embrace the unique opportunities the Horizon Scholarship offers and in particular become more involved with industry professionals to gain industry knowledge and understand the current problems agriculture is facing,” she said.

Dinner Plain is the place where the family can be together by the fireside or miles apart exploring the cross-country trail network. Where you stroll the treelined streets simply for the sights or to meet friends for a restaurant dinner or drinks at the bar. The village itself helps set the community atmosphere, natural building materials and earthy tones blur the line between man made and alpine environment. Over 200 lodges and chalets with all the conveniences of a modern resort.

Dinner Plain is the place for your next holiday. Explore our website at

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Holly Chandler. 120 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

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Increasing capability in cotton

o maintain the cotton industry’s competitive advantage, we need to actively engage in the future direction of agriculture and start to challenge our way of thinking. CSIRO’s Trudy Staines has been leading a project, with support from the CRDC, to address the issues of skilled labour shortages such as attraction, retention and development. Trudy has used experiential learning to engage students from primary schools, high schools and universities within the agriculture sector to improve the supply of suitably qualified professional personnel. Some of the project programs have included the Primary Schools Enviro Stories Competition, the Science and Engineering Investigation Awards and placing secondary school students with agricultural organisations for their work experience. In addition, students studying agriculture related courses at university participated in industry placements within agribusiness service roles – this was achieved by matching their skills with employer needs. Since 2014, around 30 students have participated in industry placements, and of those, six are now directly involved with the cotton industry, eight are employed in an agricultural industry and 11 are in transition to employment. There is an increasing need for employees with skills in digital technologies, robotics, data analytics, engineering and drone operation. These skills are sought after not only in research, but for on farm operations. To further add value to the cotton industry, we propose to match agricultural businesses with students from a greater range of academic backgrounds – not just agricultural students, but students studying in the fields of digital technologies, data analytics and robotics. This would have a significant benefit to the cotton industry by enhancing standard practices with insights from modern disciplines to drive innovation and impact.

• Showcasing cotton research to 127 students and teachers with tours of the Australian Cotton Research Institute (ACRI) Narrabri. • Coordinating the annual Enviro Stories competition which is run in conjunction with Peek designs and the CRDC. It is a program designed for students to write a story on an environmental theme and have the opportunity to have it published. This year’s theme was ‘Sensational Soils’ and the competition has just been finalised. See http://www.envirostories.com.au/get-involved/ water-in-rural-communities/ • Organising school visits and workshops where CSIRO and NSW DPI staff conduct hands on workshops for schools, in schools and at the ACRI.

These kids love playing in ‘sensational soils.’

Education Highlights for 2017 • Having the cotton industry exposed to over 2850 secondary and tertiary students at career expos in Armidale, Wagga Wagga, Coonabarabran and Tamworth and actively engaging with 354 of them.

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Drone training at the ACRI. COTTON YEARBOOK 2017 — 121

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Improving cotton’s sustainability performance

he Australian cotton industry is under pressure from a multitude of sources to continually improve and report on their sustainability performance. Agriculture is subject to environmental and social regulations enforced by government. The industry is increasingly asked by customers to report on the use of sustainable management actions. The customers in turn sell to major retailers who want to demonstrate sustainability in their supply chain – and media stories and public campaigns focussing on pesticides or water use can be extremely damaging to an industry’s social license-to-operate. It is important for the Australian cotton industry to respond to these pressures in order to gain or maintain access to national and international markets, demonstrate the effectiveness of their environmental and social investments, and communicate to the public and policy makers where improvements to practice

The Gap for Good Initiative uses BCI cotton to market Gap as an environmental and socially sustainable clothing retailer. Photo taken in October, 2017 by Erin Peterson at Gap Inc. in Portland, Oregon, USA. 122 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

are providing real benefits. But the sheer number of sustainability initiatives and issues makes it difficult to determine who, what, and how sustainability should be reported. Queensland University of Technology (QUT) researchers involved in the CRDC funded Project “Improving the ability of the Australian cotton industry to report its sustainability performance” are working with industry to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of sustainability messaging and reporting. This includes a review of sustainability initiatives in the cotton value chain, where 50 of the biggest multinational companies were selected based on their annual revenue and volume of production. As expected, many firms were connected to the Better Cotton Initiative (32 of 50 firms), but they were also associated with other sustainability initiatives. QUT researchers found 328 different sustainability initiatives that at least two of the 50 firms had signed on to and 949 in total. 55 per cent of the initiatives focused on social issues, 37 per cent on environmental issues, and eight per cent on both. The next step in the three-year project, due to complete October 2019, is to map this diverse array of sustainability reporting requirements to existing data sources that have been, or could be used for sustainability reporting. This includes Grower Survey data, myBMP statistics, and data from industry-funded projects, among others. The goal is to ensure that all sustainability reporting needs are met so that growers receive the full benefits of environmentally and socially responsible practices, while also removing redundancy in reporting. The main outcome of this project will be an industry-wide information repository that can be interrogated by the CRDC for different sustainability reporting needs, as well as visualisation tools that can be used to communicate the results to stakeholders in the value chain. This will set the industry up for on-going sustainability reporting, while lessening the burden of reporting on growers and industry staff. This will enable the cotton industry to show leadership in the proactive management of natural and human resources and demonstrate global leadership in sustainable agriculture; providing a competitive advantage over other cotton producers and a robust estimate of sustainability.

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Benefits of beneficial bats By Sean Freney, Dr Erin Peterson and Dr Susan Fuller, Queensland University of Technology

ats provide valuable benefits to the Australian cotton industry through pest suppression. Sean Freney, a QUT Honours student working with Drs Susan Fuller and Erin Peterson, is investigating whether the presence of remnant vegetation patches and vegetation corridors along creeks and roads increase on-farm bat activity. Ultrasonic acoustic sensors were deployed at 11 sites on cotton farms near Narrabri with the help of Stacey Vogel (CottonInfo) and the

Sean Freney, QUT Honours student and Brendan Doohan QUT Research Assistant installing Ultrasonic acoustic sensors. 124 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

local growers. The sensors were set up in four different cotton landscapes: cotton monoculture, cotton adjacent to road corridors, cotton adjacent to creek corridors and cotton adjacent to remnant vegetation. Bat calls were recorded over four nights and a total of 4969 calls from 10 different taxa were identified. Analysis of the data showed significantly less bat activity in the cotton monoculture sites compared to those in cotton adjacent to vegetation corridors and remnant vegetation patches, which had the highest bat activity. There results also showed differences in the diversity of bats found in the different cotton landscapes, with the most diversity found near remnant vegetation. The most common bat taxa found across all sites were those from the genus Mormopterus, which includes a number of free-tailed bat species with similar calls. These bats are insectivorous and include species such as the Bristle-face free-tailed bat (M. eleryi), which is found in riparian and floodplain woodlands; the southern free-tailed bat (M. planiceps), which feeds along the edges of forest vegetation and roads; and the Rides free-tailed bat (M. ridei), which feeds extensively on agricultural pests and other species. The most common bat species found across all four cotton landscapes was Gould’s Wattled Bat (Chalinolbus gouldii), which feeds on moths and is a common occupant of bat boxes. The results of this study add to a growing body of evidence that native vegetation plays an important role in integrated pest management. It may also be possible to strategically ‘design’ vegetated areas on cotton farms to promote bat activity and optimise on-farm ecosystem services.

The most common bat species found across all four cotton landscapes was Gould’s Wattled Bat.

Developments in autonomous tractors ��126 Phantom spraying ��134

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Developments in autonomous tractors

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By Prof Craig Baillie1, Dr Craig Lobsey1, Dr Cheryl McCarthy1, Dr Dio Antille1, Prof Alex Thomasson1,2, Dr Zhe Xu3 and Prof Salah Sukkarieh3

AT A GLANCE… Technology underpinning autonomous tractors is relatively advanced and has been developed by the major tractor manufacturers. Growers are currently utilising many of these technologies and realising their benefits now. There is an opportunity for the early release of autonomous tractors in Australia by engaging with machinery OEMs (original equipment manufacturers; ie. John Deere and CNH) to incubate technology before world wide release. Technology companies are emerging that provide aftermarket solutions to make current model tractors autonomous (here and now). Disruptive technology concepts in automation/robotics are pre commercial or in the early stages of commercialisation.

he development of autonomous and intelligent technologies provides a mechanism to increase the precision of crop management and realise additional potential from precision agriculture. This means that the right management strategy can be implemented in the right place, at the right time. The introduction of these technologies will also provide opportunities to lever and enhance past developments and improvements in cropping systems and agronomy. While there is much interest in the

Autonomous Tractor Corp have the SPIRIT driverless tractor. 126 – COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

development of new automation and robotic technologies, multi-national machinery manufacturers have already developed a number of incubated autonomous, agricultural technologies with near commercial potential. Australia provides a significant opportunity in the refinement and commercial release of these technologies and is relatively advanced in comparison to North America and Europe in the practical application of precision agriculture technologies.

Review undertaken A review of autonomous tractor developments and enabling technologies was undertaken to inform future engagement with equipment manufacturers and with the view of accelerating the release and adoption of autonomous tractors for the Australian grains industry. The review involved commercial developments undertaken by the six largest tractor manufacturers (original equipment manufacturers or OEMs) and included John Deere, Case New Holland, AGCO, CLAAS, Same Deutz-Fahr and Kubota. This work also examined the status of research on autonomous tractor technologies, the current status of intellectual property in this space, aftermarket technology developments, fully autonomous tractor concepts and emerging technologies.

OEM developments Autonomous vehicle enabling technologies are relatively advanced in agriculture and informed by both the potential for efficiency gains from more precise operation of tractors and the laborious, systematic nature of machine operation in agriculture. The agricultural operating environment is also conveniently suited to automation with vehicles operating in large, well defined open areas that are relatively free of obstruction and personnel. A number of technologies have been developed over the past two decades to improve the operational efficiency and productivity of tractors (eg. guidance, driveby-wire, continuously variable transmissions). Technologies have also been developed to improve management of crops using precision agriculture (PA) techniques (eg. precision

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seeding, variable rate application, yield monitoring). Machine to machine communications are improving logistics and coordination between multiple vehicles and new telematics solutions are now available that provide in-field management of tractor operations and monitoring of vehicle performance. These technologies are routinely used today and there is a range of products commercially available or in active development. Each of the six major tractor manufacturers has made significant developments that inform key components of an autonomous tractor and essentially provide a technology pathway to autonomy. Currently this technology has been developed to augment human operations and is accessible on commercial tractors including the following: • Hands free tractor/implement guidance including Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS; eg GPS and GLONASS) and vision based solutions; • Variable rate control including functionality where the tractor and implement (seeding,

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spraying, fertilising and so on) operate in concert; • Machine optimisation via constantly varying transmissions and adaptive control to environmental conditions and work requirements; • Path planning/automated machine operations which includes auto turn and auto control of implement functionality – for example, raising and lowering, starting and stopping operations seeding, spraying, fertilising and so on; • Sensing and perception which includes interaction/awareness of the machine and i) the surrounding environment, ii) the crop and iii) the task being undertaken; and, • Telematics and infield communications for remote control of tractor operations and uploading of task related data. In addition, the two major tractor manufacturers (John Deere and CNH) have released operational concept vehicles to gauge consumer interest and the application of this technology in commercial farming operations and environments. In comparison AGCO,

THE CASE IH CONCEPT Case IH unveiled an autonomous concept vehicle at the 2016 Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa. The concept vehicle is a cabless Case IH row crop tractor that can operate autonomously with a wide range of field implements. Case IH Brand President Andreas Klauser explained that the concept was created to validate the technology and to collect customer feedback regarding their interest and need for future autonomous products for their operations. The cabless autonomous concept is based on an existing Case IH Magnum tractor with reimagined styling. The vehicle was built for a fully interactive interface to allow for remote monitoring of pre-programmed operations. The onboard system automatically accounts for implement widths and plots the most efficient paths depending on the terrain, obstructions and other machines in use in the same field. The remote operator can supervise and adjust pathways via a desktop computer or portable tablet interface. Through the use of radar, lidar (light imaging, detection, and ranging) and onboard video cameras, the vehicle can sense stationary or moving obstacles in its path and will stop on its own until the operator, notified by audio and visual alerts, assigns a new path. The vehicle will also 128 – COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

The Case autonomous tractor concept. stop immediately if GPS signal or position data is lost, or if the manual stop button is pushed. Machine tasks can also be modified in real time via remote interface or automatic weather warnings. Multiple autonomous tractors can work as one fleet or simultaneously in multiple sub-fleets assigned to separate fields, each assigned with preprogrammed maps and prescriptions. So you could have one tractor pulling a chisel plow followed closely by another one operating a planter. The opportunities for efficiency are substantial. CNH Industrial collaborated with its longstanding technology provider Autonomous Solutions Incorporated, ASI, a Utah-based company that is the industry leader in off-road autonomous solutions, in the development of this concept autonomous technology.

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the third largest tractor manufacturer, has developed a semi-autonomous concept which includes leader (manned)/follower (unmanned) technology, while Kubota has announced plans to develop autonomous driver technology.

In comparison AGCO, CLAAS and Deutz have developed sensors for both perception and process monitoring as key enablers of autonomous tractor developments which are presented as independent technologies. It would appear that John Deere and CNH are the most advanced of the large OEMs in terms of having potential to accelerate a product to market.

Aftermarket solutions In addition to the major tractor manufacturers there is the emergence of autonomous technology providers such as ASI and Precision

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Makers that provide 3rd party ‘bolt on’ solutions. Notably ASI has worked in partnership with John Deere (early autonomous tractor developments) and more recently CNH. Precision Makers has equipped a Fendt tractor in Australia (Beefwood, Moree NSW) for autonomous commercial operations. The emergence of these 3rd party technology providers is akin to the initial release of GPS autosteer technology in Australia by Beeline Technologies before the major tractor manufacturers. This provides an additional avenue for Australian producers to access autonomous tractor technology as an aftermarket solution. Early adopters of aftermarket solutions are potentially exposed to compatibility issues with OEM technology and development cycles in

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS Case IH isn’t the only tractor maker with a cabless vehicle. New Holland have also unveiled a driverless system and John Deere has had two iterations of their cabless concept tractor which has received much attention but resistance in buying. Autonomous Tractor Corp has their SPIRIT driverless tractor. Fendt, an AGCO company, has their GuideConnect follow-me style system where a lead driver can have many following vehicles. Certainly, there are advantages to the

The New Holland driverless tractor.

One of the Fendt MARS units. 130 – COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

use of these types of autonomous tractors. They are lighter and will therefore reduce soil compaction and they cost much less – one Deere engineer said that cabs, air conditioning, controls and monitors, and other creature comforts in those cabs, often add 50 per cent to the overall cost of a tractor – and one operator can control many of these new tractors. Fendt is already working with Ulm University of Applied Sciences in Germany, on a concept known as MARS – Mobile Agricultural Robot Swarms. This is similar in concept, if not in application, to Australia’s Swarmfarm robots. Instead of one or two large robotic tractors, a farmer would use five, 10 or even 100 small MARS units, each equipped with its own integrated planting unit, to collaborate in an autonomous and efficient way. Due to their small size and sustainability, each lightweight unit could manage the operation on a seed-by-seed basis. The farmer or service provider, in turn, would only need to do the planning and manage the transportation logistics of the robot fleet.

The John Deere cabless concept.

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offering a robust retrofit product (presuming this is in isolation to OEMs). The experience with GPS autosteer indicates that third party suppliers of autonomous technology are more likely to release product before the major tractor manufacturers (in the absence of coordinated industry engagement). But the potential for exposure to developmental risks needs to be determined.

Disruptive technologies Early start-ups and disruptive technologies is another potential area in which autonomous tractors/platforms may have some bearing on autonomy in agriculture outside of the work by the large OEMs. Swarm Farm based in Central Queensland is a notable example and the most relevant to Australian agricultural industries at present. Swarm Farm is an emerging service based business that provides autonomous platforms on a contract operator basis that is currently centred on spray applications. The service based business model means clients are less exposed to technology risk. As the technology matures, departure from the service based model is envisaged to on-sell technology to early adopters who have demonstrated technical ability to use the technology and incorporate into their farming operations.

Cotton Picking Contractor

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Further research and development

Apart from the commercial application of existing technologies, key areas of research include interaction of autonomous vehicle with the terrain; sensing for navigational control and environmental awareness and path planning to optimise machinery operations. Other key areas include machine intelligence for oversight of operations and perception relating to machine/ environmental/human interaction. A revision of registered intellectual property relating to autonomous tractor developments identifies machine to machine communications and sensing and perception as a primary focus. This is suggestive of future developments in the commercialisation pipeline. 1 National Centre for Engineering in Agriculture, University of Southern Queensland. 2 Texas A&M. 3 Australian Centre for Field Robotics, University of Sydney. The research undertaken as part of this project is made possible by the significant contribution of growers through the support of GRDC. The authors would like to thank them for their continued support. This paper is an extract from the final report for the GRDC project USQ00022 – Future FARM Theme 3 Intelligent Infrastructure Phase 1 Review.

BEEFWOOD GOES AUTONOMOUS At Beefwood, between Moree and Goondiwindi, they haven’t waited for the large manufacturers to provide an autonomous tractor solution – they built their own. The Fendt tractor controlled by technology from Precision Maker of Holland is operating well with no major problems. Glenn Coughran intends to fit the system to a second (John Deere) tractor next year and aims to add weed sensing technology to the mix.

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Steven Agli 0427 633 836 cleancutcontracting17@gmail.com 132 – COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

Glenn Coughran shows faith in the driverless system’s ability to stop when encountering an obstacle.

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Phantom spraying

ustralian spray equipment manufacturer, Croplands has released to market its new, autonomous, driverless platform kit to be used in conjunction with their WEEDit 12 metre toolbar and a current model tractor with continuous variable transmission. The WEEDit PhantomDrive, as the new product is named, made its debut at Farm Fest in Toowoomba where demonstrations were held daily. Onlookers were astounded by the driverless machine’s ability to stop and wait when met with obstacles, namely people – and then continuing on its path once the person has stepped out the way.

Collision avoidance Croplands have not only considered moving obstacles with a collision avoidance system – the platform also caters for farmers with trees, poles, rock piles etc on their properties. The first spray is performed with operator present to map these permanent obstacles and instruct the system to move around them, while any subsequent sprays can be done driverless.

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Croplands partnered autonoTRAC to develop the autonomous platform, specifically with their WEEDit optical spot spray technology in mind. WEEDit sprayers have been in use since 2009 and making the system autonomous was the next logical step to suit medium to large scale farmers trying to get more efficiency into their operation either by giving themselves more time for other tasks around the farm or through better utilisation of their existing workforce The versatile toolbar kit allows your machine to not only perform autonomous tasks on demand, but also allows for normal use of the tractor when other jobs around the farm require it. The platform can be accessed remotely on any smart phone, tablet or computer with internet access. It monitors both the tractor and sprayer and any issues with either will immediately send alerts through the warning system. It has weather station capabilities for monitoring environmental conditions at the site of application and the system will stop operation if preset weather parameters are triggered.

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Creator of the platform, Luke Schelosky brands the PhantomDrive as a truly autonomous drive system. “We understood that an autonomous tractor by itself is simply a novelty so we had to provide a truly integrated system that not only gives excellent autonomous performance but also monitors and works in conjunction with the implement. Things like an on board weather station, SMS warning system for both the tractor and implement, tyre pressure monitoring and the ability to successfully steer around obstacles

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in the paddock were all critical in making the system a success.” Weather conditions permitting, Croplands WEEDit PhantomDrive can work 24 hours a day, with the option to travel slower and improve chemical application technique – also eliminating extreme boredom for the operator. The autonomous platform kit can be added to existing 12 metre toolbars for around $125,000, while the 12 metre toolbar retails for around $120,000.

A Phantom Drive on a tractor operating a WEEDit.

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Growsmart® Precision VRI Increase your cotton yields with less irrigation water – increasing “The correct amount of water on every part of the field is essential revenue at a reduced cost and environmental impact. for maximum yields. When coupled with FieldNET, Precision VRI gives growers the pinpoint accuracy they need along How you ask? Growsmart Precision VRI controls every individual with the efficiencies that result from full remote capabilities,” sprinkler allowing you to irrigate only where it is needed. Richard Hall, Lindsay Regional Manager Australia Research has shown yield increases and water savings are achievable by reducing irrigation to heavier soils, high run-off For more information talk to your local Zimmatic® by Lindsay dealer or visit www.precisionirrigation.co.nz/fieldnet. areas and low areas prone to getting too wet and boggy.

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Tackling off-target spray drift ��138 The Australian Ground Spray Calculator ��141 Taking “all reasonable steps” to avoid drift ��144

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Tackling off-target spray drift

ncidents of off-target damage were reported to have affected cotton in every valley in the 2016–17 season, following widespread rainfall events in December 2016 and January 2017. It is estimated that 7.7 per cent of the national cotton crop was damaged, down from 20 per cent of the crop damaged the previous season. Each season, Cotton Australia runs a campaign to help protect Australia’s cotton crops from the effects of spray drift. The program seeks to educate users of Group I herbicides such as 2,4-D, and the campaign includes activities in regulation, awareness, education, research, reporting and compliance. Additionally, Cotton Australia has boosted its efforts to work with other agricultural industries and state regulatory authorities, particularly in promoting best spray practice across all industries and all chemical users. This season’s campaign incorporated feedback obtained from cotton grower associations (CGA) through research prioritisation workshops and an online survey. Cotton Australia also incorporated feedback from crop consultants through the Crop Consultants Association. The campaign was multi-faceted, and key components included:

High percentage of growers engaged with CottonMap Again this season, Cotton Australia led the promotion of CottonMap and supported users with mapping fields. The site was accessed more than 23,000 times over the season. The 2016– 17 season launch date for CottonMap was brought forward from September to August, to account for an earlier Bollgard 3 planting date in Central Queensland.

Media campaign Scheduled press releases were distributed at multiple points throughout the season (planting, reminders, and updates) in every cotton production area. Cotton Australia spokespeople responded to media interview requests to increase awareness. In addition, responsive press releases were distributed following weather events/ damage in specific areas. This season, Cotton Australia worked closely with GrainGrowers to issue joint releases in most valleys.

Radio ads Cotton Australia ran more than 1200 radio ads targeting all farmers in cotton production areas, warning of spray drift risks once cotton is planted and providing best practice tips, specifically targeting night spraying.

myBMP The myBMP (Best Management Practices) Pesticide Management module provided guidance to growers on the storage, handling and correct application of pesticides to reduce any potential negative impacts to growers, cotton businesses, neighbouring farmers and the environment. In addition, Cotton Australia’s Regional Managers continued to provide assistance to growers undertaking myBMP.

Research and development Cotton Australia’s Grower Advisory Panels supported spray drift projects as part of the CRDC’s investment portfolio. Research supported by the Growers Advisory Panels commenced in mid-2016 to identify and model inversion events to develop an inversion alert tool for growers. Gail Spargo (DAF), Mary O’Brien (Mary O’Brien Rural), Renee Anderson (RM CA), Stuart Mills, John Jago, Sharna Holman (CottonInfo) at a spray application workshop. 138 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

Workshops Training for spray applicators and consultants was considered one of the highest priorities for

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The more glyphosate you use, the higher your drift risk. But by adding Dead Sure and using selected low drift TeeJet® nozzles you not only reduce drift risk by up to 70%, you also get better grass and broadleaf weed control. Don’t risk it - be Dead Sure

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Cotton Australia investment by growers and. In response to this overwhelming feedback, Cotton Australia supported or promoted spray application workshops in most of the cotton growing regions throughout the 2016–17 season.

Extension tools Again in the 2016–17 season, Cotton Australia supported the promotion of a guide developed by Mary O’Brien Rural Enterprises Pty Ltd to increase awareness amongst farmers and spray applicators about surface temperature inversions. To date, the guide is supported and has been shared by GrainGrowers and Pulse Australia. Other promoted tools include

CropLife’s agchem stewardship platform, technical documents and other resources on the Cotton Australia website.

Resellers and agronomists Cotton Australia’s Regional Managers visited more than 100 resellers and chemical distributors to provide point-of-sale posters and spray drift reminders. Cotton Australia also met with agronomists, contractors and applicators to drive best practice.

Briefing regulators Cotton Australia liaised with state regulators Biosecurity Queensland and the NSW Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) on communications/media activities, audits and investigations, and remains in contact with the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) on Group I related spray impacts on cotton.

Raising awareness with other organisations Cotton Australia collaborated with other industries to prevent spray drift occurrences and raise awareness of best practice. Cotton Australia also works closely with the Aerial Applicators Association of Australia (AAAA).

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The Australian Ground Spray Calculator

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By Andrew Hewitt, Chris O’Donnell, Gary Dorr, Jason Ferguson and Rodolfo Chechetto, University of Queensland

he Australian Ground Spray Calculator is a decision-support tool that provides spray applicators with information on droplet size, target coverage and drift potential specific to particular nozzles and tank mixes. Spray applicators now have a unified tool that provides science-based reliable information to help with their drift management strategies.

Introduction to spray drift Just because a spray is classified as ‘coarse’, it can still include up to 10 or more out of every 100 litres in ‘fines.’ In other words, for an application rate of 100 litres per hectare, 10 of those 100 litres could potentially be available to drift off-target in unfavourable conditions. In a relatively high wind speed in an unstable atmosphere, this driftable part of the spray could move relatively large distances. Under conditions of little or no wind in a local surface

temperature inversion, the total drift loss and distance may be similar to that of the high wind scenario, but the concentrations of droplets on the ground at any one distance can be hard to predict. In some places there may be no droplets, while in other places there could be relatively high concentrations of this deposition drift under stable air conditions. The above hypothetical cases of unstable and stable air may have involved the same amount of airborne drift but very different patterns of deposition drift.

Managing drift Pesticide exposure risk assessors usually assume that the air is unstable because applications under conditions of local surface temperature inversions are forbidden on labels and in most pesticide application regulations. When stable air scenarios are ignored in risk assessment, the normal trend for exposure is

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that airborne and deposition drift increase with higher wind speeds. But the label tends to focus on spray quality for alerting the applicator how to avoid drift with a particular product. For example, phenoxy herbicides are usually labelled for requiring a spray that is at least coarse in spray quality.

Factors influencing performance of a pesticide spray It has been known for many years that the choice of nozzle, spray pressure and tank mix composition including active ingredient and adjuvant products can have a large effect on the performance of a pesticide spray for efficacy and targeting. In general, the coarser the spray, the lower its drift potential but the lower the potential coverage on target surfaces, plants and pests. This is where factors like increasing the water volume rate can help boost droplet numbers. But how does an applicator know how to get the balance between the spray coverage and avoidance of drift when faced with so many variables? In particular, adjuvant effects are often nonintuitive with some adjuvants increasing the fine droplets in a spray and others reducing these ‘fines.’ To make things more complicated, one trend may be seen with one nozzle but a completely different trend with a different nozzle.

Spray performance calculator To help take the guesswork out of spray performance and also help comply with new spray drift management requirements, researchers at The University of Queensland (UQ) have measured the performance of over a thousand combinations of nozzle, pressure and tank mix that cover most Australian crop

FIGURE 1: Spray performance calculator

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spraying scenarios and assembled these data into a new Australian Spray Performance Calculator that can help show the key performances of a spray in relative terms: • Coverage in number of droplets/cm2; • Coverage after droplets wet a leaf; • Spray quality in terms of droplet size classification; and, • Drift potential. This calculator differs from previous spray performance tools in Australia and the USA which tended to only state the spray quality. Additional information in the calculator shows the droplet size spectrum and where it sits relative to the American Society for Agricultural and Biological Engineers reference spray boundary curves. This system allows sprays and nozzles to be classified by spray quality into categories of relative size.

Improvements to regulations Through the work of The University of Queensland (UQ) and others, regulations could soon become more flexible to allow an applicator to manage drift in other ways than just droplet size – and even to reduce the size of any required no-spray buffer zones by using a suitable drift reduction technology (DRT) instead of, or as well as the standard nozzle options. DRTs may include novel designs of hardware options (such as better nozzles, atomisers or shields, shrouds, air-assistance and so on), or formulation chemistries (some emulsion and other chemistries). The spray performance calculator already includes an output called ‘drift potential’. This indicates the relative drift potential of the spray. In the example of Figure 1, the spray selected by the end-user was classified as coarse for spray quality, but had a relatively low drift profile and exposure level. Note that the percent ‘fines’ in this case is much lower than the default of about 13 per cent for the reference category of ‘coarse’ sprays. This is important because if the applicator can select a spray quality that is finer than the drift potential then they can often increase the potential spray coverage at targets without needing to increase the application volume rate. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the GRDC and their grower base which helped develop the core database used in the spray calculator.

142 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

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Taking “all reasonable steps” to avoid drift

rowers and spray applicators must “take all reasonable steps” to control spray drift, to avoid a repeat of the widespread damage reported in recent summer seasons. This is the message from Mary O’Brien who is a former spray drift investigator with the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and now a consultant in spray drift management. Mary has been conducting a series of workshops with growers in the eastern states during the off season to help them understand spray drift risks, most notably temperature inversion conditions which are thought to be responsible for most of the damage to crops last season. Inversion conditions, which occur often at night and early morning in Australia, can cause airborne knockdown herbicide droplets to travel tens of kilometres in a laminar flow parallel to the ground – damaging or destroying crops when the inversion breaks and brings the droplets to ground. “During surface temperature inversion conditions, things like highway noise and smells become more noticeable indicating air currents moving across the ground and droplets are not being dispersed by turbulence and convection as would occur in most daytime conditions,” Mary said. According to Mary, the most effective way to control drift is to avoid spraying knockdown herbicides in adverse conditions (especially early morning), select non-volatile herbicide formulations (such as 2,4-D amine instead of 2,4-D LVE) and pay close attention to equipment selection (nozzles) and boom calibration. She also cautioned of the risk that tank mix present – higher rates of glyphosate, glyphosate/2,4-D and adjuvant combinations could heighten drift risk compared to lower herbicide rates. She also urged strongly that growers avoid 2,4-D LVE altogether during the summer months because of its volatility which presents an unacceptably high vapour drift risk. Because of the potential for knockdown herbicides to cause widespread damage, Mary said applicators can not only reduce the risk of drift, but can significantly improve efficacy by using the appropriate coarse nozzles at

144 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

the recommended pressure, slowing down, maintaining good boom height and using an effective drift adjuvant that has been tested with specific tank mixes and nozzles. “Even in a situation where spray conditions are favourable and equipment properly calibrated, it is prudent to always spray with the coarsest spray quality that will still achieve good efficacy and monitor weather conditions closely.” She also warned about over-reliance on adjuvants in view of unsupported claims for some products. “Some common adjuvants – even some making ‘drift’ claims – are not only ineffective at controlling drift with some commonly used knockdown herbicides and combinations, but may actually make spray drift worse!” This has been borne out by both field experience and during extensive wind tunnel testing at the Centre for Pesticide Application Safety (CPAS) at the University of Queensland, Gatton. At present there is only one adjuvant, (Dead Sure) which is registered by the APVMA for mitigating drift when used in combination with specific low drift nozzles as shown on the product label. FMC spray oils and adjuvant specialist, Dr David Johnson, explained that even coarse nozzles could produce more than 20 per cent ‘fines’– small droplets less than 150 microns in diameter, which have the highest drift potential. “In the past the use of coarse nozzles may have meant a trade-off between controlling drift risk and efficacy, but that is no longer the case since the development of Dead Sure which improves efficacy and speeds brown-out when using glyphosate and glyphosate/2,4-D mixtures while at the same time, significantly reducing drift risk,” David said. Unlike other spray adjuvants, Dead Sure uses a naturally occurring polymer derived from powdered guar seed, which forces the spray sheet to break up closer to the nozzle outlet, favouring the formation of coarse droplets while imparting ‘anti-bounce’ qualities to avoid coarse droplets bouncing or running off the target weed. For more information: Mary O’Brien Phone 0427 358 806 E-mail: mary.more@bigpond.com

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Drones in cropping – Where to now?

By Meg Kummerow

t seems everywhere you turn, someone is telling you about the benefits of drones in agriculture. Nearly everyone it seems has an opinion, positive or otherwise, on how they will change the way we farm. Nice in-crop imagery was a great way for farmers to sink their teeth into drone technology, but as time has passed there has been an ever increasing push for real actionable and most importantly, timely information. One of my biggest concerns is that many startups are developing technology without input or consultations with the end user – the farmer. Pete Nelson from AgLaunch talks of the “Farm Centric Innovation Model” and I have to agree with many of his sentiments. As an industry we need to be out testing these

TABLE 1 Excluded operation Very Small RPA – Commercial (all) Small RPA – Private Landowner Medium RPA – Private Landowner Large RPA – Private Landowner

Weight class

RePL required?

ReOC required?

100g – <2kg 2kg – <25kg 25kg – <150kg >150Kg

No No Yes Yes

No No No Yes

Drones need to produce more than just great imagery. 146 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

technologies and feeding back to ensure that as end users we are getting the development we need for our future. And to do that we need to be proactively using the technology in the first place. Let’s look at some of the safety considerations as well as potential uses for this technology, both now and into the future.

Government regulations One of the first considerations when looking at a drone should be “Will I need to be licenced?” The Civil Aviation Safety Authority has all the information you need to make sure you are doing the right thing. You can visit www.casa.gov.au/rpa for all of the latest information – which includes information for being a private landowner flying over your own land. Most commercial drone operations will require the pilot to have a Remote Pilot Licence (RePL) and the organisation they work for to have a RPA Operator’s Certificate. There is an excluded category, where if you are flying over your own land you can undertake some commercial like activities. But it is important to note that it is still vitally important that you understand and fly within the Standard Operation Conditions which are available on the CASA website above. Details of the requirements are shown in Table 1. Despite there being no requirement to undertake RePL training, I believe that it is beneficial to both farmers and advisors along with the wider commercial drone industry that anyone undertaking these activities complete at minimum their RePL. Why do I say that? Because despite their seemingly innocuous size, they can pose serious threats to other airspace users. Welcome to aviation. One of the biggest risks when flying a drone in cotton areas is of course our low flying ag aviation friends. Imagine you are minding your own business checking out irrigation bays, suddenly you hear your local aerial operator flying over to his next job. Is he really going to see your very small category white drone in the air? Probably not. Whilst there have not yet been any reported fatalities from drones striking

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manned aircraft, there have in recent weeks been several high profile drone strikes on both civilian and military aircraft. Luckily they were damaged only slightly, but the time will come when one such aircraft is not so lucky.

Current use I’m sure you are all aware of the current uses for drones on farm: crop monitoring, infrastructure checks, mustering. All pretty easy to do with nearly any very small drone on the market. Software such as DroneDeploy has made crop monitoring much easier for farmers and advisors, where they can get basic imagery including ‘False NDVI’ (really just a fancy term for adding algorithms to a band of light in any regular drone camera) to gain insights into what is happening in their field. Improving safety outcomes is also a really important use for drones. Need to check something at the top of your silo complex? Send a drone up. Need to check what’s happening during a flood event? Send out the drone (within visual line of sight of course and not when it’s raining). Another tick for the myBMP box. What can you get when you take the next step up, or is it worth taking the next step? I see that many agronomic firms are implementing precision ag departments including the use of drones as a part of that system. Adding multispectral sensors to drones with larger lift capacity allows for more in-depth insight

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to what is happening in crop and at a smaller resolution than available via satellite. Of course, it is going to be a while before drones can efficiently (time and battery life) cover larger holdings, so satellite data is still important. These sensors are giving some really interesting information on crop health and potential. And when combined with soil and harvest data, will help identify which areas of a field need differing focuses for improving potential.

Future use Can a WeedIt be attached to a spray drone? What about microwave technology for controlling weeds via drone in-crop? Will a drone be able to identify insects within a crop and then give a spray drone a custom spray map? Will I be able to send my drone out first thing in the morning to get telemetry data from irrigation infrastructure on how soon I’ll need to water again? These and many more question are some of hundreds being investigated and developed at the moment. Even having been involved in the drone industry for some time now it is really hard to predict where the technology is going to end up. New models are released several times per year with incremental advancements. New sensors are released on nearly an annual basis. Software is also updated incrementally. The biggest changes will need to be in endurance, so a drone will be able to cover hundreds of hectares at centimetre accuracy if they are to keep ahead of satellite technology. By 2022 it is estimated that the agricultural drone industry will be worth in excess of $32 billion. While investment dropped to around $118 million in 2016 down from $326 million in 2015, there has been no shortage of newcomers onto the drone hardware and software scene. And that’s why I keep coming back to Pete Nelson’s ‘Farm Centric Innovation Model’. As the one hands-on on the farm, you have the power to direct the technology to where it needs to go. Get involved, start small if you have to. But make sure that farmers don’t get left behind in the race to develop farm tech. Meg Kummerow, Fly the Farm, E:meg@flythefarm.com.au M: 0427 606 983.

Drones are now giving some really interesting information on crop health and potential. 148 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

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Managing your ag data By Leanne Wiseman

ho controls the access to the agricultural data (ag data) that is being collected from your farming operations? In Australia and around the globe, this issue is attracting more and more attention. While the potential for Leanne Wiseman. increases in productivity from the use of digital farming technologies are undeniable, the issue of who controls access to and use of the data that has been collected, aggregated and stored is one that is often overlooked and ignored. One notable exception is the Australian Farm Institute (AFI) that has recently released a research report “The Implications of Digital Agriculture and Big Data for Australian Agriculture” (discussed in this article). Those farmers aware of the lack of clarity around data ownership and control are concerned about the security and privacy of their farm data, as well as the terms that regulate the collection, storage and use of their farm data by third parties. With the myriad of new digital technologies and apps in the agricultural marketplace, it is hard to keep abreast of the agreements entered into when using precision or digital agriculture. As a result, many farmers do not know where and how the data that is being collected by these technologies is being used.

Software versus hardware Twenty years ago, when a farmer purchased

IMPORTANT DATA PRINCIPLES • Farmers’ education; • Simple, plainly drafted contracts that are easy to understand; • Principles around ownership of data and the use and sharing of data; • The idea that access and control of data only be with the explicit consent of the farmers who must be notified that their data is being collected; and • How the farm data will be disclosed to others and used. 150 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

farming equipment, it was a straightforward transaction of purchasing the physical machine. Today farmers who buy digital farming machinery may own the machine and associated controllers, sensors and monitors, but they do not own the technology that operates the machine. Basically, when purchasing digital equipment, be it a machine, computer or phone, farmers enter into an agreement with the technology owner that grants them permission to use the sophisticated software that operates the digital machinery. This permission is in the form of a software licence or a data contract. It is these licences and contracts that regulate the ownership of the input data and the resultant aggregated data, the storage and management of that data, the security and privacy provisions of the data, and the restrictions on the use or modification of the data. Typically, the entry into the software licences or data contracts occurs at the point of sale of the physical equipment. It is at this time, that a farmer agrees to terms that regulate ownership and use of their farm data. The software licence terms need be fully transparent to all parties. If you are concerned about who controls and can access your farm data, now and into the future, it is worth doing some homework. Prior to, or at the time of purchase of the digital machinery, examine the terms of the data contracts thoroughly, and discuss the terms with your digital technology suppliers. It is important that farmers read the agreements before accepting the terms offered. This is important whether the technology is in the form of an app and/or a cloud-based recording system.

Approaches to data contracts in the US While this issue is often put into the too hard basket, the US has taken an interesting approach to ensure their farmers are more aware of, and confident about the terms of the software agreements they are entering into when adopting new digital technologies. It is useful to examine what they have done. Raising awareness of the contractual terms in data contracts with farmers has gained momentum in the United States. In 2014, the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) responded to concerns raised by American farmers about the ownership and use of their farm data. After much lobbying and negotiations, the AFBF reached agreement with

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Richard Quigley monitoring his Reinke pivot from his “office”

REINKE’S ONTRAC REMOTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TRACKS, RECORDS AND ALLOWS THE OPERATOR TO MONITOR AND CONTROL THE IRRIGATOR.

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Farmers are busy people, checking on irrigation equipment should not be an additional task. Reinke’s Ontrac remote management system tracks, records and allows the operator to monitor and control the irrigator. Richard Quigley from Trangie, NSW, recently installed Ontrac equipment on their 62ha Reinke pivot. This machine is situated on a second property some distance from their family farm. Before installing the Ontrac system, it required daily monitoring and this adds up to lot of valuable time and kilometres. Richard says installing the Ontrac equipment has been well worth it, as he can monitor and control the pivot

operation from any location, at any given time. Knowing that part of the crop is being irrigated, is helping him get a better night’s sleep. If your property is remote and the mobile phone service is not great, that’s no problem for Reinke machines. The Ontrac signal is sent via Satellite phone to your mobile phone, tablet or home-based PC. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON REINKE PIVOTS AND LATERALS OR THE ONTRAC REMOTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM PLEASE CALL US AT OUR DUBBO OR TAMWORTH BRANCH.

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a number of significant technology providers on some principles of data management. These data principles, which address data transparency, were agreed to by the AFBF and 37 agricultural technology companies including Monsanto, John Deere and DuPont Pioneer. The aim of the data principles is that they encourage technology providers to contract with farmers on a basis that is consistent with the data principles. More details about these principles can be found at: http://www.fb.org/tmp/uploads/PrivacyAndSe curityPrinciplesForFarm-Data.pdf

Compliance with the principles While many of the technology providers’ contracts addressed these matters, it was still not necessarily easy for farmers to identify those companies whose contracts complied with the data principles and those that did not. To address this, the AFBF also created a “Read before you sign” guide to inform farmers/farmers about what questions they should raise with their technology providers. Examples of the questions include: • What information was being collected? • What controls farmers had over the data collected? and, • If a company will advise them of any policy changes? The “Read before you sign” guide can be downloaded from: http://www.fb.org/issues/ bigdata/questionagtechprovider/ More recently, an Ag Data Transparency Evaluator (http://www.fb.org/agdatatransparent/) has been developed. US farmers can use this to assess agricultural technology providers’ contracts and policies about ownership and sharing of data. This is a process by which US ag technology providers voluntarily submit their ag data contracts to a simple, 10 question evaluation. Answers are reviewed by an independent third party administrator, and the results are posted on http://www. aglaw.us/ for farmers and other ag professionals to consult and review. Only companies receiving approval are allowed to use the ’Ag Data Transparent’ seal. The seal appears to be similar to certification Trade Marks that can be registered in Australia by organisations who strictly control the use of their trade mark. One word of caution when looking at the US approach – contracts from the US can differ to those offered to farmers outside the US due to differences in legislation that operate in each legal jurisdiction. Another approach to ag data control and management can be seen in New Zealand. Here, the Farm Data Code of Practice is an example of an alternative approach. For further details see: http://www.farmdatastandards.org. nz/about-2/ 152 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

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I am not suggesting that the approach taken by the AFBF in the US is necessarily the right approach for Australian farmers. But a greater awareness and understanding of the terms of the data contracts and licences associated with current agricultural machinery would certainly empower farmers to have a more meaningful dialogue with their equipment suppliers. This would assist in encouraging transparency around the terms of the data licences which in turn would develop more trust in the parties’ contractual relationships. This suggestion is consistent with the recent recommendations made by the AFI in their ‘Digital Agriculture and Big Data’ report. In relation to the management and access to farm data, the AFI has recommended that Australian agricultural industries and agricultural technology providers ‘should commit to open access data protocols, modelled on the standards adopted by the Open Agriculture Data Alliance established in the US’ (Recommendation 3) and that there should also be ‘the appointment of a Farm Data Ombudsman to oversee data privacy standards, to establish data use categories, and to audit compliance by providers with industry standards for data privacy’ (Recommendation 4). In 2016, the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture and Water Resources funded a Rural R&D for Profit research project: Accelerating Precision Agriculture to Decision Agriculture (P2D). The project was led by the Cotton Research Development Corporation. The P2D project brought together all 15 RDCs for the first time to develop six research projects that evaluated the current and desired state of digital agriculture in Australia. Leanne Wiseman (Griffith University) and Jay Sanderson (USC) completed the report on The Legal Dimensions of digital Agriculture in Australia: An examination of the current and future state of data rules dealing with ownership, access, privacy and trust. Recommendations will be made to Government at the end of the P2D project in February 2018. Leanne is currently conducting research into legal implications of agricultural data and the types of licences that are governing digital agricultural machinery in Australia. She would be interested to hear from farmers who are also interested in the control and management of their farm data. Dr Leanne Wiseman is an Associate Professor of Law and Associate Director of the Australian Centre for Intellectual Property in Agriculture (ACIPA), based at the Griffith Law School at Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland. Contact: Leanne Wiseman, 07 3735 3260, E: l.wiseman@griffith.edu.au This article first appeared in Precision Ag News, published by the Society for Precision Agriculture Australia (SPAA), Winter, 2016.

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What is the value of IPM in cotton production systems?

High sustainable profits Dr Mary EA Whitehouse, Dr Grant A Herron, Dr Simone C Heimoana and Dr Lewis J Wilson

lthough cotton in Australia has a long history going back over 200 years, the modern cotton era only really began in the 1950s and 60s as irrigation opened up cotton production in south west Queensland, the Namoi Valley, the Macquarie Valley, Emerald, Bourke and the Ord. However, largely as a result of insect pressure, by 1974 cotton production in the Ord had collapsed. The loss of the Ord’s cotton production demonstrates the devastating impact that insect pests can have on cotton production. What happened in the decades following the 1974 collapse was a roller coaster ride that culminated in the cotton industry pulling together as a community to counter the insect threat. In the process they developed one of the most comprehensive Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and insecticide resistance management strategies

both for insecticides (IRMS) and Bt cotton (RMP) of any cotton growing region in the world. The stability offered by comprehensive insect management has enabled Australian cotton growers to refine other aspects of growing cotton in Australian conditions, which has resulted in the industry being highly productive and profitable. The challenge now is to maintain the high profits by ensuring that complacency does not get the better of pest management. Integrated Pest Management aims to reduce reliance on insecticides as the only pest control option, by integrating a number of other approaches to reduce pest pressure. The aim is that insecticides are used only as a last resort. IPM has three main components: • The first is preventing pest problems by keeping pest numbers below an economic threshold using a range of strategies

IPM is a community effort. This is a collage of some of the researchers and extension workers who have been involved in IPM over the years, providing information to growers and consultants to assist with IPM on their farms. 154 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

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FIGURE 1: IPM until 2000 – under the shadow of heavy insecticides

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The insecticides (above the arrow) used to control Helicoverpa (and to a lesser extent mites and aphids) from 1960 to 2000. Helicoverpa armigera developed resistance to all these insecticides within a few years (as indicated under the arrow).

including removal of overwintering host plants, conserving beneficial insects and using resistant plant varieties. • The second is monitoring the crop for potential pest problems by gathering information about the pest, its predators and its effect on the plant that assist with pest management decisions.

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WESTFIELD AUGERS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD 1300 WESTFIELD | admin@westfieldaugers.com.au www.westfieldaugers.com.au IT’S NOT AN ORDINARY CONVEYOR… IT’S A WESTFIELD 156 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

• The third is using this information in decision making to decide whether further control methods are necessary, and if so, using a range of techniques in order to conserve beneficials and reduce the opportunity for resistance to develop. Such techniques include physical control methods and using appropriate, often selective, insecticides with different modes of action. The aim is not to eradicate pests, but to manage them below economic thresholds. The foundations for the Australian IPM approach to growing cotton were established from the 1960s to the late 1990s, even though at this time the industry was predominately focused on eradicating pests. During this period growers used a procession of indiscriminate insecticides to try to control Helicoverpa and other secondary pests including aphids and mites. As each new insecticide was introduced under heavy selection pressure, they became ineffective as their targeted pests developed resistance after a few years of use. However, as each insecticide lost efficacy, the industry looked for other ways of managing pests.

The role of compensation For example, early in this period the role of plant compensation in overcoming insect damage was recognized and the capacity to reduce insecticide use, especially in the early season, by tolerating non-economic damage was emphasised. Researchers recognized the importance of considering an insect’s life history in its control, as demonstrated with “pupae busting” where over-wintering pupae under cotton crops were destroyed, reducing the number of resistant Helicoverpa emerging in subsequent seasons.

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Pupae busting was combined with limiting when in the season an insecticide could be used (spray windows), and restricting the number of times an insecticide could be used, to help slow the development of resistance. Alternative tools were also developed, such as using trap crops to lure pests away from cotton (and then subsequently destroying the trap crop to kill the pests); and planting sorghum strips among the cotton (to attract beneficials). The work culminated in the development of SIRATAC, the computerised decision support system that pushed the industry toward better sampling and the use of thresholds. But these early developments into IPM were regularly set back as few beneficial insects could survive non-selective insecticides. Advances in IPM techniques that were developed (when insecticides were losing their effectiveness) were not maintained once the next new, effective insecticide was deployed. This led to a crisis in the 1998 cotton season when very high levels of Helicoverpa and other pests, particularly aphids, triggered numerous ineffective but expensive sprays, rendering cotton uneconomic and on the verge of collapse. After the disaster of 1998, the industry was receptive to change. Some growers and consultants were less affected and more profitable in 1998 by using less insecticide and managing the pests rather than trying to eradicate them. This stimulated widespread interest across the industry. Fortuitously, in 1996 the first generation of Bt cotton, Ingard, had been introduced.

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of Ingard cotton on a farm to 30 per cent of the cotton planted. Although Ingard only controlled Helicoverpa in the first half of the season, it reduced insecticide use by 40-50 per cent, allowing better survival of beneficial species resulting in fewer secondary pest problems. So it provided a basis upon which to build an IPM approach to insect management. Using Ingard as a base, the industry implemented IPM tactics that had been developed over the previous decades, including an industry-wide extension network to rapidly pass onto the grower any new findings or IPM techniques. Groups were not only active in promoting IPM, but met to achieve consensus on adoption of regional IRMS and delayed use of broad spectrum chemistry. This was assisted by another fortuitous event, reduced pest pressure for the next few seasons, which allowed IPM to gain traction. Additionally, new selective insecticides, such as spinosad, indoxacarb, and emamectin enabled pests to be killed with less disruption to beneficials.

Because of the experiences with the chemical insecticides, a pre-emptive Resistance Management Plan was introduced with the new technology, which instigated monitoring for resistant Helicoverpa, and capped the amount

The 20 years since the 1998 season has been a golden era for IPM. Bollgard II cotton, which was introduced in 2003, contained two genes targeting Helicoverpa and dominated the cotton crop with over 90 per cent of the market – and it provided season long control of Helicoverpa. The Bt technology was maintained by following the Resistance Management Plan (RMP, modelled on the IRMS) which operated in conjunction with IPM. IPM strategies have been used to control secondary pests and temporary outbreaks of Helicoverpa. The strategy has demonstrated its flexibility through modifications and updates as it continually adjusts to new pest challenges. As a result the Bt technology is still effective, the number of Helicoverpa within the environment has dropped overall, and insecticide use for this pest remains low.

Moving IPM forward – avoid complacency.

For example, a common practice of applying extra resources, such as high levels of nitrogen or insecticides on below threshold pests, can be counter-productive to an IPM approach. Excessive nutrients can assist pest infestations,

A basis for IPM

158 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

However, the success of the IPM approach may have brought about a change in focus. Today there is less of a concern about the long term maintenance of cotton as a viable crop, and more of a focus on increasing yields. The push for higher yields has encouraged growers and consultants to ensure the crop is never wanting for inputs (water, nitrogen) and to be less tolerant of pests or damage. With this shift, there is emerging concern that lessons from the past have been forgotten and that best practice IPM is not so prominent.

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and excessive insecticides can inhibit beneficials that are in the crop working for free. Striving to maintain as much early season fruit as possible, such as by using early sprays on eggs (even though there is no evidence that eggs cause damage in Bt cotton) can also be problematic. Seasonal conditions, such as a cold start, may delay a crop establishing early season fruit, so low retention may not be caused by insects at all. Because of plant compensation, fruit lost in early flowering is usually rapidly regained and matured without extending the developmental time of the crop, again rendering early season sprays unproductive. In addition, because early season sprays remove predators, they can trigger outbreaks of pests, such as silver leaf whitefly (SLW) late in the season, and this was seen in the 2016-17 season. Consequently, chasing very early season high retention by applying insecticides may be ill-advised. Unnecessary insecticide applications put pressure on pest management. Exposing a pest to an insecticide can select for resistance to it. We are seeing this happen with an increase in resistance to pyriproxyfen in SLW, and to abamectin in mites. Limiting insecticide use to when it will be most effective enhances its longevity in pest management.

Recalibrate goals

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To maintain the high levels of profitability that the cotton industry enjoys long into the future it may be prudent to re-calibrate goals by maintaining the efficacy of key pest management tools and focusing on long term, sustainable gains using IPM.

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It has been 20 years since the cotton industry experienced the situation where serious pests became unmanageable. Overseas, other cotton growing regions, including some in China, India, Brazil and parts of the US, have seen profits reduced or collapsed from the effects of resistance by Helicoverpa and other pests. Internationally, the cases of pest resistance to Bt (Cry) proteins produced by transgenic crops increased from three in 2005 to 16 in 2016. By working as a community, the Australian cotton industry has developed an effective RMP and means by which to manage current pests and adapt to new challenges. Using IPM approaches to insect management is how a high level of profitability in Australian cotton is sustainable into the future. For more information, please see the review: Lewis J. Wilson, Mary E.A. Whitehouse, Grant A. Herron IN PRESS. The management of Insect Pests in Australian Cotton: An Evolving Story. Annual review of Entomology.

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Maintaining beneficials can help control silverleaf whitefly

n recent years the success of transgenic cotton has meant bugs (such as mirids and green vegetable bugs) formerly controlled by broad-spectrum sprays targeting Helicoverpa spp., have developed into important early and mid-season pests. Many growers have found that using broad spectrum sprays to control these pests early and mid-season decimates beneficial insect populations leaving cotton at increased risk of later outbreaks of silverleaf whitefly. Using Transform early in the season will maintain beneficial populations, allowing them to control other pests. Transform insecticide offers excellent control of aphids, mirids, and greenhouse whitefly. It has no known resistance and is soft on beneficials. Scott Armstrong, a cotton grower from St George noted: “When we sprayed Transform mirid numbers were just on threshold and rapidly increasing. Transform has done a remarkable job. We got very good control of mirids, and even two weeks later we still had very low numbers, well below threshold. “The most exciting thing is that we’ve got just a fantastic population of beneficials there which is helping keep all the other pests under control and well below threshold. If you can

Silverleaf whitefly. 160 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

preserve your populations of beneficials they are going to do a very effective job for the right price. “That’s something we haven’t seen from other products we’ve been using in recent years. I’ve found Transform just as effective or even slightly more effective on the target pest, but it’s certainly a much softer chemistry and we’re getting much higher numbers of beneficials following the application than we have using other chemistries.” A number of growers and agronomists have found that by using Transform early in the season they are able to avoid a later spray for silverleaf whitefly. This is especially evident during very hot growing seasons such as is forecast this year. John Barber, a cotton consultant in St George said that “Silverleaf whitefly reach pest status in some fields due to the extreme heat. We applied Transform to control mirids in January and found it gave excellent suppression of silverleaf whiteflies so that no specific whitefly spray was necessary.” While it will always be crucial to monitor pest populations and treat as thresholds are reached, having your beneficials on hand as an unpaid workforce will certainly help to mitigate potential problems.

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Recognition of Australian cotton scientists ��162 Australian rural R&D on the rise ��164 Canberra’s high resolution plant phenomics centre ��166 CottonInfo: Meet our team ��168 CRDC list of current projects ��169

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Recognition for Australian cotton scientists

nnovation among cotton’s research community has been recognised during 2017, with three cotton researchers receiving high level recognition for their contributions.

Dr Mike Bange Mike Bange of CSIRO was awarded the prestigious US Beltwide Award in January for his research in cotton physiology over 20 years – becoming the youngest recipient, and only the second Australian recipient. Mike received the award for his outstanding contribution to research related to cotton physiology and production. Mike’s interest in cotton began in the 1990s when he worked as a cotton farmhand in Goondiwindi and St George. He went on to study a PhD in crop physiology and since 1995 has worked at CSIRO’s Myall Vale research station near Narrabri. His work spans a wide range of topics, including crop modelling, decision support tools, irrigation management, fibre quality, photosynthesis and climate change. “Receiving this award is a humbling

Dr Mike Bange (centre) receives his Beltwide Award. Left is previous recipient, Dr James Mahan from the US Department of Agriculture and right is Dr Tyson Raper, Chair of the Agronomy, Physiology and Soil, Beltwide Conferences. 162 – COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

experience as I have been put alongside those I consider some of the most outstanding researchers in the cotton world,” said Mike. “The award also acknowledges the strong collaborations we have developed over many years to support both the US and Australian cotton industries.” Mike received the award in Dallas in January while attending the US Beltwide Cotton Conference. Normally awarded to US citizens, Mike is the youngest ever recipient of the award.

Dr Greg Constable The only other Australian recipient in the Beltwide awards’ history, Dr Greg Constable, also of CSIRO, was acknowledged with an award closer to home on Australia Day – becoming an Officer in the General Division of the Order of Australia (AO). Greg’s citation acknowledges his “distinguished service to agricultural science as an agronomist and plant breeder, particularly to cotton management and production and to professional, national and international scientific organisations.” The AO caps a wonderful 45 year career for Greg – firstly as a world renowned cotton agronomist and then as the leader of CSIRO’s high achieving plant breeding team. He has received many national and international science awards and was named the International Cotton

Greg Constable.

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Advisory Committee (ICAC) Researcher of the Year 2015. Dr Constable retired last year as senior research scientist based at the ACRI at Narrabri.

Dr Priscilla Johnston The next generation of cotton scientists has also been recognised. Dr Priscilla Johnston was awarded the ABARES Science and Innovation Award for Young People in Agriculture by the Deputy Prime Minister in Canberra in March. Priscilla

CRDC Executive Director Bruce Finney, ABARES Science and Innovation Award winner Dr Priscilla Johnston and CRDC Chair Richard Haire at the ABARES awards dinner.

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was selected for the CRDC-supported award for her focus on helping cotton growers make the most of available water resources through the introduction of a new ‘smart’ polymer she created for agriculture to reduce soil evaporation losses. As part of the award, Priscilla will receive a CRDC grant to undertake her project. Her research aims to circumvent the need to retrieve and dispose of plastic films by using water-borne, degradable polymers that can be sprayed directly onto the soil surface to form a barrier to reduce soil water evaporation. Laboratory pot trials demonstrate that soil water evaporation reduced by more than 70 per cent when soil was treated with a low loading of the polymer. When applied to sand from an aqueous medium, this polymer coated the surface of sand particles in the top few millimeters of the sand to generate a barrier layer that reduced soil water evaporation by up to 70 per cent (compared to non-treated sand). Moreover, the hydrophobic-hydrophilic surface switchability of this material enabled the ingress of water into the sand during overhead watering. This polymer has the potential to be exploited in agriculture as a sprayable barrier to minimise soil water evaporation when the soil surface is dry, but still permit the ingress of water into the soil during rainfall or sprinkler irrigation.

Australian rural R&D on the rise

he value of Australian rural Research and Development (R&D) is on the rise, according to a new report by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES). Acting Assistant Secretary of ABARES’ Agricultural Productivity and Farm Analysis branch, David Galeano, said the Rural research, development and extension investment in Australia report showed the value of Australia’s rural RD&E jumped from $2.6 billion in 2005–06 to $3.3 billion in 2014–15, in real terms. “Private sector funding of rural R&D and extension grew rapidly from just over $1 billion in 2005–06 to $1.6 billion in 2014–15. This increase is likely due to greater competition, new investment opportunities and Australia’s strong protection of intellectual property rights,” he said. “Over the 10 years examined, public sector funding for rural R&D grew slowly in comparison 164 – COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

– from $1.5 billion in 2005–06 to $1.7 billion in 2014–15. “The Australian Government was the largest single contributor – with funding rising from over $880 million in 2005–06 to $1.1 billion in 2014–15 – and university contributions increased from $264 million in 2005–06 to just short of $380 million in 2014–15. “The growth in funding from the Australian Government and universities came at a time of declining funding from the state and territory governments – from $390 million in 2005–06 to $280 million in 2014–15. “Public sector funding has been important for supporting long–term fundamental science and research, whereas the private sector has tended to concentrate on more readily marketable technologies like those related to seeds or chemicals.” For a copy of the report visit agriculture.gov.au/ruralresearch-and-development

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Canberra’s high resolution plant phenomics centre The September conference of the Association of Australian Cotton Scientists featured a tour of the High Resolution Plant Phenomics Centre in Canberra.

henomics is the study of how the genetic makeup of an organism determines its appearance, function and performance. The High Resolution Plant Phenomics Centre (HRPPC) is using phenomics to help tackle major global challenges such as climate change, sustainable agriculture, biodiversity conservation and future food production. This is a world class facility located in Canberra at CSIRO Plant Industry and the Australian National University. The centre focuses on “deep phenotyping” (delving into metabolism and physiological processes within the plant) and “reverse phenomics” (dissecting traits to discover their mechanistic basis). Next generation research tools are being developed and applied to probe plant function and performance, under controlled conditions and in the field. Recent advances in robotics, imaging and computing are used in applying these technologies and scaling them from the single plant to the ecosystem level. The HRPPC provides a suite of analytical tools, packaged into four modules:

1. Model plant module The model plant module provides low to high throughput growth and deep phenotyping of small seedlings using digital growth and shoot morphological analysis, pulse modulated chlorophyll fluorescence leaf gas exchange and

infra-red thermography for leaf photosynthetic and transpiration measurements. These analysis services are underpinned by the ability to grow plants in a range of plant growth environments where light, temperature, humidity and CO2 levels can be controlled. Facilities for this are present at both CSIRO and ANU.

2. Crop plant shoot module The crop plant shoot module includes 3D imaging for plant architecture and growth analysis, allowing multiple images to be overlayed. This module is suitable for medium throughput screening and validation of novel screening methods in a wide range of cereals, annual and perennial plants of agricultural importance. This module utilises a number of technologies developed by the centre including the PlantScan analysis system and CabScan (an in-cabinet imaging system).

3. Crop plant root module The crop plant root module comprises destructive and non-destructive measurement of root growth, architecture, morphology, and water uptake in controlled environments and in the field. Well-established methods include screening of root growth and architecture in controlled conditions. New non-invasive methods are in development in controlled and field conditions. These include surrogate measurements of root function (visible and thermal shoot imaging) and direct measurement of root development and function using near infrared technologies.

4. Crop plant field module The crop plant field module is an important part of validating controlled environment screening technologies and provides a powerful high throughput set of tools. The environmental conditions and plant performance in the field are quantified with developing technologies like stereophotography, LIDAR, hyperspectral reflectance, leaf thermography, soil moisture measurement, sensor networks and more.

PlantScan

The facility includes state-of-the-art controlled growth environments. 166 – COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

The PlantScan plant analysis system is the first system of its kind in the world, integrating 3D reconstruction and multispectral overlays, allowing automated analysis of plant growth and function over time. It will improve scientists’

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Purpose-built for the HRPPC, the buggy is designed to straddle a plot and collect measurements of: • Canopy temperature; • Crop chemometrics; • Crop senescence profile; • Leaf greenness; • Canopy volume and architecture; • Biomass; and, • Crop ground cover. The tethered blimp is used for imaging an entire field at one point in time. As an aerial imaging platform the blimp carries both infrared and digital colour cameras operating in a height range of 30–80 metres above the field.

Phenonet The phenonet is a wireless distributed sensor network for measuring: • Weather data including wind speed and direction, rainfall, barometric pressure, air temperature and relative humidity. It is useful for determining suitable “time windows” for comparing the canopy temperature between plots. • Soil moisture and soil temperature data, useful for scheduling irrigation treatments and for inferring the rooting depth of a particular plot. Next generation research tools are being developed.

ability to identify plants with optimum trait combinations and measure traits that have not been measured in the past. A combination of measurements can be made including: • Light Detection and Ranging Sensors (LiDAR) for 3D plant canopy architecture measurement with a resolution of 200 microns; • Far-infrared imaging for canopy temperature measurements with a resolution of 0.015°K; and, • Multi-wavelength imaging for pigment or chemical composition spanning both visible and near-infrared. PlantScan is able to scan very small seedlings or plants, from centimetres to metres in height and up to a metre thick. A full 3D reconstruction of each plant with overlaid spectral information is produced.

Cropatron Current developments within the field module include two approaches to field simulation: a static facility, the cropatron, with a high degree of environmental control, containment and high resolution monitoring, and a mobile facility, the field mobile cropatron which can be placed over part of a crop in the field to control the growth environment, or for a short term measurement of canopy gas exchange.

The phenomobile and tethered blimp The phenomobile is designed to integrate a range of remote sensing technologies for phenomics field at the plot scale.

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PlantScan is the first system of its type in the world. COTTON YEARBOOK 2017 – 167

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CottonInfo: Connecting growers with research Australian cotton growers have always been quick to embrace research and development (R&D), with many of the industry’s major achievements in water use efficiency and pesticide use reduction resulting from the application of research findings on farm. Ensuring growers know about research results and information is the role of CottonInfo, the Australian cotton industry’s joint extension program, delivered by cotton industry bodies the Cotton Research and Development Corporation, Cotton Australia and Cotton Seed Distributors. CottonInfo is designed to help growers to improve their productivity, profitability and sustainability via best practice (working hand in hand with myBMP), and helping the industry as a whole become more responsive to emerging, or emergency, issues.

The CottonInfo team of regional extension officers, technical leads and myBMP experts can provide you with the latest information, driven by research, on a range of cotton topics. Talk to the team today for advice on nutrition, soil health, water management, pesticide use efficiency, energy use, carbon, biosecurity, disease and insect management, natural resource management, stewardship and weed control – and more. For the 2017–18 season, we’re particularly focused on helping growers manage their irrigation to improve nitrogen use efficiency; tackle the increased threat of pests, diseases and resistant weeds; and identify and manage soil constraints and optimise the efficient use of inputs. For more information, visit our website: www.cottoninfo.com.au

Meet our team

Led by CottonInfo Program Manager Warwick Waters (0437 937 074, warwick.waters@crdc.com.au), and supported by Communications Manager Ruth Redfern (0408 476 341, ruth.redfern@crdc.com.au) the CottonInfo team of Regional Extension Officers, Technical Leads & myBMP experts are all here to help!

Regional Extension Officers Regional Extension Officers provide cotton research outcomes and information directly to growers, agronomists, consultants and agribusinesses in each region. Contact your local Regional Extension Officer for the latest research, trials and events in your area. Geoff Hunter

Amanda Thomas

Namoi P: 0458 142 777 E: geoff.hunter@cottoninfo.net.au

Macquarie and Bourke P: 0417 226 411 E: amanda.thomas@cottoninfo.net.au

Annabel Twine Darling Downs P: 0447 176 007 E: annabel.twine@cottoninfo. net.au

Sally Dickinson

Kieran O’Keeffe

Border Rivers, St George, Dirranbandi P: 0407 992 495 E: sally.dickinson@cottoninfo.net.au

Janelle Montgomery

Southern NSW P: 0427 207 406 E: kieran.okeeffe@cottoninfo. net.au

Gwydir and Mungindi P: 0428 640 990 E: janelle.montgomery@ cottoninfo.net.au

Sharna Holman Central QLD P: 0477 394 116 E: sharna.holman@daf.qld. gov.au

Technical Leads Technical leads are experts in their fields and provide in-depth analysis, information and research to the industry, for the benefit of all growers. Contact the technical leads to learn more about water use efficiency, nutrition, soil health and much, much more. Sally Ceeney Bt Cotton and Insecticide Stewardship P: 0459 189 771 E: sally@ceenag.com.au

Stacey Vogel Natural Resources and Catchments P: 0428 266 712 E: staceyvogel.consulting@gmail.com

Eric Koetz Weed Management P: 0413 256 132 E: eric.koetz@dpi.nsw.gov.au

Jon Welsh

Sandra Williams

Energy and Climate P: 0458 215 335 E: jon@agecon.com.au

Integrated Pest Management P: 02 6799 1585 E: sandra.williams@csiro.au

Sharna Holman

René van der Sluijs

Biosecurity and Disease P: 0477 394 116 E: sharna.holman@daf.qld.gov.au

John Smith

Fibre Quality P: 0408 88 5211 E: rene.vandersluijs@csiro.au

Ali Chaffey

Nutrition and Water P: 0427 060 597 E: john.smith@dpi.nsw.gov.au

Irrigation P: 0439 326 601 E: ali.chaffey@dpi.nsw.gov.au

myBMP team The myBMP team run the industry’s best management practice program, myBMP. Contact the myBMP team to learn more about - or to participate in - myBMP. Rick Kowitz myBMP Manager P: 0427 050 832 E: rickk@cotton.org.au

is a joint initiative of

168 – COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

Nicole Scott

Guy Roth

myBMP Customer Service Officer P: 1800cotton (1800 268 866) E: nicoles@cotton.org.au

myBMP Lead Auditor P: 02 6792 5340 E: guyroth@roth.net.au

Visit us at: www.cottoninfo.com.au

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CRDC list of current projects The Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC) invests in research, development and extension (RD&E) projects for benefit of the Australian cotton industry. A partnership between the Commonwealth Government and cotton growers, CRDC exists to support the performance of the cotton industry: helping to increase both the productivity and profitability of growers. CRDC invests in five key program areas on behalf of growers and the Government: farmers,

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industry, customers, people and performance. Investments are guided by growers and the cotton industry’s research priorities through Cotton Australia’s grower R&D advisory panels. The table below lists the current projects that CRDC is investing in, on the industry’s behalf, in 2017–18 (current as of May 2017). For more information on the five investment areas and the projects listed below, please contact CRDC on 02 6792 4088 or visit the CRDC website: www.crdc.com.au.

Program theme Project title

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Researcher

Organisation* Commenced Completed

UQ1703

Asad Khan

Jan-17

Dec-19

DAN1404

Robert Mensah

NSW DPI

Jul-13

Jun-18

UWS1401

Robert Spooner-Hart UWS

Oct-13

Jun-18

UNE1404

Peter Gregg

UNE

Oct-13

Jun-18

NEC1402

Stephen Rees

NCEA

Jul-13

Mar-18

AGWA1701

Liz Waters

AGWA

Aug-16

Jun-19

CSP1401 DAN1402

Lewis Wilson Eric Koetz

CSIRO NSW DPI

Jul-13 Jul-13

Jun-18 Jun-18

RRDP1724

Linda Smith

QDAF

Jul-16

Jun-19

DAN1703 DAN1704

Rod Jackson

NSW DPI NSW DPI

Jul-16 Mar-17

Dec-19 Sep-17

Karen Kirkby Emma Ayliffe

NSW DPI Elders

Jul-16 Jul-17

Jun-19 Jun-19

Richard Sequeira Gimme Walter Steve Yeates Graham Charles Michelle Mak

QDAF UQ CSIRO NSW DPI UWS

Jul-17 Jul-17 Oct-15 Nov-15 Jul-15

Jun-20 Jun-20 Jun-18 Jun-18 Jun-18

UNE

Jan-17

Dec-20

PROGRAM 1: Farmers 1. Successful Biology of Amarathus hybridus, A. mitchelli, and A. crop protection powelii: emerging weeds of cotton systems Centre for Biopesticides & Semiochemicals: Development of new tools & strategies for IPM Centre for Biopesticides & Semiochemicals: Novel insecticides and synergists from endemic and exotic flora Centre for Biopesticides & Semiochemicals: Semiochemical management for occasional pests of cotton and grains Commercial development and evaluation of a machine vision-based weed spot sprayer Digital technology for dynamic management for disease, stress and yield Enhancing IPM in cotton systems Hard to control weeds in northern farming systems – understanding key processes to improve control methods (CottonInfo technical specialist) Improving the management of cotton diseases in Australian cotton farming systems Innovative solutions to cotton diseases Major capital item: Autoclave for the ACRI cotton pathology laboratory Managing verticillium risk for cotton NEW: The use of area wide management, IPM, detergents and oils for the suppression of whitefly population in cotton for the reduced reliance and use of chemical controls NEW: Mirid and mealybug best practice management NEW: Novel transgenic approaches to control silverleaf whitefly Northern Australia cotton development & coordination leader PhD: Developing the weed control threshold PhD: Electrophysiological and molecular identification of novel biopesticides PhD: Understanding the ecology of Reniform Nematodes in cotton Regional weed management workshops for growers and advisors Staying ahead of weed evolution in changing cotton systems Viruses, vectors and endosymbionts: Exploring interactions for control

RRDP1723

CSP1602 DAN1601 UWS1601

CRDC1621

John Cameron

ICAN

Mar-16

Sep-17

UQ1501

Jeff Werth and Bhagirath Chauhan Jeff Werth

QAAFI

Jul-14

Jun-19

Apr-13

Aug-17

UQ1305

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Agronomy for resilient future cotton systems Benchmarking water use efficiency and crop productivity in the Australian cotton industry (CottonInfo technical specialist) BestWeather climate consultancy Increasing profitability through improved nitrogen use efficiency and reducing gaseous losses of nitrogen More Profit from Nitrogen – Enhancing nutrient use efficiency in cotton More Profit from Nitrogen – Improved nitrogen use efficiency through accounting for deep soil and mineralisable nitrogen supply More Profit from Nitrogen – Improving dairy farm nitrogen efficiency using advanced technologies More Profit from Nitrogen – Increasing nitrogen use efficiency in dairy pastures More Profit from Nitrogen – New technologies and managements: transforming nitrogen use efficiency in cane production More Profit from Nitrogen – Optimising nitrogen and water interactions in cotton More Profit from Nitrogen – Optimising nutrient management for improved productivity and fruit quality in cherries More Profit from Nitrogen – Optimising nutrient management for improved productivity and fruit quality in mangoes More Profit from Nitrogen – PMA Meetings More Profit from Nitrogen – Project Communications More Profit from Nitrogen – Project Monitoring and Evaluation More Profit from Nitrogen – Quantifying the whole farm systems impact of nitrogen best practice on dairy farms More Profit from Nitrogen – Science Leadership and Project Coordination More Profit from Nitrogen – Smart blended use of enhanced efficiency fertilisers to maximise sugarcane profitability More Profit from Nitrogen – YourData platform New materials and options for reducing water losses from evaporation and seepage NEW: Improving water use efficiency in a changing climate NEW: Minimising yield variability to maximise yield in a cotton farming system NEW: Precision management for improved cotton quality NEW: Where does the water go? Visualising irrigation efficiency by time-lapse water monitoring Opportunities for dryland cotton with Bollgard 3 Optimising management of manure in southern NSW cotton production Optimising seedling emergence PhD: Improving precision agriculture and environmental performance for the Australian cotton industry through fertiliser optimisation PhD: Next-generation fertilisers for nutrient stewardship in cotton production 170 – COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

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CSP1601 DAN1505

Michael Bange

CSIRO NSW DPI

Jul-15 Jul-14

Jun-18 Jun-19

CRDC1736 AOTG1601

Matt Davey Peter Grace

BestWeather QUT

Mar-17 Jul-15

Mar-18 Jun-18

RRDP1712

Graeme Schwenke

NSW DPI

Jul-16

Jun-20

RRDP1717

Lukas Van Zwieten

NSW DPI

Jul-16

Jun-19

RRDP1715

Helen Suter

Jul-16

Jun-19

RRDP1714

David Rowlings

QUT

Jul-16

Jun-19

RRDP1719

Matt Redding

QDAF

Sep-16

Feb-21

RRDP1713

Alice Melland

NCEA

Jul-16

Jun-18

RRDP1721

Nigel Swarts

UTAS

Aug-16

Apr-20

RRDP1720

Mila Bristow

NTDPIR

Aug-16

Jun-20

RRDP1722 RRDP1735 RRDP1736

Allan Williams Allan Williams

CRDC CRDC

Jul-16 Jul-16 Jul-16

Jun-20 Apr-20 Apr-20

RRDP1716

Richard Eckard

Jul-16

Jul-20

RRDP1711

Marguerite White

Nov-16

Jun-20

RRDP1718

Weijin Wang

ICD Project Services DSITI

Jul-16

Apr-20

RRDP1727 NEO1701

Jeff Coutts Andrew Hamilton

Feb-17 Jul-16

Jun-21 Jun-18

Katie Broughton Guna Nachimuthu

Coutts J&R NeoTop Water Systems CSIRO NSW DPI

Jul-17 Jul-17

Jun-20 Jun-20

Robert Long John Triantafilis

CSIRO UNSW

Jul-17 Jul-17

Jun-20 Jun-20

DAQ1703 DU1603

Paul Grundy Wendy Quayle

QDAF CSIRO

Jul-16 Jul-15

Jun-19 Jun-18

DAN1701 ANU1602

Deb Slinger James Latimer

NSW DPI ANU

Jul-16 Feb-16

Jun-19 Jun-19

UQ1702

Rhys Pirie

Jan-17

Jan-20

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3. Profitable futures

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PhD: The impact of irrigation methods and management strategies on nitrogen fertiliser recovery in cotton in southern NSW (CottonInfo technical specialist) PhD: Utilising novel plant growth regulators to develop resilient future cotton systems Post doc: Cotton production in a future climate Post doc: Professor of soil biology Season benchmarking with canopy temperature sensors Smarter Irrigation for Profit: Develop precise and automated control systems for a range of irrigation systems Smarter Irrigation for Profit: Educating growers in innovative on-farm water management and scheduling practices Smarter Irrigation for Profit: Evaluation of scheduling tools for the sugar industry Smarter Irrigation for Profit: Grower led irrigation system comparison in the Gwydir Valley Smarter Irrigation for Profit: Grower-led cotton automation integration trial Smarter Irrigation for Profit: Improved use of seasonal forecasting to increase farmer profitability Smarter Irrigation for Profit: Increasing farm profit through efficient use of irrigation for dairy farms Smarter Irrigation for Profit: Integrated irrigation, dairy Smarter Irrigation for Profit: Irrigation agronomy for tailored and responsive management with limited water Smarter Irrigation for Profit: Maximising on-farm irrigation profitability – southern connected systems Smarter Irrigation for Profit: NCEA technical support for technology integration & scheduling projects Smarter Irrigation for Profit: Optimised dairy irrigation farms Smarter Irrigation for Profit: Project leadership and coordination Smarter Irrigation for Profit: Scheduling technology matrix Smarter Irrigation for Profit: When and how much Soil System Research – physical, chemical and biological processes for plant growth and nutrient cycling down the whole soil profile Agri-intelligence in cotton production systems – stage 1 PhD: A national regulatory framework governing big data in primary production PhD: Building climate change resilience in cotton through translational physiology PhD: Characterisation of brassinosteroid effects and brassinosteroid-responsive genes in cotton for growth and stress tolerance enhancement Precision to Decision Agriculture: Agribusiness linkage Precision to Decision Agriculture: Analysis of the economic benefit and strategies for delivery of decision agriculture Precision to Decision Agriculture: Data Communications Precision to Decision Agriculture: Data rules Precision to Decision Agriculture: Data rules II Precision to Decision Agriculture: Data sources Precision to Decision Agriculture: Data systems

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Organisation* Commenced Completed

UQ1502

John Smith

Jul-14

Dec-20

CSP1604

Claire Welsh

CSIRO

Jan-16

Mar-19

CSP1501 UNE1403 CSD1701 RRDP1603

Katie Broughton Oliver Knox Amanda Thomas Joseph Foley

CSIRO UNE CottonInfo NCEA

Jul-14 Jan-14 Dec-16 Jul-15

Jan-18 Dec-18 Dec-17 Apr-18

RRDP1734

Andres Jaramillo

SRA

Jun-17

Apr-18

RRDP1609

Peter Samson

SRA

May-16

Apr-18

RRDP1606

Louise Gall

GVIA

Jul-15

Apr-18

RRDP1730

Louise Gall

GVIA

Jan-17

Nov-18

RIRDC

Jul-15

Jun-18

RIRDC1603 RRDP1604

James Hills

UTAS

Jul-15

Apr-18

RRDP1732 RRDP1602

Monique White Hizbullah Jamali

Dairy Australia CSIRO

Mar-17 Jul-15

Mar-18 Apr-18

RRDP1605

Peter Regan

NSW DPI

Jul-15

Apr-18

RRDP1731

Joseph Foley

USQ

Mar-17

Apr-18

RRDP1607 RRDP1501

Monique White Guy Roth

Dairy Australia Roth Rural

Jul-15 Jul-15

Apr-18 May-18

RRDP1733

Monique White

Mar-17

Dec-17

RRDP1601 UNE1601

Mike Morris Oliver Knox

ICD Project Services DEDJTR UNE

Jul-15 Jul-15

Apr-18 Jan-19

QUT1701 UNE1606

Tristan Perez Gina Wood

QUT UNE

Jan-17 Feb-16

Dec-18 Feb-19

ANU1704

Demi Gamble

ANU

Feb-17

Mar-20

UNE1605

Anahid A Essa Al-Amery

UNE

May-14

Aug-18

RRDP1702 RRDP1726

Richard Heath Richard Heath

AFI AFI

Jul-16 Dec-16

Feb-18 Aug-17

RRDP1703 RRDP1704 RRDP1706 RRDP1707 RRDP1705

David Lamb Leanne Wiseman Jay Sanderson Simon Barry Brenton Cooper

UNE Griffith University USC CSIRO D2D CRC

Jul-16 Jul-16 Jul-16 Jul-16 Jul-16

Dec-17 Dec-17 Dec-17 Dec-17 Dec-17

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Precision to Decision Agriculture: PMA, PMC, Agribusiness RRDP1708 forums & Regional workshops Precision to Decision Agriculture: Project Leadership and RRDP1701 Coordination

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Organisation* Commenced Completed

Rohan Rainbow

Rainbow & Associates P/L Rainbow & Associates P/L

Rohan Rainbow

Jul-16

Feb-18

Jul-16

Feb-18

PROGRAM 2: Industry 1. Respected stewardship

2. Responsible landscape management

Biosecurity: 2016-17 scenario training Biosecurity: facilitate 2016-17 scenario training Conventional insecticide resistance in Helicoverpa – monitoring, management and novel mitigation strategies in Bollgard 3 Cotton Map Development of a spray drift hazard identification system Managing Bt resistance and induced tolerance in Bollgard 3 using refuge crops Monitoring Silverleaf Whitefly (SLW) insecticide resistance NCEDD – Stewardship of biotechnologies and crop protection (CottonInfo technical specialist) NEW: Application of genomic tools to monitoring for resistance alleles in Helicoverpa spp. NEW: Assess biosecurity risk for Bt alleles & RMP implication NEW: National biosecurity and disease extension and coordination and CQ regional extension (CottonInfo technical specialist) NEW: Preparation for exotic insect pests Resistance research and monitoring to enhance stewardship of Bt cotton and management of Helicoverpa spp. Sponsorship: Science Protecting Plant Health Conference, 2017 Surveillance and studies for endemic and exotic virus diseases of cotton The sustainable chemical control and resistance management of aphids, mites and mirids in Australian cotton: 2014-2019 Appropriate land-use methodology for Australian cotton life cycle assessments Baselining Lower Namoi groundwater and evaluating Pilliga CSG developments Cotton Rivercare Champion Developing the groundwater health index (GHI) as an industry-wide monitoring tool Improving the ability of the Australian cotton industry to report its sustainability performance Managing climate variability program – phase five Managing natural landscapes on Australian cotton farms to increase the provision of ecosystem services Managing riparian corridors on cotton farms for multiple benefits NEW: Climate and energy for cotton farming businesses (CottonInfo technical specialist) NEW: NRM Technical specialist and extension campaigns (CottonInfo technical specialist)

172 – COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

CRDA1711 PHA1702 DAN1506

Susan Maas Stephen Dibley Lisa Bird

CRDC PHA NSW DPI

Apr-17 Apr-17 Jul-14

Jul-17 Jul-17 Jun-19

MRES1701 CSE1601

Nicola Cottee Graeme Tepper Mary Whitehouse

CA MRES CSIRO

Jul-17 Jul-16 Jul-15

Jun-18 Jun-19 Jun-18

DAQ1701 SC1601

Jamie Hopkinson Sally Ceeney

QDAF Ceeney Ag

Jul-16 Jul-15

Jun-19 Jun-18

Tom Walsh

CSIRO

Jul-17

Jun-19

Wee tek Tay

CSIRO

Jul-17

Jun-20

Sharna Holman

QDAF

Jul-17

Jun-20

CSE1701

Gimme Walter Sharon Downes

UQ CSIRO

Jul-17 Jul-16

Jun-20 Jun-19

CRDC1738

Jenny Lawler

QAAFI

Apr-17

Sep-17

DAQ1601

Murray Sharman

QDAF

Jul-15

Jun-19

DAN1507

Grant Herron

NSW DPI

Jul-14

Jun-19

UQ1701

Francois Visser

Jul-16

Jun-19

UNSW1601 Bryce Kelly

UNSW

Jul-15

Jun-18

CRDC1602

Mark Palfreyman

Sep-15

Jun-18

MQ1501

Grant Hose

Jul-14

Dec-17

QUT1705

Erin Peterson

Capricorn North Pty Ltd Macquarie University QUT

Oct-16

Sep-19

MLA1701 GU1701

Tom Davsion Samantha Capon

MLA Jul-16 Griffith University Jul-16

Jun-21 Jun-19

UNE1602

Rhiannon Smith

UNE

Jul-15

Jun-18

Jon Welsh

Ag Analytics

Jul-17

Jun-20

Stacey Vogel

Vogel Consulting Jul-17

Jun-20

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Program theme Project title 2. Responsible landscape management

I N C I T E C

NEW: Quantifying the nitrogen cycle: from farm gate to catchments, groundwater and atmosphere NEW: Quantifying the potential environmental impacts of pesticides used on cotton farms NEW: Synthesis of natural resource assets in the cotton growing region of eastern Australia PhD: Effects of climatic fluctuation and landuse change on soil condition in the Lower Lachlan PhD: Sustainable water extractions: Low flow refugia and critical flow thresholds Post doc: Keeping pest populations lower for longer: Connecting farms and natural systems Bio-degradation of dyed cotton fabrics Capital Item: GenesisERT Hydro Turbine Capital Item: Redflow 8kWh Battery Development of automatic siphons for cotton irrigation and use of hydro to recover energy from storage dams Micro particles generated from laundering of cotton and other fabrics NEW: Innovative approaches to water security for Australian cotton irrigators

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Dioni Cendon

ANSTO

Jul-17

Jun-20

Ashley Webb

NSW DPI

Jul-17

Jun-20

Julian Wall

Jun-20 Sep-17

US1403

Patrick Filippi

Eco Logical Jul-17 Australia Pty Ltd USYD Mar-14

UNE1406

Marita Pearson

UNE

Jan-14

Dec-19

CSE1501

Vesna Gagic

CSIRO

Jul-14

Jun-18

NCSU1701 QUT1704 QUT1703 QUT1702

Nelson Vinueza Stephen Hughes Stephen Hughes Stephen Hughes

NCSU QUT QUT QUT

Jan-16 Sep-16 Sep-16 Sep-16

Dec-17 Aug-17 Aug-17 Aug-17

NCSU1702

Richard Venditti

NCSU

Jan-17

Dec-17

David Mitchell

NSW DPI

Jul-17

Jun-20

Simone Heimoana

CSIRO

Jul-16

Jun-18

Rene van der Sluijs

CSIRO

Jul-17

Jun-20

CRDC1608 DU1701

Scott Miller Rangam Rajkhowa

Aug-15 Oct-16

Jul-17 Sep-18

DU1703

Rangam Rajkhowa

Jan-17

Dec-17

DU1601

Maryam Naebe

Jul-15

Dec-17

RMIT1701

Olga Troynikov

SAC Deakin University Deakin University Deakin University RMIT

Jan-17

Dec-17

DAN1504

Shane McIntosh

NSW DPI

Jul-14

Aug-17

DU1602

Jin Zhang

Jul-15

Jun-18

SRA1601 RMIT1702

William Doherty Olga Gavrilenko

Deakin University QUT RMIT

Jul-15 Feb-17

Jun-18 Jan-20

ABA1701 AES1601

Marie Finnegan Montana Jones

ABARES Jul-16 Merced Farming Feb-16

Jun-18 Dec-17

RIR1701 RIR1702 CA1706 CRDC1728 CRDC1724

Matthew Bradd Meagan Laidlaw Adam Kay Lynne Strong Zhaowei Xu

ARLF ARLF CA/PIEF PYIA RMIT

Oct-17 Oct-17 Jun-18 Jan-19 Nov-17

PROGRAM 3: Customers 1. Assured cotton Investigating the relative contributions of weathering, insect honeydew and fungal agents to cotton colour grade changes and discounts NEW: Managing cotton quality to maintain Australia's premium status (CottonInfo technical specialist) Sustainable Apparel Coalition: membership 2. Differentiated An eco friendly treatment to improve the look and handle of products cotton fabric Application of aqueous glycine to improve quality and efficiency of cotton dyeing Breathable cotton for compression athletic wear

3. Competitive futures

Improved thermal management performance of bedding systems PhD: High value bio-extractives and bioethanol from cotton gin trash Smart cotton/carbon fabrics for electromagnetic interference shielding Developing renewable fine chemicals from cotton biomass PhD: Exploring nanofibrous coating on cotton fabric with versatile protection and dynamic comfort

CSP1703

PROGRAM 4: People 1. Workforce capacity

ABARES Science and Innovation Award sponsorship Aboriginal Employment Strategy student scholarships – Montana Jones Australian Rural Leadership Program – Course 23 Australian Rural Leadership Program – Course 23 Co-investment in PIEF Membership for the cotton industry Cotton Young Farming Champions program CRDC Summer/Honours Scholarship: Developing versatile protective coating on cotton fabric

COTTON YEARBOOK 2017 – 173

Aug-16 Aug-16 Jul-16 Dec-16 Feb-17

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Project code

Researcher

Organisation* Commenced Completed

1. Workforce capacity

USQ1701

Benton Munro

USQ

Nov-16

Oct-17

CSE1602

Various Trudy Staines

CRDC CSIRO

Jul-17 Jul-15

Jun-18 Jun-18

RIRDC1401 RIRDC1405 RIRDC1403 RIRDC1504 RIRDC1503 RIRDC1602

Felicity Taylor Michael Wellington Sam Johnston Camilla a'Beckett Scott Nevison Sam Knight

RIRDC RIRDC RIRDC RIRDC RIRDC RIRDC RIRDC USQ

Mar-14 Mar-14 Mar-14 Mar-15 Mar-15 Jul-15 Jul-17 Jul-17

Dec-17 Dec-17 Dec-17 Dec-17 Dec-18 Dec-19 Dec-20 Jun-20

Jul-16 Jul-14 Jul-17

Sep-18 Jun-18 Jun-18

Jul-13 Jul-15 Jul-16 Mar-17 Jun-16 Sep-16 Jul-17 Oct-15

Aug-17 Jun-18 Dec-19 Oct-17 Jul-17 Oct-17 Jun-18 Sep-17

Dec-16

Sep-17

Nicola Cottee

Nuffield Dairy Australia Peter Cullen Trust UNE UNE RIRDC IREC BoardEffect LLC DCRA CGAs Central Highlands CGA Darling Downs CGA CA

Jul-17

Jun-18

Cathy Phelps Geraldine Wunsch

Dairy Australia USQ

Nov-16 Jul-17

Jun-18 Jun-20

Jul-17 Jul-17 Jul-17

Jun-18 Jun-18 Jun-18

Jul-17 Jul-17

Jun-18 Jun-18

2. Networks

CRDC Summer/Honours Scholarship: Effects of application uniformity change on energy requirement for Australian lateral move irrigation machines CRDC Summer/Honours Scholarships Developing education capacity for the Australian cotton industry Horizon Scholarships 2014 – Felicity Taylor Horizon Scholarships 2014 – Michael Wellington Horizon Scholarships 2014 – Sam Johnston Horizon Scholarships 2015 – Camilla a'Beckett Horizon Scholarships 2015 – Scott Nevison Horizon Scholarships 2016 – Sam Knight Horizon Scholarships 2017 NEW: Post doc: Investigating the future skills required for cotton farms Nuffield Australia Farming Scholarship People in Agriculture – employment starter kit website Peter Cullen Trust scholarship Skills profile and labour supply structure on cotton farms UNE Cotton Production Course AgVet collaborative forum: plant industries, phase three Automation of recycling system: IREC field station BoardEffect governance platform hosting Capital Item: Planter bar and trailer CRDC Grassroots Grants CRDC Grassroots Grants: Strengthening CGA policy and procedures CRDC Grassroots Grants: Upgrade to Darling Downs weather station network Grower RD&E advisory panels – meeting travel, capacity building, Board Portal National RD&E water use in agriculture cross sector strategy NEW: Post doc: Improving grower decisions in complex systems Plant Health Australia membership Plant Health Australia secretariat support Primary Industries Health and Safety Partnership RIRDC Rural Womens Award sponsorship Soils cross-sectoral strategy & National Soil RD&E Implementation Committee membership Sponsorship: 18th Australian Cotton Conference foundation sponsorship Sponsorship: Association of Australian Cotton Scientists cotton researcher conference 2017 Sponsorship: Australasia-Pacific Extension Network International Conference 2017 Sponsorship: Australian Cotton Fibre Expo

174 – COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

Nicole McDonald CRDC1711 DA1502

Daniel Kahl Shane Hellwege Various

UNE1402 UNE1604 RIRDC1701 IREC1701 CRDC1631 CGA1703

Bernice Kotey Brendan Griffiths Rob Houghton

CGA1608

Ian Gourley Various Emma McCullagh

CGA1708

Adam McVeigh

DA1701

DAFF1401

Mike Grundy

PHA PHA Joint Partnership RIRDC RIRDC CSIRO

CA1601

Stuart Armitage

Jul-17

Jun-18

CRDC1720

Danny Llewellyn

AACS

Sep-17

CRDC1707

Jeanette Long

APEN

Jul-16

Sep-17

CRDC1713

Melanie Moloney

Aust Cotton Fibre Expo

Jul-16

Aug-17

RIRDC1301 Simon Winter

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Paul Grundy

QDAF

Jul-16

Jun-18

Ruth Nettle

Dairy Australia

Jul-15

Jun-18

Casey Onus

Landmark

May-17

Jul-17

CSP1504

Sandra Williams

CSIRO

Jul-14

Jun-18

CCA1601

Liz Todd

CCA

Jul-15

Jun-18

BCA CRDC1733

Phil Alchin Michael Sparks

Jul-17 Feb-17

Jun-18 Dec-19

CRDC1710

Jennifer Moffatt

Jul-16

Dec-18

CRDC1701

Gordon Stone

BCA Intuitive Solutions Jennifer Moffatt consulting QualData

Jul-16

Jun-19

CRDC1731

Peter Chudleigh

Agtrans Research Feb-17 and Consulting

Aug-17

3. Communication Documenting the production of best practice Australian DAQ1702 cotton through videos Stimulating private sector extension in Australian agriculture DA1601 to increase returns from R&D Travel: US Cotton Industry tour & Precision Ag work CRDC1740 experience

PROGRAM 5: Performance 1. Best practice

‘Science into best practice,’ linking research with CottonInfo (CottonInfo technical specialist) 2. Monitoring and Annual qualitative and quantitative surveys for the Australian evaluation cotton industry Boyce Cotton Comparative Analysis CRDC Cotton Grower Survey

3. Reviews

Longitudinal assessment of the cotton industry's People investments Measuring and reporting the value of capacity building on farms and in research Impact assessment of selected clusters of projects – Stage 3: Sustainability cluster and myBMP cluster

Short term, skilled labour available now

The LABOUR PLACEMENT division of The-Gate is essentially a service introducing Australian farmers needing short-term skilled labour, to keen and experienced young workers with farming backgrounds. The-Gate offers a pool of skilled international farm workers with picker and other large machinery experience.

So to get the ball rolling on solving your short-term labour needs, go to www.the-gate.com.au and register (for free) on The-Gate’s database or contact Catherine on 0408 717 459

www.the-gate.com.au

COTTON YEARBOOK 2017 – 175

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*Key to organisations AACS ABARES AFI AGWA ANSTO ANU APEN ARLF BCA CA CA/PIEF CCA CGAs CRDC CSIRO D2D CRC DCRA DEDJTR DSITI GVIA ICAN IREC MLA MRES NCEA NCSU NSW DPI NTDPIR PHA PYIA QAAFI QDAF QUT RIRDC RMIT SAC SRA UM UNE UNSW UQ USC USQ USYD UTAS UWS

Association of Australian Cotton Scientists Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences Australian Farm Institute Australian Grape and Wine Authority Australian Nuclear Science & Technology Organisation Australian National University Australasia-Pacific Extension Network Australian Rural Leadership Foundation Boyce Chartered Accountants Cotton Australia Cotton Australia/Primary Industries Education Foundation Crop Consultants Australia Cotton Grower Associations Cotton Research and Development Corporation Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Data to Decisions Cooperative Research Centre Dryland Cotton Research Association Victorian Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport, and Resources Queensland Department of Science, Information Technology and Innovation Gwydir Valley Irrigators Association Independent Consultants Australia Network Irrigation Research and Extension Committee Meat and Livestock Australia Micro Meteorology Research & Education Services National Centre for Engineering in Agriculture North Carolina State University NSW Department of Primary Industries Northern Territory Department of Primary Industries and Resources Plant Health Australia Picture You in Agriculture Queensland Alliance for Agricultural and Food Innovation Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Queensland University of Technology Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology Sustainable Apparel Coalition Sugar Research Australia University of Melbourne University of New England University of New South Wales University of Queensland University of the Sunshine Coast University of Southern Queensland University of Sydney University of Tasmania University of Western Sydney

176 – COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

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Cotton To Market program secures industry’s future ��178 Nuffield scholar focuses on cost of downgrades ��184 2017 crop quality ��185 Cotton Coverage ��186–187 Processing organisations ��188 Marketing consultants ��195 Merchants ��196 Independent classing services ��200

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Cotton To Market program secures industry’s future

ear on year, Cotton Australia’s Cotton to Market program continues to create value for Australian cotton growers. This comes at a time when an increasing number of Australian and international brands and retailers have set bold targets to move their cotton supply chain to sustainable and responsibly-produced raw materials. As growers know best, our industry has worked hard on our environmental and sustainable production credentials for almost 30 years. The Cotton to Market program delivers vital messages and information about the Australian cotton industry’s environmental, social and sustainability credentials and ongoing commitment to continuous improvements to key decision-makers sourcing raw materials. A number of Cotton to Market activities attracted a rebate through Austrade’s Export Market Development Grant program.

Engaging with Australian brands and retailers Brands here and overseas are now recognising the significant changes made to farming practices in Australia. Locally, Cotton Australia has worked with a number of major companies who are now sourcing, or a looking at sourcing and promoting Australian cotton as part of their product lines. Australian brands Katies and Bonds are the latest to add Australian cotton into their product lines. A range of Katies women’s t-shirts are available to consumers now, and the company is

Adam Kay with fashion industry representatives on farm tour. 178 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

featuring a number of Australian cotton women in their blog posts over the coming month to promote the industry and the range. Cotton growers Barb Grey (Cotton Australia Board member), Caroline Tuohey and Davina Mulligan, Cotton Australia Regional Manager Mary O’Brien, researcher Dr Karen Kirkby and Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC) Director Liz Alexander will all feature in the campaign. “It’s an exciting time as more and more brands come on board and more Australian cotton products become available to consumers. We’re able to tell a strong story about where the fibres are grown and Katies and the team have been strong advocates from the start,” Cotton Australia Cotton to Market Project Lead, Brooke Summers says. “Katies has backed the campaign with a grass-roots focus on the women involved in our industry, which is really great,” Brooke says. It has been more than a decade since Bonds stopped production of clothing here in Australia, but the Australian cotton brand is back, bigger and better than ever. The iconic Australian brand has recently launched a new range of men’s and women’s t-shirts made from Australian cotton, backed by a massive marketing campaign featuring a range of celebrities and some of our very own cotton industry talent. Labelled the ‘Home Grown tees’ campaign, Bonds has committed to Australian cotton across the business, with plans to expand into a range of other products in the near future. Cotton Australia is also looking at other collaboration opportunities in a number of areas, including research and development, innovation and sustainability. “We’ve been working with Bonds for almost three years now to get this program off the ground,” Brooke says. “It’s been an interesting journey and it was important to get it right in terms of traceability, quality, a beautifully designed product and the messaging. Bonds wanted to use a long-staple variety not widely grown in Australia and the result is an incredibly soft fabric.” “We had a great deal of help from Auscott and especially Arthur Spellson, who assisted on the supply chain side of things, and it’s been a very positive and successful collaboration.

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manager @ nwgin.com.au COTTON YEARBOOK 2017 — 179

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“It was also important to Bonds that they get right back to the source of their product to see where and how the fibre was grown. Bonds’ senior management and staff came to three farm tours and that helped to really authenticate the story.” In September 2017, Cotton Australia CEO Adam Kay helped launch the new Jeanswest Australian cotton range in Sydney. Before a packed media and fashion industry crowd at the Sydney Opera House, Adam spoke of the strong relationship that has developed between Cotton Australia and Jeanswest, culminating in a beautiful range of women’s Australian cotton clothing. “This is a really exciting time for Australian cotton. At the same time our growers were busy planting their crops for the coming season, we had an extensive range of womenswear hit the shelves, made from high quality, natural fibre grown by those farmers,” Adam says. “The collaboration between Cotton Australia and Jeanswest makes perfect sense and we’ve been so encouraged by the brand’s willingness to get out in the field and learn from our farmers.” Other brands to choose Australian cotton include Target Australia, Kmart, Rivers and Rockmans.

Brooke Summers. 180 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

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Cotton LEADS program swells to over 460 partners

The Cotton LEADS program, jointly established by the Australian and United States cotton industries, has recruited more than 460 partners, including some of the world’s leading fashion and textile brands, retailers and manufacturers. In April 2016, more than 130 of these partners attended a Cotton LEADS Conference in Hong Kong to deepen their understanding of sustainability efforts of the Cotton LEADS founding countries. The Australian cotton industry was represented by Emerald cotton grower and Cotton Australia Board member Nigel Burnett, and Nevertire grower Tony Quigley, directly connecting cotton growers with end-users.

Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) continues to expand By supporting growers with myBMP on-farm, Cotton Australia continues to assist growers to access premium markets for cotton grown on myBMP-certified farms via its involvement in the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI). With around 14 per cent of the world’s cotton now qualifying as Better Cotton and increasing demand from brands, BCI is another way for Australia’s cotton growers to take advantage of on-farm sustainability. Australian cotton growers must do three things to qualify as a BCI grower: • Achieve myBMP certification; • Pay the full Cotton Australia levy; and, • Register with BCI through Cotton Australia. Cotton Australia will continue to manage the industry’s relationship with BCI. Australian growers are represented on the BCI Council (its global overseeing Board) by Cotton Australia Chairman Simon Corish. In August 2016, key partners of the global cotton supply chain – including global brands Nike Inc. and H&M, domestic retailer Target Australia and representatives from BCI – joined forces with growers and Cotton Australia to discuss the Australian cotton industry’s sustainability journey at the Australian Cotton Conference. As part of membership of BCI, Cotton Australia brokered a new partnership between BCI and the Australian Government’s Business Partnerships Platform aid initiative. $500,000 has been granted by the Government to BCI, with these funds matched by global brands and then invested in training for Pakistan’s cotton growers. Tens of thousands of cotton farmers in Pakistan will receive vital environmental training to improve production practices. The

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Namoi Valley Ross Brown: Sandy Young: Merah Nth Gin: Boggabri Gin: Yarraman Gin:

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training will improve the overall standards of global cotton production and increase the world’s sustainable cotton supply, and Cotton Australia believes it is important to help other cotton-producing countries improve, because it recognises we are part of the global cotton story and that synthetic fibres, not other cotton producers, represent the greatest competition.

In October 2016, Cotton Australia and the Australian Cotton Shippers Association (ACSA) co-hosted a dinner for 60 Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) members in Shanghai, China, including six Australian brands that Cotton Australia has been working with. The BCI dinner attracted strong interest from leading cotton brands and manufacturers who received a market update from ACSA, and a sustainability update from Cotton Australia. Cotton growers Barb Grey (Mungindi) and Renee Anderson (Emerald) connected with the guests by telling their personal sustainability stories, proving a very powerful way to get the message across.

Influencing the influencers The strategic direction of the Cotton to Market program has evolved to increasingly focus on influencing the influencers of the cotton supply chain – a move which is already paying dividends for the program. Working with supply chain influencers allows Cotton Australia

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to increase the opportunities for Australian cotton to be represented when brands and retailers seek responsibly produced fibre. Cotton Australia joined leading international brands and retailers, cotton identity programs, industry initiatives and other stakeholders across the supply chain to progress the work of Cotton 2040. The Cotton 2040 initiative is designed to drive change in cotton supply chains by taking collaborative cross-industry action so that more sustainable cotton becomes a mainstream commodity. Cotton Australia’s participation in Cotton 2040 gives Australian cotton a seat at the table. Over the coming year, Cotton Australia will continue to work with end-users and other cotton identity programs to find ways to increase demand for sustainable cotton globally, in all of its forms. In particular, the work of Cotton 2040 will continue to develop a framework and practical tools for brands and retailers to help them solve some of the internal barriers to uptake and more easily source sustainable cotton in their supply chain – and Australian cotton is now part of the mix. Together with the CRDC, Cotton Australia attended the annual meeting of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) in May 2016 to present the Australian cotton story and to bolster our understanding about where the world is heading in terms of assessing sustainability throughout the supply chain. The SAC meeting convened a group of the world’s most influential brands, retailers and textile manufacturers concerned about sustainability in the supply chain. The SAC’s Higg Index is gaining traction as a tool that gives a score to factories, raw materials and brands across a number of modules. For cotton this includes ‘conventional cotton’ and organic cotton, with plans to potentially include the Better Cotton Initiative, Cotton LEADS, Cotton Made in Africa, and more. Representing Australian cotton as part of these discussions is vital to ensure Australian growers are recognised for their sustainability efforts.

Strong interest in Australian cotton at Intertextile

The Cotton LEADS display at Intertextile in Shanghai. 182 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

In October 2016, the Australian cotton story was showcased to a global audience of brands, retailers and manufacturers at Intertextile, the world’s largest fabric fair held in Shanghai, China. Cotton Australia’s trade display attracted keen interest from Intertextile delegates, with around 75 enquiries from brands, manufacturers, spinning mills, media and other associations interested in sourcing or finding out more about Australian cotton, BCI and the Cotton LEADS program.

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Terbyne Xtreme is a residual soil applied herbicide providing cotton growers with a valuable weapon against weeds when used in conjunction with Roundup Ready® Herbicide • Terbyne Xtreme provides a valuable tool in controlling weeds that are difficult to control with Roundup Ready® Herbicide alone. • Can be applied both Pre emergence and Post emergence by directed sprayer (i.e. Lay by application). • Terbyne Xtreme is a residual soil applied Triazine herbicide with a Group C mode of action. • Using Terbyne Xtreme in conjunction with Roundup Ready® Herbicide will aid in preventing the development of Glyphosate resistant weeds and prolong the usefulness of Roundup Ready® Herbicide • Controls hard to kill weeds like Fleabane and Milk Thistle. • Has short plantbacks to other summer and winter planted crops.

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Nuffield scholar focuses on cost of downgrades

hird generation Dalby farmer and Nuffield Scholar Matt McVeigh, has taken steps to curb the cost of colour downgrades in cotton, which each year strip the industry of millions of dollars in profits.

his Nuffield Scholarship topic came about when he saw how quickly crops could be downgraded due to poor weather conditions and the residue left behind by pests such as the silverleaf whitefly and aphids.

Matt was awarded a Nuffield Scholarship in 2015 and travelled across 11 nations during his study, including India, Qatar, Turkey, Singapore, France, the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Vietnam and China to research the problem and find better ways colour downgrades can be managed.

His scholarship was supported by Cotton Australia and the Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC).

“Australia’s fibre quality has improved throughout history and it is important that the industry continues to maintain this reputation,” Matt said. “Australia currently receives a premium for cotton that meets all base fibre property levels. This premium is well respected and appreciated by the industry as input costs rise. “But when Australian cotton colour is below base grade, heavy discount values apply.” Colour degradation penalties in cotton fibre cost the Australian cotton industry millions of dollars a year through discounts, often after rain falls on open bolls – a factor which is outside of the farmers’ control. Matt operates a 6000 hectare cotton and grain farm near Dalby where he grows cotton, sorghum, corn, mung beans and chickpeas using zero-till farming methods. The stimulus for

The work undertaken through his Nuffield Scholarship has led Matt to provide some recommendations for cotton growers, and in doing so, has highlighted better communication between industry stakeholders as key to reducing downgrades due to colour. “Growers would benefit from better communication from cotton gins about the importance of uniform moisture in the modules. Cotton quality should be the key priority for the cotton gins, and moisture management and drying technology should be utilised if available and not currently used,” he said. “To help farmers reduce their colour downgrades, using a mini cotton gin can provide feedback on the quality of the crop and allow the grower to make changes if any issues arise.” Matt said in order to reduce cotton downgrades, each stage of the supply chain must be more open to sharing information about why cotton has been valued at the allocated price. “Collaboration in the supply chain from the farmer to the spinning mill is encouraged to gain an understanding of the issues faced by each sector,” he said. “This can also provide valuable feedback as to why downgraded cotton has been allocated the current value. “Many growers would appreciate the ability to investigate the current Premium and Discount sheet or at least be provided with the rationale behind those values. A graduated system for colour downgrade values would also make this process more equitable and simpler for the cotton industry.

Dalby farmer and Nuffield Scholar Matt McVeigh. 184 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

“Colour downgrades are not the sole responsibility of any one stage of the supply chain. Each sector should ensure better management and handling of the fibre and utilise new technology to reduce colour issues where possible.”

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Staple length Almost all of the crop achieved base grade (36) or better.

FIGURE 1: Staple length of the 2017 crop 4%

Grade Although not as good as the previous year, there were no major grade issues.

Micronaire Despite the hot weather, 94 per cent of the crop was in the range 3.5â&#x20AC;&#x201C;4.9, with most of this in the desirable range of 3.8â&#x20AC;&#x201C;4.5.

Strength and uniformity Only 15 per cent of the crop had strength below 29 and only 10 per cent had uniformity less than 80.

25%

24%

36%

FIGURE 2: Quality of the 2017 crop â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Grade 1%

FIGURE 4: Strength of the 2017 crop

1% 4%

21-2 & better

Below 28 12%

11%

21-3 36%

23%

28.1â&#x20AC;&#x201C;29 29.1â&#x20AC;&#x201C;30

31-3 24%

31-4

30.1â&#x20AC;&#x201C;31.9 49%

41-4

31%

32â&#x20AC;&#x201C;33.9

41-5 & below

FIGURE 3: Micronaire of the 2017 crop 3% 1%

34 & above

FIGURE 5: Uniformity of the 2017 crop 1%

5.3 & above

10%

5.0 to 5.2

10%

59%

3.8 to 4.5

18% 29%

3.2 & below

81-81.9 82-82.9

3.5 to 3.7 3.3 to 3.4

Below 80 80-80.9

4.6 to 4.9 35%

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2017 crop quality he quality of the 2016â&#x20AC;&#x201C;17 season was quite remarkable given the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;punishingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; climate conditions to which the crop was exposed. It was a season which will be long remembered because of the unrelenting periods of hot weather which put a major strain on crops and water supplies.

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83-83.9 Above 84

COTTON YEARBOOK 2017 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 185

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COTTON COVERAGE A comprehensive review of global market conditions

What a difference a month can make! Since our last update, desperately needed rain has fallen across much of the Australian cotton growing belt. While the timing of the rain has plagued winter crop harvest, it was near ideal for summer crop prospects with tractors busily getting hectares in ahead of the rainfall event and lessening the need to water up. Estimates now range between a 4.2 and 4.5 million bale crop with dryland hectares looking more secure in key regions such as the Downs and Upper Namoi. Further rain between now and the end of the year, particularly in Northern NSW, could see additional hectares planted as growers take a punt on a kinder summer. Not only have we seen the return of rain in the month of October but also the return of ‘good prices’ with 2018 crop edging above $500 per bale once again. Earlier in the year we saw opportunities to price 2018 crop at up to $550 per bale but those not wanting to jump in quite so far out have been given the chance to sell at $500 per bale now that the crop is at least in the ground. The current mood in the futures market is however not entirely optimistic. The short-term supply squeeze is starting to alleviate as US cotton works its way through the supply channels, the specs hold a significant net long position and the technical

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picture has been deteriorating for some time. These factors are weighing heavily on the market with the only form of support that we can see today are mills needing to fix against on-call sales which should help to slow any fall in futures prices. And while there’s always an exception to the rule (eg. the 284 point jump in futures on 24/10/2017 and subsequent drop in AUD) that will provide pricing spikes, we see these as opportunities to take a good price more so than any significant change in fundamentals. Potential game changers could come from development of the west Texas crop, which is suffering from cold conditions, and any hiccups to the Indian crop. Otherwise the bears seem in control of this market (for now!). The entire team at Queensland Cotton would like to take this opportunity to thank our growers for their support during the 2017 season. We wish you a Happy Christmas and prosperous new year full of timely rain and great prices.

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13%

World production expected to increase to 120.86 million bales in 2017/18

World consumption expected to increase to 118.01.75 million bales in 2017/18

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PROCESSING ORGANISATIONS Auscott Limited Auscott Limited was established in 1963 as a subsidiary of the US based JG Boswell Company. The company is vertically integrated through the growing, ginning and marketing sectors of the industry. Auscott is also a large producer of wheat and other grains, grown both as a cotton rotation and as a dryland crop. The geographical spread of the company’s farming over the Gwydir, Namoi, Macquarie and Murrumbidgee valleys has allowed for the hedging of production risk, and delivered benefits to customers during adverse climatic conditions. Auscott operates six gins over the four valleys. Auscott’s involvement with the Australian cotton industry does not stop at the farm gate. Participation within the industry is actively encouraged and is demonstrated through an association with 27 industry bodies. Company employees freely give their time to these bodies at no cost to the associations.

Management and Staff Chief Executive Officer Harvey Gaynor Chairman David Anthony Chief Financial Officer Des Boucher Director Marketing Ashley Power Marketing Manager – Cotton Arthur Spellson Marketing Manager – Grains & Warehousing Peter Webb Classing/Shipping Manager Greg Parle Corporate Warehouse Business Manager Sharon Wheeler Head office Suite 3.01, 56 Pitt Street Sydney NSW 2000 Ph: 02 9295 4800 Fax: 02 9251 3322 Web site: www.auscott.com.au E: sydney@auscott.com.au 188 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

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Regional offices Gwydir Valley “Midkin,” Mungindi Road, PO Box 711 Moree NSW 2400 Ph: 02 6759 1700 Fax: 02 6759 1788 General Manager: Sean Boland Grower Services: Ben Jackman Namoi Valley Wee Waa Road, PO Box 303 Narrabri NSW 2390 Ph: 02 6799 1400 Fax: 02 6799 1488 General Manager: Martin Mead Grower Services: Ben Palmer

Macquarie Valley Oxley Highway, PO Box 160 Warren NSW 2824 Ph: 02 6883 7306 Fax: 02 6847 4399 General Manager: Bill Tyrwhitt Grower Services: Mike Shields, Anna Dawson

Murrumbidgee Valley Cobb Highway, PO Box 267 Hay NSW 2711 Ph: 02 6993 1377 Fax: 02 6993 1447 Grower Services: Eddie Redfern

Brighann Cotton Marketing Pty Ltd Brighann Ginning Pty Ltd Brighann Ginning is a family partnership cotton gin owned by the prominent cotton growing Seery family located 26 km west of Moree in the Gwydir valley. The four stand gin was established in 1999 and incorporates the latest Lummus ginning equipment including the Sentinel Lint Cleaners along with three lines of pre-cleaning to ensure that the cotton produced is of the highest quality available. Also

included is the latest Samuel Jackson cotton conditioning hoppers and Samuel Jackson moisture restoration system. Another valuable addition is a locally designed and made turntable to minimise plastic contamination and increase handling efficiency of round bales. To supplement the gin, the Brighann operation is vertically integrated to undertake warehousing, marketing and shipping of cotton. Warehousing facilities incorporate a capacity of 90,000 bales with humidified bale warehousing sheds and an automatic temperature controlled aerated seed shed which has a capacity of 14,000 tonnes.

Gin office PO Box 443 1500 Watercourse Road Moree NSW 2400 Ph: 02 6753 3737 Fax: 02 6753 3701 Chairman John Seery Directors Ada Seery Stephen Seery

Ian Seery Michael Seery

General Manager Ian McDonald Ph: 0417 700 947 E: ian@brighann.com.au Grower Services – Lachlan & Murrumbidgee Dan Kitchen Ph: 0416 806 877 E: dan@brighann.com.au Grower Services – all other valleys Simone James Ph: 0477 171 527 E: simone@brighann.com.au Trading Ben Carrigan Ph: 0427 518 552 ben@brighann.com.au Finance Manager John Kerlin Ph: 0427 004 104 E: johnk@brighann.com.au Gin Manager Damian Tonkin Ph: 0427 865 258 E: damian@brighann.com.au

PEACE OF MIND, BY THE BALE... If peace of mind is important to you in your business partnerships, there are plenty of reasons to pick Queensland Cotton. With the strength of over 80 yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; experience, Queensland Cotton is committed to providing a first class service to our cotton growers and a first class product to our spinning customers. So for all your ginning and marketing needs and complete peace of mind, contact Queensland Cotton today. Central QLD: Rick Jones 0409 059 806 Southwest QLD: Ben Suttor 0428 779 322 | Allyse McVeigh 0400 646 579 Darling Downs: Allyse McVeigh 0400 646 579 | Celina Baillie 0400 533 948 Macintyre, Mungindi & Gwydir: Hollie Gall 0438 381 192 Namoi, Walgett & Bourke: Elissa Wegener 0400 681 146 Macquarie & Lachlan: Jacinta Condon 0428 090 755 Southern NSW: Eliza Star 0436 008 200 Cottonseed: Shane Wolski 0457 818 467 Brisbane: Luke Chappel 0428 799 446

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Carrington Ginning Carrington Ginning Pty Ltd was established in 1998 as a subsidiary of Carrington Cotton Corporation Pty Ltd, which has been producing cotton in the Macintyre Valley since the 1980s. The ginning facility is located 13 km east of Goondiwindi. The company is vertically integrated through the growing, ginning and warehousing and logistics sectors of the industry. The ginning facility is comprised of a four stand Lummus gin, four humidified warehouses with a storage capacity of 60,000 bales and an aerated seed shed.

Office 196 Boggabilla Lane, Kildonan Road PO Box 139 Goondiwindi QLD 4390 Ph: 07 4671 4710 Fax: 07 4671 4719 E: admin@carringtonpl.com.au Managing Director Andrea McCosker Production Manager Simon McCombe

Carroll Cotton Carroll Cotton Co has been delivering the highest quality in cotton ginning and customer service for over 20 years. Located in the New South Wales cotton growing region of the Upper Namoi Valley, Carroll Cotton Co is an independent cotton gin and one of a few family-owned gins remaining in Australia. It is also the most eastern NSW cotton gin in Australia, giving

190 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

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it an export location and proximity advantage to Sydney and Newcastle ports. The Carroll Cotton Co mission is simple – to work closely with the grower to deliver a customised cotton ginning service (maximising their returns) through world’s best practice and market expertise. As Carroll Cotton Co is a privately owned ginning company, each grower has a valued and personal relationship directly with the gin owner. This creates an environment that allows them to deliver ginning services that can be tailored to each client’s particular requirements. As an independent Carroll Cotton Co are able to take a very hands-on approach, and offer complete flexibility that allows all cotton merchants to purchase processed bales straight out of their ginning facilities without restriction. This gives the grower the unique and valued opportunity to secure the most competitive cotton pricing from all lint merchants.

Address Avondale, 1875 Clifton Road Carroll NSW 2340

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Managing Director Scott Davies Ph: 0427 445 282 E: scott@carrollcotton.com.au General Enquiries Ph: 02 5711 1664 Fax: 02 4017 2481 E: admin@carrollcotton.com.au

Clyde Cotton Clyde cotton is a privately owned business located in Bourke NSW. The business operates several farms in the district which are situated on the Barwon/Darling river system. The operation has a dual ginning facility with a three stand Continental upland gin and a six stand roller gin to handle Pima cotton. The business has been growing and ginning cotton since 1983.

Address PO Box 20 Gorrell Avenue Bourke NSW 2840 Ph: 02 6870 8500 Fax: 02 6870 8599 General Manager Peter Harris Gin Manager Dave McKay Ph: 0429 496 647 E: dmckay@clydecotton.com.au

Koramba Ginning Koramba is a privately owned integrated cotton growing and ginning operation situated on the Macintyre River between Goondiwindi and Mungindi. There are 5300 hectares developed for large-scale irrigation on Koramba complemented with a cotton gin. The four-stand Lummus gin built in 1992 is not reliant on a power supply from local authorities as all power is generated on site. This feature provides total flexibility, allowing Koramba to process cotton day or night and without the expensive start up costs levied on other gins. The current power generation system has been active since 2001 and comprises state of the art equipment. The gin not only processes Koramba’s production but contractgins for growers in an area stretching from Goondiwindi to Mungindi and up

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to St George. Contract ginning takes priority over Koramba’s own cotton unless otherwise requested by the grower. Large gin runs are individually tailored to suit growers’ requests. The ginning facility is complemented by a seed storage shed and a large flood free all-weather module yard. Cottonseed and other by-products are sold to both the export and domestic market.

Offices Koramba Weighbridge: ‘Koramba’ Boomi NSW 2405 Ph: 02 6753 5250 Fax: 02 6753 5323 Moree Head Office: PO Box 399 Moree NSW 2400 Ph: 02 6752 5795 Fax: 6752 5674 Gin Ph: 02 6753 5344 Fax: 02 6753 5347

Management and Staff

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Gin Manager James Bates Ph: 02 6753 5344 Fax: 02 6753 5347 Mob: 0428 511 359

Louis Dreyfus Company – Ginning Country Supply Chain Manager Peter Power Operations Manager Dalby Site – Mike Kimball: 07 4669 6988, 0428 402 537 Moree Site – Kevin Chaplin: 02 6752 5188, 0428 850 082 Emerald Site – David Reiner: 07 4982 3888, 0427 761 428 Head Office Level 3, 1 Breakfast Creek Road Newstead, QLD 4006 PO Box 2142 Fortitude Valley BC QLD 4006 Ph: 07 3253 5999 Fax: 07 3257 4131

Grower Services Manager Toby Makim Ph: 02 6752 5795 Fax: 02 6752 5674 Mob: 0417 857 975

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Procurement and Grower Services Head Office Level 3, 1 Breakfast Creek Road Newstead, QLD 4006 PO Box 2361 Fortitude Valley, QLD 4006 Ph: 07 3852 3321 E: BRI-CottonAdmin@ldc.com All Services Cathy Cook: 0407 253 784

Regional Representation Queensland Central Queensland: Cathy Cook – 0407 253 784 Darling Downs: Andrew Cook – 0428 441 676 St George/Dirranbandi: Juanita Park – 0428 753 282 MacIntyre Valley: Andrew Cook – 0428 441 676 New South Wales Namoi Valley: Alex Dalton – 0409 546 712 Gwydir Valley: Andrew Cook – 0428 441 676 Macquarie, Bourke & Southern Valleys: Rodney St Clair – 0438 768 609

OUR COMMITMENT

GETTING THE RIGHT PRODUCT TO THE RIGHT LOCATION, AT THE RIGHT TIME Brisbane Office LDC Enterprises Australia Pty Limited Level 3 / 1 Breakfast Creek Road, Newstead, QLD 4006 PO Box 2142, Fortitude Valley, QLD, 4006 Ph: (07) 3852 33 21 Central QLD / All Valleys Cathy Cook - 0407 253 784 Michael Thompson - 0407 712 880

Cotton Seed enquiries Richard Porter - 0418 750 973

Toowoomba Office 2B Phillip Street, Toowoomba, QLD, 4053 Andrew Cook - 0425 441 676 Darling Downs, McIntyre & Gwydir Juanita Park - 0428 753 282 St. George & Dirrabandi

Trangie Office Ph: (02) 6888 8150 Rodney St Clair - 0438 768 609 Macquarie, Bourke & Southern Valleys Alex Dalton - 0409 546 712 Namoi Valley

COTTON YEARBOOK 2017 — 191

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Namoi Cotton Limited

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Namoi Cotton Co-operative, established in 1962, has over 50 years of service to the Australian Cotton industry. Namoi Cotton handles only Australian cotton through an extensive network of ginning, marketing and logistics operations throughout the cotton growing regions of New South Wales and Southern Queensland. Today, Namoi Cotton is Australia’s largest cotton ginner by volume and one of the major marketers of Australia’s premium cotton. Namoi Cotton operates 12 cotton ginning facilities within NSW and Queensland. It is a pioneer and leader in the implementation of round module handling technology. In addition to providing superior ginning services, Namoi Cotton also provides cotton seed marketing services. Namoi Cotton markets lint through Namoi Cotton Alliance (NCA), a joint venture. Over 98 per cent of the cotton purchased by Namoi Cotton is sold to overseas markets which are primarily Asian spinning mills. NCA services these markets from its warehouse operations

in Wee Waa and Warren in NSW and Goondiwindi in Queensland. The warehouse facilities are atmospherically controlled and have the capacity to store 519,000 bales under cover. Namoi Cotton is 100 per cent regionally based with our dedicated Grower Services team operating from a network of regional offices based in Wee Waa, Moree, Toowoomba, Trangie and Goondiwindi to service the ginning and marketing needs of our cotton grower clients. Being regionally based, Namoi Cotton is a major employer of regional people, employing more than 160 full time staff and over 300 seasonal staff and casual employees. Key employment priorities for Namoi Cotton are staff training and development and implementation and maintenance of stringent safety standards.

C O M M O D I T I E S

Senior Management Chief Executive officer Jeremy Callachor Chief Financial Officer Stuart Greenwood General Counsel and Company Secretary Bailey Garcha General Manager Grower Services and Marketing David Lindsay Chief Operations Officer Shane McGregor

Board of Directors Chairman Stuart Boydell Directors Richard Anderson Michael Boyce Robert Green Ben Coulton Glen Price Tim Watson

Offices Wee Waa Ph: 02 6790 3000 Fax: 02 6790 3087 Toowoomba Ph: 07 4631 6100 Fax: 07 4631 6184 Goondiwindi Ph: 07 4671 6900 Fax: 07 4671 6999 Moree Ph: 02 6752 2903 Fax: 02 6752 5357 Trangie Ph: 02 6888 9611 Fax: 02 6888 9678 Website www.namoicotton.com.au

Gins Professional Independent Classing

Independent classing for the Australian cotton industry ProClass offers:

4 Full cotton classing services carried out by professional experienced independent classers ensuring completely impartial and accurate grades 4 Instrument testing using 9 HVI lines, including 6 x USTER HVI 1000 at our Goondiwindi, QLD facility and, commencing in 2016, 3 x USTER HVI 1000 in our brand new facility in Griffith, NSW. These machines represent the very latest technology from the world’s leading manufacturer of cotton fibre testing equipment. 4 State of the art passive sample conditioning technology in both facilities, providing the optimum testing laboratory environment for HVI lines to operate in 4 Reporting tailored to individual client needs 4 Tendering of uncommitted cotton 4 2 International Standard Laboratories (ITMF, USDA & Australian BMP Standards) 4 Professional, efficient service with a reputation for an unbiased assessment of your cotton

Tel: 07 4671 0333 Fax: 07 4671 1333 Mobile: 0428 710 333 Email: jon@proclass.com.au ProClass Pty ltd 7 Troy Drive Goondiwindi Qld, 4390

192 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

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Ashley Ph: 02 6754 2150 Boggabri Ph: 02 6743 4084 Hillston Ph: 02 6967 2951 Macintyre Ph: 07 4671 2277 Merah North Ph: 02 6795 5124 Moomin Ph: 02 6796 5102 Mungindi Ph: 02 6753 2145 North Bourke Ph: 02 6872 1453 Trangie Ph: 02 6888 9729

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Wathagar Ph: 02 6752 5200 Yarraman Ph: 02 6795 5196

Board members

North West Ginning

Management

North West Ginning is owned by two prominent industry families. Plant, facilities and services to North West Ginning customers are world class and the entire operation is certified by internationally recognised ISO 9001 Quality Assurance Standards. The Lummus plant is capable of processing in excess of 200,000 bales per season and is renowned for the quality of cotton produced. Fullygravelled, flood free module yard, covered bale storage and loading bay enables North West Ginning to maintain and deliver a quality product.

Office Whittakers Lagoon PO Box 916 Moree 2400 Ph: 02 6752 3966 Fax: 02 6751 1067 E: manager@nwgin.com.au

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Head office 55 Wyandra Street Newstead Qld 4006 PO Box 2245 Fortitude Valley BC Qld 4006 Ph: 07 3250 3300 Fax: 07 3852 1600 Web: http://olamgroup.com

Directors James Mulligan Paul Swansbra General Manager Wayne Clissold Operations Manager Robert Kennedy

Management and Staff Executive Director and Country Head Australia Bob Dall’Alba E: bdallalba@olam.net.au

Queensland Cotton

Executive General Manager Cotton

Queensland Cotton offers a full range of marketing options including daily cash prices, seasonal, area, minimum price and fixed bale pools. In addition, ‘on call’ contracts are available. Services to growers are supported by SIX gins in Queensland, (Cecil Plains, Dalby, Moura, Emerald, and two in St George) as well as four in New South Wales, (Collymongle, Mungindi, Warren and Wee Waa) with a total capacity in excess of one million bales.

John Robinson E: john.robinson@olamnet.com

Manager Cotton Marketing Meg Strahle E: meg.strahle@olamnet.com

Manager Cotton Operations Bobby Irons E: bobby.irons@olamnet.com

Marketing Services Manager Luke Chappel E: luke.chappel@olamnet.com

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MODEL P600 ON DOORLESS PRESS Contact Nic Nic Thomson (04) 3114 7898 or visit Contact Thomson at (04) 3114 7898ourorwebsite visit usaton our

COTTON YEARBOOK 2017 — 193

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Seed Trader Shane Wolski E: shane.wolski@olamnet.com

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Quality and Export Manager Michael O’Rielley E: michael.orielley@olamnet.com

Cecil Plains Ph: 07 4668 0106

Cotton Marketing Brisbane Ph: 07 3250 3310 Cecil Plains Ph: 07 4668 0106 Collymongle Ph: 02 6756 2545 Dalby Ph: 07 4662 5220

Emerald Ph: 07 4982 1522 Griffith Ph: 02 6964 8810 St George Ph: 07 4625 2145 Warren Ph: 02 6847 4766 Wee Waa Ph: 02 6795 4420ß

Pulses Mt Tyson Ph: 07 4693 7166

RivCott RivCott gins cotton for over 80 grower-owners in the Riverina. It began operation in 2015 and is now doubling its capacity in preparation for the 2018 season to process over 2200 bales per day and over 300,000 bales in 2018. RivCott’s unique drying

VALUE MADE VISIBLE Formerly Tremain Prowse Pty Ltd

RURAL VALUATIONS: Irrigated & dryland cropping, grazing, horticulture & intensive livestock. Extensive experience in irrigated cotton throughout NSW and QLD. URBAN VALUATONS: Residential, commercial, industrial & specialised usage. SPECIALISED VALUATIONS: Including Plant & Machinery Valuations, Insurance Valuations & Depreciation Schedules

HEAD OFFICE:

536 Peel Street, Tamworth

Phone: 02 6766 3442 Email: tamworth.info@opg.net Website: www.opg.net 194 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

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and cleaning design is suited for Riverina conditions and has produced remarkable clean-cotton outcomes that have made it very attractive for local cotton growers.

Gin address

Gins Collymongle Ph: 02 6756 2545 Dalby Ph: 07 4662 5590 Emerald Ph: 07 4982 1522 Goondiwindi Moura Ph: 07 4997 1422 Mungindi Ph: 02 6753 2600 St George Ph: 07 4625 2145 Beardmore, St George Ph: 07 4625 4144 Warren Ph: 02 6847 4631 Wee Waa Ph: 02 6795 7188

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50 Conargo Road Carrathool, NSW 2711 Ph: 02 6990 5000 Fax: 02 6990 5001 E: office@rivcott.com W: www.rivcott.com

Management CEO Sam Buster Ph: 02 6990 5060 Gin Manager Dwayne Martin Ph: 02 6990 5070 Office Manager Michelle Buster Ph: 02 6990 5000

Southern Cotton Australia’s leading ginning facility, Southern Cotton was commissioned and built in the 2012 season. The Whitton-based operation features state-of-the-art technology in quality measurement, cleaning, humidification, processing and date traceability. An independent industry leader, owned by six local growers, Southern Cotton employs 14 full-time staff and 40-plus seasonal workers, and achieves Best Management Practice for Cotton Ginning Accreditation each year and has processed over 1 million bales. Southern Cotton is one of the only gins in the world using the data out of the cotton picker and tracing this module through the process to the finished bale. This data includes everything about the cotton module: farmer, field, date, time, latitude and longitude of the module’s production. By tracing this module number right through the process, production reports can be provided to growers on a per module basis. Both lint and cotton seed are stored in warehouse facilities with capacities of 80,000 bales and 14,000 tonne respectively. The seed shed is fully aerated, and the bale shed includes a state-of-the-art fire alarm and sprinkler system. The Lummus plant is capable of processing in excess of 250,000 bales per season.

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Fax: 02 6955 2765 Email: info@southerncotton.com.au Website: www.southerncotton.com.au

Outloading of both lint and cotton seed is undercover. The fully formed, flood free module yard has a capacity of 16,000 modules with three moonbuggy operators ensuring rapid turnaround times. Southern Cotton Trading offers a range of marketing options for cotton seed. Southern Cotton won a 2015 Telstra Business Award – Regional Category.

Management General Manager Kate O’Callaghan Phone: 0427 557 277

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Directors Tim Commins Roger Commins Scott Hogan Larry Walsh Michael Pygram Ross Anderson

Gin Manager Chris Veness Phone: 0428 179 221

Accounts Coordinator

Address

Corrie Ratcliff Phone: 0269 552 755

Darlington Point-Whitton Road. PO Box 41 Whitton NSW 2705 Phone: 02 6955 2755

Operations and Data Analyst Ben Bagust Phone: 0413 732 780

Marketing consultants Bridge Commodities Pty Ltd

Farmarco Australia Pty Ltd

Bridge Commodities is a grower focussed commodity marketing and risk management company. Our objective is to focus on enhancing grower profitability. With nearly 20 years of local and international commodity trading and risk management experience, we are able to give growers sound advice and trade execution when it comes to the marketing of their crops.

Farmarco provides risk management and commodity marketing services and has been advising cotton growers on marketing since 1985.

Contact Bill Dwyer, Commodity Agent and Advisor PO Box 595 Toowong Qld 4066 Australia Ph: +61 (0)7 3040 2485, Mob: +61 (0)422 367 680,\ E: bill.dwyer@bridgecommodities.com

Contacts Robert Imray or Tyson Hosie Toowoomba Ph: 07 4637 6400. E: farmarco@farmarco.com.au www. farmarco.com.au

JCL Commodities Pty Ltd

Cotton Compass

JCL is a specialist cotton marketing, risk management and information services company. JCL is Australian, fully independent, and privately owned. JCL works closely with cotton producers to maximise the Australian dollar return on their cotton production asset.

Cotton Compass is an interactive cotton marketing news service – publishing a weekly newsletter specifically tailored to high quality Australian cotton growers, cotton traders, input suppliers and textile industry participants in SE Asia, North Asia and the subcontinent. www.cottoncompass.com.au

Contacts David Watson – Mob: 0402 728 254, E: david.w@jclcom.com Ben Middleton – Mob: 0417 447 939, E: ben.m@jclcom.com

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In addition to the integrated ginning and marketing services offered by processing companies — detailed on previous pages — the following companies are merchants of Australian cotton.

Cofco Agri Cofco Agri is a globally integrated supply chain manager of agricultural products. Cofco Agri is well known and highly regarded in most major cotton markets. The cotton division draws significant advantage from synergies within Cofco Agri globally in the field of crop financing, warehousing, logistics and innovative distribution across existing Cofco networks worldwide. Cofco Agri is focused on origination, supply chain management and distribution from producers to end users. The integrated structure adopted by Cofco enables superior

cost, quality and performance management, directly benefiting our suppliers and clients. Providing flexibility, innovative solutions and being a world class counterpart for our producers and clients helps to develop longstanding relationships. Our assured performance and professional integrity ensures that these relationships withstand the test of uncertain markets and changing global conditions.

Cotton Trade Deck Lucas Basset-Chercot Direct line: +65 6805 8530 Mob: + 65 9728 6856 12 Marina View, #28-01 Asia Square Tower 2 Singapore 018961

WE KNOW COTTON Labour Solutions Australia can provide all types of ginning staff, machine operators and irrigators... With over 10 years’ experience supplying the Australian agribusiness sector, our trained staff can streamline your recruitment and payroll services. T: +61 7 4671 0325 F: +61 7 4671 0125 www.laboursolutions.com.au

196 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

Australia Purchasing Agents River Channel Aust Pty Ltd E: cofco@rivercahnnel.com.au Ray Wall: +61 498 652 542 Luke Wills: +61 408 267 743

ECOM Commodities

From Emerald to Victoria

Michelle Smith Regional Manager Agribusiness GOONDIWINDI 0418 606 837 msmith@laboursolutions.com.au

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For all your COTTON STAFF call Michelle 0418 606 837

ECOM Commodities is a fully owned subsidiary of ECOM Agroindustrial Corporation. ECOM Agroindustrial Corp is a family owned, global agribusiness that produces, processes and markets high value agricultural commodities such as cotton, coffee and cocoa. The foundations of the ECOM Group of Companies were laid in Barcelona, Spain, by the Esteve family during the 1840s. ECOM has since evolved into an international vertically integrated agribusiness. The ECOM Cotton Group established a domestic trade presence in Australia during 1999, opening a marketing and logistics operation in Sydney, along with major regional procurement centres. ECOM Commodities in conjunction with our offices located in Singapore and Shanghai, services Australia and the Far East. The Singapore and Shanghai offices have been simultaneously established to further strengthen the group’s presence in the Asian and Pacific Rim regions. ECOM Commodities has a presence in most cotton producing and consuming markets worldwide. ECOM Commodities presents itself as a partner to the Australian cotton grower, not merely as a service provider. The strategic aims and objectives of ECOM Commodities revolve around a well-established vertically integrated group focusing on procurement and distribution of Australian lint to the four corners of the globe.

Cotton Trade Desk Matthew Bradd Weng Chen Loh Hal Martin Ross Harvie Shipping and Logistics Manager Stephen Boelhouwer

Head Office 10.1 Graphix Row, 160 Bourke Road

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Alexandria, NSW 2015 GPO Box 29 Sydney NSW 2001 Ph: 02 9223 3631 Fax: 02 9233 6206 E: webcottonoz@ecomtrading.com Website: www.ecomtrading.com

Agents Namoi Valley, Gwydir Valley and Macquarie Valley Steve Dalton AgVantage Commodities Pty Ltd Ph: 02 6792 2962 MacIntyre Valley Steve Dalton AgVantage Commodities Pty Ltd Ph: 07 4671 1225 Darling Downs Kelvin Bella Our-Tek Pty Ltd Ph: 0428 717 284 Steve Dalton AgVantage Commodities Pty Ltd Ph: 07 4671 1225 St George and Dirranbandi Kelvin Bella Our-Tek Pty Ltd Ph: 0428 717 284 Central Highlands and Dawson– Callide Kelvin Bella Our-Tek Pty Ltd Ph: 0428 717 284

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Riverina Ecom Cotton Office Ross Harvie Ph: 0458 567 776

Louis Dreyfus Company Louis Dreyfus Company is an integrated ginning, marketing and warehouse business in Australia, handling approximately 20 per cent of Australia’s production annually.

Management and Staff Managing Director Tony Geitz Procurement and Grower Services – Ginning Marketing Cathy Cook Treasury/Trading Michael Thompson Sales/Trading Mudit Sharma Cotton Seed Sales Richard Porter/Michael Thompson Warehouses Moree: 02 6752 4655 Dalby: 07 4662 6033

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Gins Emerald: 07 4982 3888 Dalby: 07 4669 6988 Moree: 02 6752 5188

Procurement and Grower Services Head Office Level 3, 1 Breakfast Creek Road Newstead Qld 4006 PO Box 2142 Ph: 07 3852 3321 E: BRI-CottonAdmin@ldc.com Toowoomba Office 2B Phillip Street, Toowoomba, QLD 4350 Andrew Cook: 0428 441 676 Juanita Park: 0428 753 282 Trangie Office Ph: 02 6888 8150 Rodney St Clair: 0438 768 609 Alex Dalton: 0409 546 712

Regional Representation Queensland Central Queensland: Cathy Cook – 0407 253 784 Darling Downs: Andrew Cook – 0428 441 676

Omnicotton Australia Pty Ltd Suite 72, 283 Given Terrace Paddington, QLD, 4064 Australia P: 07 3367 1801 F: 07 3367 1827 E: australia@omnicotton.com COTTON YEARBOOK 2017 — 197

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St George/Dirranbandi: Juanita Park – 0428 753 282 MacIntyre Valley: Andrew Cook – 0428 441 676

New South Wales Gwydir Valley: Andrew Cook – 0428 441 676 Namoi Valley: Alex Dalton – 0409 546 712 Macquarie, Bourke & Southern Valleys: Rodney St. Clair – 0438 768 609

Omnicotton Australia Pty Ltd Omnicotton Australia Pty Ltd is a fully owned subsidiary of Omnicotton Inc based in Dallas, Texas, US. The company has been established for 12 years, concentrates its trading on US, Brazil and Australian growths, and through its strategic office locations, provides complete market coverage. With significant industry experience and representation on many of the globally recognised associations, Omnicotton is an active participant in the international cotton industry.

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Head Office Suite 72, 283 Given Terrace Paddington QLD 4064 Ph: 07 3367 1801 Fax: 07 3367 1827 E: australia @omnicotton.com

Management and Staff General Manager Cliff White E:cwhite@omnicotton.com Mob: 0417 728 440 Office Administrators Roberta Bocchese E: rbocchese@omnicotton.com

– Commodity Marketing

– Risk Management Consultancy – Live Commodity Futures and Currency market access

– 17 years of international cotton marketing and risk management experience Bridge Commodities provides growers of all sizes, in all cotton growing regions in Australia, with risk management consultancy and commodity marketing services.

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Reinhart Australia Reinhart Australia Pty Limited is part of the worldwide cotton merchant Paul Reinhart AG, founded in 1788 and headquartered in Winterthur, Switzerland. Our company is familyowned. We are proud of being responsible to manage it in the seventh generation. We and our staff are aware of our reputation for integrity. Our commitment, know-how and financial strength give our business partners the confidence that we can live up to our engagements. We source cotton from all exporting countries and sell it into more than 60 markets, acting as an intermediary throughout the supply chain from farmers to ginners and manufacturers. Our market position is especially strong in the extra-long staple segment. This strength bases on a long history which started in 1907 when Reinhart & Co Egypt was founded. We participate in ginning operations in Southeast and West Africa. Together with our partners we engage in crop support and help improve the standard of living of the local communities. We are also a member of the Better Cotton Initiative. We are present in the major cotton producing and consuming countries with our own staff or are represented by an extended network of agents. Recently we have established our own legal entities in the world’s largest markets China and India in order not only participate in the import and export business, but to source and market cotton locally. Our operations in Australia comprise a buying office located in Toowoomba, Qld, which sources directly from cotton growers and exports to all major consuming markets.

Management and Staff

(07) 3040 2485

0422 367 680

bill.dwyer@bridgecommodities.com

www.bridgecommodities.com 198 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

Grower Services/Marketing Tim Storck Ph: 0417 269 063 E: t.storck@reinhart.net.au Administration/Finance/Logistics Cheng Zhang Ph: 0417 497 463 E: c.zhang@reinhart.net.au

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Operations Assistant Pennie Shearer p.shearer@reinhart.net.au

Head Office Unit 10A Central Plaza 532–542 Ruthven St Toowoomba QLD, 4350 Ph: 07 4637 9070 E: mail@reinhart.net.au Website: www.reinhart.com

S&G Cotton Australia Pty Ltd S&G Cotton Australia Pty Ltd forms part of the wider S&G group of companies. The group was opened in 2002 by its principles Mr Sam Guan and textile mogul Mr Gordon Wu, southern China’s largest cotton apparel manufacturer. Sam and Gordon relish their 16 year association with the Australian Cotton Industry; they deeply respect its innovative and hard working growers who consistently produce cotton of the highest yields and quality. S&G are

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proud of the investments they have made, and continue to make, to the Australian cotton industry. They host numerous informative grower study tours to China where participating growers inspect the processing of cotton from the bale through to garments. S&G are also proud of being the only cotton merchant Gold sponsor of the 2014 and 2016 Cotton Conferences. In keeping with the industries’ high level of innovation S&G are investing heavily to ensure the marketing options and channels available to the Australian cotton industry are cutting edge and capable of embracing the future demands of the total textile chain. S&G have the knowledge, experience and flexibility to provide Australian cotton growers with a viable partner in the marketing of their raw cotton and cotton seed production. Before you sell make sure you have received an S&G price. To learn more about S&G Cotton Australia please visit www.sgcottons. com/en/index.asp

IT’S A TOUGH ACT TO FOLLOW

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Contact details General Manager – Australia Roger Tomkins Ph: 07 3399 4890 E: admin@sgcotton.com.au Trader – Cotton Seed & Grains Dan Quigley Ph: 0420 983 887 E: trading@sgcommodities.com.au Or your local Rain Ag representative Ian Grellman Ph: 0448 333 959 E: Igrellman@rainag.com.au Tim Whan Ph: 0448 444 015 E: Twhan@rainag.com.au Area Representative – Southern NSW Peter Horton Ph: 0448 777 358 E: Phorton@rainag.com.au

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Manufactured for breaking hard pans and deep tillage applications, the MaxxRipper® is your answer for: • Superior root structure • Greater nutrient uptake • Better moisture availability • Higher yields • Healthier plant development

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PANTONE 390 PC R:188 G:203 B: 50 C:31 M:6 Y:99 K:0

PANTONE 1595 PC R:234 G:103 B:32 C:4 M:73 Y:100 K:0

PANTONE Yellow PC R:255 G:238 B:0 C:3 M:0 Y:96 K:0

70% PANTONE Process Black PC R:101 G:98 B:99 C:60 M:53 Y:51 K:22

20% PANTONE Process Black PC R:211 G:210 B:210 C:16 M:13 Y:13 K:0

1800 194 131 16/10/2017 2:10 pm

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INDEPENDENT CLASSING SERVICES Australian Classing Services Australian Classing Services (ACS) commenced business in 2003 and quickly became the most technologically advanced independent cotton classing facility in Australia. ACS has an unrivalled in-house quality assurance program. This includes ‘cross checking’ results between HVI and performing ‘check tests’, where cotton with a known value is tested frequently to ensure the HVI machines are functioning precisely. This is a service that no other classing room in Australia offers. ACS also employs a qualified HVI technician to oversee any problems that might occur with the instruments. Purpose built software, streamlined systems and barcode scanners ensure classing results are delivered in an efficient and timely fashion. They also enable traceability throughout the whole process. ACS realises trust is everything, that’s why they invite their clients to watch them work. This is a novel idea and aims to build trust and educate growers on the finer details of classing to assist them in making better agronomic and ginning decisions. Cotton samples are conditioned and tested under precise atmospheric conditions in line with CCAA BMP, USDA and the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) standards for cotton testing. This is backed up by drawing on a team of experienced USDA qualified classers.

Head Office 27 Trucking Yards Lane PO Box 143 Wee Waa NSW 2388 Ph: 02 6790 3059 Fax: 02 6790 3030 E: admin@ausclass.com.au Manager Andrew Baxter Ph: 02 6790 3052 Mob: 0428 938 394 E: abaxter@ausclass.com.au Administrator Rachell Haynes Ph: 02 6790 3059 E: rhaynes@ausclass.com.au

200 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

ProClass Pty Ltd ProClass is Australia’s leading cotton classing operation. Fully independent, we operate two modern cotton classing facilities servicing Australian cotton growers and merchants. The first is located at head office in Goondiwindi, Queensland, right in the heart of Australia’s traditional cotton belt. The second is situated at Griffith, NSW, the hub of the rapidly expanding cotton growing region in southern NSW. At present, ProClass classes approximately 65% of the cotton produced in Australia. Our mantra is “Professional Independent Classing” and that is exactly what we provide. This is done with the help of a team of industry professionals with long term domestic and international experience, a fleet of the most up to date cotton testing equipment (HVI machines), a state-of-the-art humidification and environment conditioning system and a proactive, forward thinking Board of Directors. ProClass is a full participating member of the Cotton Classer’s Association of Australia (CCAA). We are fully compliant with the CCAA’s Best Management Practice for cotton classing and have been since that program’s inception. In 2016 the Goondiwindi facility was accredited under the International Cotton Association Laboratory Certification Scheme. It is planned for the Griffith facility to be accredited under this scheme in the near future. The ProClass service is open to all cotton growers and merchants.

Goondiwindi (Head Office) 7 Troy Drive Goondiwindi QLD 4390 Ph: +61 7 4671 0333 Fax: +61 7 4671 1333 Griffith 23 Battista Street Griffith NSW 2680 Ph: +61 2 6964 4440

Staff General Manager Jon Hurford E: jon@proclass.com.au Mob: 0428 710 333 Griffith Ops Manager Patrick McDonnell E: patrick@proclass.com.au Mob: 0437 909 796

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Major industry organisations Australian Cotton Industry Forum ��202 Cotton Australia ��202 Associated industry bodies Aerial Agricultural Association of Australia ��204 Association of Australian Cotton Scientists ��205 Australian Cotton Ginners’ Association ��206 Australian Cotton Shippers’ Association ��206 Cotton Classers’ Association of Australia ��207 Cotton Research and Development Corporation ��208 Cotton Seed Distributors ��208 Crop Consultants Australia ��210 WinCott Women’s Industry Network – Cotton ��210 Regional cotton grower associations ��211

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COTTON INDUSTRY ORGANISATIONS Australian Cotton Industry Forum The Australian Cotton Industry Forum was established in 1997 (as the Australian Cotton Industry Council) to represent all sectors of the cotton industry.

Office Bearers Chair Fleur Anderson, Ph: 02 6795 0000, Mob: 0409 620 302 Company secretary Adam Kay Suite 4.01, 247 Coward Street, Mascot NSW 2020 Ph: 02 9669 5222, Fax: 02 9669 5511 E: adamk@cotton.org.au

Members • Association of Australian Cotton Scientists • Australian Cotton Ginners Association • Australian Cotton Planting Seed Association • Australian Cotton Shippers Association • Cotton Australia Limited • Cotton Classers Association of Australia • Cotton Research and Development Corporation • Crop Consultants Association • CropLife Australia Limited • Rain Grown Cotton Initiative • Wincott

Cotton Australia Cotton Australia is the peak body for Australia’s cotton producers, supporting more than 1200 cotton farming families in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria. The organisation strives to foster a world-class agricultural industry that’s sustainable, valued for its economic and social contributions and produces very high quality cotton in demand around the globe. 202 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

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Cotton Australia provides a united voice for cotton growers across research and development, stewardship, natural resource management, biosecurity and cotton production issues, such as water availability and input costs. This is achieved though policy and advocacy, education, communication and grower services.

Board Chair Simon Corish Deputy Chair Hamish McIntyre Directors Fleur Anderson Matt McVeigh Nigel Burnett Jeremy Callachor Bob Dall’Alba Barb Grey Chris Hogendyk Peter Tuohey

Head Office Suite 4.01, 247 Coward Street, Mascot NSW 2020 Ph: 02 9669 5222 Fax: 02 9669 5511 E: talktous@cotton.org.au Website: www.cottonaustralia.com.au

Project Lead – Cotton to Market and Cotton LEADS Brooke Summers Finance Manager Therese Wooden Executive Assistant Rochelle Zakher Project Officer – AgSkilled Claudia Vicary Workforce and Training Coordinator Rebecca Fing

Regional Office – Toowoomba 115 Campbell Street Toowoomba QLD 4350 Ph: 07 4639 4908

General Manager Michael Murray Mob: 0427 707 868 myBMP Manager Rick Kowitz Mob: 0427 050 832 myBMP Customer Service Officer Nicole Scott Ph: 1800 COTTON (1800 268 866)

Regional Office – Narrabri PO Box 322 Narrabri NSW 2390 Ph: 02 6792 6041 Fax: 02 6792 6042

Regional Manager (Namoi, Gwydir, Walgett, Bourke) Paul Sloman Mob: 0448 094 883

Head Office Staff

Regional Office – Griffith

Chief Executive Officer Adam Kay Policy Officer Angela Bradburn Policy Officer – Research Direction and Stewardship Nicola Cottee Education Coordinator Ali Briggs Communications Officer Samuel Evangelinos Communications Manager Chris Larsen

PO Box 8175 Griffith East NSW 2680

Regional Manager (Riverina) Honi Anderson Mob: 0437 700 300

Field Staff Regional Manager (Emerald) Renee Anderson Mob: 0448 125 156 Regional Manager (Dawson Valley) Bronwyn Christensen Mob: 0488 931 691 Regional Manager (Macintyre Valley) Cate Wild Mob: 0487 713 014

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Regional Manager (St George/ Dirranbandi/Mungindi) Jane Hill Mob: 0419 259 194 Regional Manager (Darling Downs) Mary O’Brien Mob: 0408 982 291 Regional Manager (Macquarie Valley) Julie Wise Mob: 0447 370 043

Cotton Australia Members Cotton Australia members nominate representatives to attend the company’s General Meetings. The five largest Cotton Grower Associations are able to nominate two representatives. • Auscott Limited • Brighann Ginning • Carroll Cotton Company • Central Highlands Cotton Growers’ & Irrigators’ Association Inc. • Cotton Seed Distributors • Crop Consultants Australia Ltd • Cubbie Ginning • Darling Downs Cotton Growers’ Inc.

204 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

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• Darling River Food And Fibre • Dawson Valley Cotton Growers’ Association • Dirranbandi Cotton Growers’ Association • Gwydir Valley Cotton Growers’ Association • Louis Dreyfus Commodities • Lower Namoi Cotton Growers’ Association • Macintyre Valley Cotton Growers’ Association • Macquarie Cotton Growers’ Association • Menindee & Lower Darling Cotton Growers’ Association • Mungindi Water Users’ & Cotton Growers’ Association • Namoi Cotton Co-Op

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• North West Ginning Pty Ltd • Queensland Cotton Corporation Limited • Rivcott Pty Ltd • Southern Cotton • Southern Valleys Cotton Growers’ Association • St George Cotton Growers’ Association • Tandou Ltd • Twynam Cotton Pty Ltd • Upper Namoi Cotton Growers’ Association • Walgett Cotton Growers’ Association • Wathagar Ginning Company

Aerial Application Association of Australia Key objectives of the AAAA include improving safety and efficacy through professional development which it

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achieves by providing ongoing training to pilots and operators and a range of programs and information service, including a national convention, state meetings and technical workshops. AAAA runs two accreditation programs – Spraysafe and the newer Aerial Improvement Management System (AIMS) – which are based on sound competence of pilots and ground staff, appropriate facilities and comprehensive application and business management systems. AAAA works with a wide range of other organisations including Cotton Australia and agronomists to continually improve the services offered to clients and to improve knowledge of aerial application’s effectiveness, safety and economy. Cotton growers are encouraged to support AAAA by having their aerial application carried out by AAAA members who hold AAAA accreditations.

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PLUS All-in-One

USE WITH THE Irrimax LIVE WEBSITE TO MONITOR AND MANAGE YOUR CROP

AAAA contacts

• Manage soil water at a glance

Chief Executive Officer Phil Hurst PO Box 353 Mitchell ACT 2602 Ph: 02 6241 2100 Fax: 02 6241 2555 Web: www.aerialag.com.au

• Track root zone development

President Stephen Death, Hazair Pty Ltd

SENSORS, LOGGER, MODEM AND BATTERY IN A SINGLE CABLE FREE PROBE

Association of Australian Cotton Scientists The association aims to provide a united and representative body to promote and enhance cotton research as a profession; to facilitate communication and collaboration between scientists; and, to act as a point of contact between scientists, the Australian cotton industry and with the International Cotton Researchers’ Association. Membership is open to students and professionals who spend a majority of their time in active research (or teaching) relevant to the cotton industry. Technical staff that support research projects and extension personnel will be welcome as associate members, in recognition of their essential role in research and its delivery. One of the main activities that the association facilitates is the ‘Australian Cotton Research Conference’ which will be held again in Armidale in 2019.

Office Bearers President Dr Paul Grundy Full Committee Members • Dr Mary Whitehouse • Dr Linda Smith • Dr Warwick Stiller • Dr Michael Bange • Mr Allan Williams (Associate Member Representative)

• Receive plant stress alerts

• Measure the amount of soil moisture and level of salinity at multiple depths • Robust and maintenance free • Range of aerials to get data transmission coverage at most sites • EnviroSCAN quality data with undisturbed installation • Probe lengths from 50cm to 150cm

VISIT SENTEK.COM.AU TO FIND YOUR LOCAL DEALER COTTON YEARBOOK 2017 — 205

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Australian Cotton Ginners’ Association

The Australian Cotton Ginners’ Association was formed on 4 December 1992 and became an association of all the cotton processing organisations within Australia. It’s aims are: • To promote the common business interests of persons engaged in the cotton ginning industry within Australia; • To encourage and promote co-operation; • To sponsor technical development; and, • To seek improvement of communications, education and safety within the ginning industry

Office Bearers President Andrew van der Stok Namoi Cotton Ph: 0267 524378 Fax: 0267 525357 Mob: 0429 232303 E: avanderstok@namoi.com.au Secretary/Treasurer Lauryn Riordan Koramba Ginning Ph: 02 6751 1355 Fax: 02 6571 1359 Mob: 0429 774 649 E: marketing@koramba.com.au Member Organisations • Auscott, Sydney • Brighann Ginning, Moree • Carroll Cotton, Carroll • Clyde Agriculture, Bourke • Cubbie Ginnery, Dirranbandi • Louis Dreyfus Ginning, Brisbane • Koramba Ginning, Moree • Namoi Cotton, Wee Waa • North West Ginning, Moree • Queensland Cotton, Brisbane • Rivcott Ginning, Carrathool • Southern Cotton, Darlington Point • Tandou Cotton, Menindee

206 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

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Australian Cotton Shippers Association The Australian Cotton Shippers Association (ACSA) is principally involved in the enhancement of Australia’s cotton industry in our export markets. It also aims to promote best management practices and prosperity within the industry and the communities in which we operate. This especially includes the preservation of contract sanctity and adherence to established international trading terms, arbitration procedures and protection of the forward marketing platform. ACSA merchant members comprise the following: • Auscott Marketing • Cargill Cotton • CNCGC Australian • Cofco Agri • Cubbie Station • Ecom Cotton • Glencore Agriculture • Louis Dreyfus Company • Namoi Cotton • OmniCotton Australia • Queensland Cotton • RCMA Group • Reinhart Australia • S&G Cotton Australia The organisation has the support of over 30 Associate member firms who deliver finance, insurance, marketing, controlling, shipping and logistics services to the post farm gate supply chain. ACSA plays an active role in the local and international cotton arena through its membership of the Australian Cotton Industry Forum, the Australian Peak Shippers Association, the Committee for the Cooperation between Cotton Associations and the International Textile Manufacturers

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Federation. All merchant members are affiliated with the International Cotton Association. ACSA subscribes to the implementation of industry wide best management practices and has been supportive of developing BMP modules at each stage of the movement of cotton beyond the farm gate. ACSA has continued to support BMP by collaborating with Cotton Australia providing education to brand owners. ACSA also undertakes regular visits to both traditional and emerging markets to promote Australian cotton. It collaborates with organisations such as Cotton Australia, Cotton Research & Development Corporation and CSIRO and also ensures that messages from the market are fed back to those organisations that can influence the direction of our research and development. ACSA’s involvement with the latest industry marketing strategies of BCI and Cotton LEADS further reinforces our commitment to continuous improvement in placing Australian cotton as a premium product on the global textile stage. The interaction afforded by participating in these activities demonstrates ACSA’s commitment to the industry as a whole.

Office Bearers Chair Matthew Bradd Ecom Cotton Ph: 02 9223 3631 Vice Chair Cliff White Omnicotton Australia Ph: 07 3367 1801

Contact Secretariat Tracey Byrne-Morrison Tel 07 3848 3823 PO Box 4, Annerley QLD 4103 Web: www.austcottonshippers.com.au Email: cottonshippers@bigpond.com

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The Cotton Classers’ Association of Australia (CCAA) has four member organisations and two associate member organisations. The aim of the CCAA is to promote consistency between classing facilities within Australia, both merchant and independent. The CCAA monitors this consistency through regular internal check tests for both visual and HVI testing. The CCAA is also involved in an international program – Commercial Standardisation of Instrument Testing (CSITC). All data from testing programs are analysed independently and results sent to classing facilities. The CCAA is firmly committed to its BMP program to ensure that Australian cotton growers and end users worldwide have their cotton graded consistently under the best possible conditions.

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CCAA Best Management Practice If Australia is to maintain its reputation as a consistent supplier of high quality cotton it will need to ensure that classing facilities in Australia consistently specify their cotton. To do this the cotton classing sector is assessed independently to, amongst others, determine compliance with the current Best Management Practice (BMP) for Classing handbook, compiled by the Cotton Classers Association of Australia (CCAA), via formal audits. These audits are conducted currently by René van der Sluijs of CSIRO’s Materials Science and Engineering (CMSE), an organisation which is considered to be independent. These audits allow individual facilities to make technical and

operational corrections to their practice so that ultimately the industry can achieve consistent and better precision of classing grades. There are currently four classing facilities in Australia certified by Cotton Australia as compliant to the current version of the BMP handbook for classing.

Office Bearers President Greg Parle, Auscott Ltd Ph: 02 9439 0514 Secretary Andrew Baxter Australian Classing Services Ph: 02 6790 3052 Treasurer TBA

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www.environdata.com.au COTTON YEARBOOK 2017 — 207

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CRDC: Science underpinning the cotton industry’s success The Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC) invests in research, development and extension projects for the Australian cotton industry. A partnership between the Commonwealth Government and the Australian cotton industry, CRDC exists to support the performance of the cotton industry: helping to increase both the productivity and profitability of growers. In 2017–18, Australia’s cotton growers and the Government are co-investing $22.4 million through CRDC into approximately 200 RD&E projects. CRDC is partnering with 76 research organisations, plus many growers, to conduct this RD&E across five key program areas: farmers, industry, customers, people and performance. This investment continues CRDC’s long-standing commitment to cotton industry RD&E. Over the past 27 years, CRDC has invested over $300 million in industry research on behalf

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of growers and the Government. Two of the greatest success stories for the cotton industry – water use efficiency and pesticide use reduction – are the result of this RD&E, but the successes do not stop there. Research is currently being conducted across the full scope of cotton production: pathology, biosecurity, insects and weeds, spray application, insecticides, Bt stewardship, energy use, nutrition and water use efficiency. There is work constantly underway to make cotton more productive, and profitable, for Australian cotton growers. Importantly, connecting growers with this research is also a key focus for the CRDC, who are joint partners with Cotton Australia and CSD in the industry extension program, CottonInfo. For more information, visit our website: www.crdc.com.au.

Contact CRDC 2 Lloyd St, Narrabri NSW 2390 P: 02 6792 4088 E: crdc@crdc.com.au W: www.crdc.com.au

CRDC 2017 Board of Directors (as at October 1 2017) Chair Richard Haire Executive Director Bruce Finney Directors Kathryn Adams, Liz Alexander, Greg Kauter, Jeremy Burdon, Les Copeland, and Rosemary Richards

CRDC team Executive Director Bruce Finney General Manager, R&D Investment Ian Taylor General Manager, Business and Finance Graeme Tolson 208 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

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CottonInfo Program Manager Warwick Waters Communications Manager Ruth Redfern R&D Program Manager Allan Williams R&D Program Manager Jane Trindall R&D Program Manager Susan Maas Accountant Emily Luff Accounts Officer Melanie Moloney IT Manager Peter Harvey Executive Assistant Dianne Purcell Project Administration Assistant Megan Baker Project Administration Assistant Amy Withington

Cotton Seed Distributors Ltd Cotton Seed Distributors (CSD Ltd) has been supplying quality cotton planting seed to the cotton industry for 50 years. CSD was formed through the vision of Australia’s foundation cotton growers and remains committed to the success of today’s industry. CSD is a major investor in cotton breeding, research and development, having developed a long and successful partnership with the CSIRO Cotton Breeding Program. CSD’s objective is to deliver elite varieties that are specifically bred and adapted to suit local growing conditions by delivering yield and quality outcomes to keep the Australian cotton industry at the premium end of the global fibre market. On behalf of the industry, CSD takes an active role in the development and licensing of best in class biotechnology traits that add value to the overall performance of CSD varieties and to Australian growers. CSD also conducts large scale replicated trials focused on new varieties, technologies and techniques to assess performance across diverse

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environmental conditions; and provides industry wide extension services focused on cotton production and agronomy via the Extension and Development Agronomy team and CottonInfo joint venture, in partnership with CRDC and Cotton Australia. For more, visit the CSD website: www.csd.net.au

CSD 2017 Board of Directors Chair James Kahl Vice-chair Joanne Grainger Managing Director Peter Graham Directors Nigel Corish, Juanita Hamparsum, Matt Norrie, Tony Quigley, Doug Rathbone, Rob Tuck

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Moisture Meter mounts on any JD round module picker

CSD Leadership Group Managing Director Peter Graham Executive Assistant Kylie Bruinsma Chief Financial Officer David Coleman Redevelopment Lead Phillip Armytage Extension and Marketing Lead James Quinn Quality and Research Lead Brett Ross Operations Lead Bruce Cowan Farm Lead Mark Cathcart Communications Lead Ngaire Roughley

CSD Extension and Development Agronomists Queensland Sam Lee Larissa Holland (Junior Agronomist) Darling Downs and Central Queensland Chris Barry Border Rivers and Balonne Chris Teague Gwydir Alice Devlin Namoi Rob Eveleigh Jacob Booby (Junior Agronomist) Macquarie and Bourke Bob Ford Southern NSW Jorian Millyard Lucy Burrows (Junior Agronomist)

CottonInfo Regional Extension Officers Darling Downs Annabel Twine Border Rivers, Dirranbandi and St George Sally Dickinson Gwydir and Mungindi Janelle Montgomery

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Green Star Bale Track

Please contact us to find out more www.vomax.com.au

Richard Millyard: 0428 573 511

richardm@vomax.com.au COTTON YEARBOOK 2017 — 209

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Namoi Geoff Hunter Macquarie and Bourke Amanda Thomas Southern NSW Kieran O’Keeffe

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Address Head office ‘Shenstone’ 2952 Culgoora Road Wee Waa NSW 2388 PO Box 117, Wee Waa NSW 2388 Phone: 02 6795 0000 Fax: 02 6795 4966 Dalby office Corner Edward and Napier Streets PO Box 756 Dalby QLD 4405 Phone: 07 4662 6050 Fax: 07 4662 6060 www.csd.net.au www.facebook.com/ CottonSeedDistributors

Crop Consultants Australia Crop Consultants Australia (CCA) supports those who provide agronomic advice to Australia’s cotton, grain, pulse and oilseed producers.

IT’S A TOUGH ACT TO FOLLOW

CCA assists both those who are building a career in this field and those who already have extensive experience. The organisation provides avenues for members to strengthen their technical, business and communication skills. Agronomists, and those with an interest in agronomy, benefit from developing relationships and sharing information with researchers, networking with their peers from different regions, receiving the latest information and being offered up-skilling opportunities. The association’s members include those that are self-employed or work for independent consulting businesses or farming enterprises and those that are involved with research or work for product manufacturers, resellers and agribusiness. CCA publishes a fortnightly e-newsletter, organises professional development events such as the popular Cropping Solutions Seminars and coordinates nationally significant industry projects. Each year CCA collects data on product use in the cotton industry with these data packages available for sale.

For further information contact

IT’S TOUGHER. IT DIGS DEEPER. IT LASTS LONGER

Crop Consultants Australia Incorporated PO Box 349, Woombye QLD 4559 Mob: 0429 925 459 Fax: 07 3036 6357 E: info@cropconsultants.com.au www.cropconsultants.com.au

• Ideal for cotton, corn, sorghum and cereals

Wincott – Women in Cotton Industry Network

• Efficient pupae control • Effective weed and regrowth control • Excellent crop residue and stubble incorporation

1800 194 131 www.k-line.net.au

210 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

Wincott – Women in Cotton – was established in December 2000 with the objective of supporting rural women across the Australian cotton industry, through facilitating opportunities to connect with other rural women and

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develop both personal and professional knowledge and skills. Over the years Wincott has continued to develop and expand, representing all women within our rural communities and the industry. Wincott is driven by a group of dedicated volunteers, geographically spread across the cotton industry, who are passionate about their industry and supporting rural women. Our achievements have been made possible through the support of organisations from many aspects of the industry. Key activities and programs that Wincott members have identified as being important for the next year include: • Personal and professional development; • Health and wellbeing; • Motivation and inspiration; • Business and finance; and, • Industry knowledge.

President Sally Dickinson (Goondiwindi) E: sally.dickinson@cottoninfo.net.au Mob: 0407 992 495 Vice President Karen Kirkby (Narrabri) E: karen.kirkby@dpi.nsw.gov.au Mob: 0428 944 500 Secretary Anna Power (Goondiwindi) E: Anna@evolutionfarming.com.au Mob: 0438 929 630 Treasurer and Public Officer Monique Cush (Boomi) E: monique.cush@gmail.com Mob: 0420 458 420 Regional Representatives Central Queensland: Gail Spargo and Sharna Holman Dawson/Theodore: Jess French Darling Downs: Georgie Krieg MacIntyre: Rebecca Hertslett and Jess Strauch Gwydir: Lauryn Riordan Namoi/Bourke/Walgett: Alison Young Macquarie: Kylie Edwards Lachlan Jenny Cleton & Stacey Storrier Murrumbidgee: Elizabeth Stott and Elle Steinfort

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REGIONAL COTTON GROWER ASSOCIATIONS Darling River Food & Fibre (Bourke) President Tony Thompson Ph: 02 6872 1999, Fax: 02 6872 3061 Vice President Ian Cole Ph: 02 6872 2833, Fax: 02 6872 1072

Darling Downs Cotton Growers Inc. President Adam McVeigh Ph: 07 4663 5168, Mob: 0427 635 309 E: mcveigh.trading@gmail.com

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Vice-President Georgie Krieg Mob: 0429 939 244 E: georgie.krieg@bigpond.com Secretary Sandy Cowell Mob: 0427 430 966 E: secretary@ddcgi.com.au Treasurer Ross Uebergang Mob: 0409 876 611 E: ross_uebergang@live.com.au Address PO Box 114 Dalby Qld 4405 www.ddcgi.com.au

Dawson Valley Cotton Growers’ Association Address PO Box 18 Theodore, Qld. 4719 President Simon Green Mob: 0429 063 100 E: sgreen_badminton@activ8.net.au Secretary Bronwyn Christensen Mob: 0488 931 691, E: bronwync@cotton.org.au Treasurer Travis Anderson Mob: 04188078997 E: Anderson.travis@rocketmail.com

Mareeba

Cairns Innisfail Ingham

Townsville

Ayr

Cloncurry

Mackay

Rockhampton Emerald

Gladstone

Biloela

Blackall

Bundaberg

Miles

Quilpie

Wondai

Roma

Brisbane St George Goondiwindi Boggabilla Garah Moree Narrabri Dubbo

7050 16015408 00010

Ouyen

Toowoomba

Grafton Armidale Tamworth

Gulgong

Orange Forbes Hillston Griffith Cowra West Wyalong Coleambally Albury / 79 Kerang Cobram Wodonga

Newcastle

Cooma Bendigo

RC Langtree & Company RC Langtree

Horsham

12/19

Yarraville

W390532

COTTON YEARBOOK 2017 — 211

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Dirranbandi Cotton Growers’ Association

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Address PO Box 332 Dirranbandi Qld 4486 President Simon Graham “Cubbie Station” Dirranbandi 4486 Secretary Edwina Graham “Cubbie Station” Dirranbandi E: simoneddie@bigpond.com Treasurer Douglas Crothers “Booligar” Dirranbandi 4486 Ph: 07 4625 0856 E: crothdl@bigpond.com

Central Highlands Cotton Growers’ and Irrigators’ Association President Aaron Kiely Mob: 0411 702 236 E: ackiely@bigpond.net.au Vice President Emma McCullagh Mob: 0438 789 488 E: cjandemma@bigpond.com Treasurer/Secretary Danni Ingram Mob: 0427 834 655 Address PO Box 33 Emerald Qld 4720

trimble.com/positioning-services +1800 062 221 or contact your local reseller

212 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

Gwydir Valley Cotton Growers’ Association Chair Sean Boland Auscott Moree Midkin, Moree Mob: 0428 591 875 E: sboland@auscott.com.au

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Vice Chair Darren Hart Sundown Pastoral Co Keytah, Moree Mob: 0458 243 709u E: darren.hart@sundownpastoral.com.au Secretary/Treasurer: Zara Lowien Mob: 0427 521 399 Ph: 02 6752 1399, Fax: 02 6752 1499 E: gwydircotton@gwydircotton.com.au

Address PO Box 824 Moree NSW 2400

Lower Namoi Cotton Growers’ Association Chairman Jeff Hamblin 127 Pilliga Road Wee Waa NSW 2388 Mob: 0427 935283 Vice Chairman TBA Secretary Phil Firth PO Box 335 Narrabri NSW 2390 Mob: 0427 657532 Treasurer Mandy Gilmour PO Box 60 Wee Waa NSW 2388 Tel: 02 67955355 Cotton Australia Paul Sloman PO Box 322 Narrabri NSW 2390 Mob: 0448 094883 All correspondence to: PO Box 388 Wee Waa NSW 2388

Macintyre Valley Cotton Growers’ Association Chairman Glen Smith Mob: 0428 537 221 E: glen@evolutionfarming.com.au Vice Chairman Tony Taylor Mob: 0438 440 868 E: tony@tayloragconsultansy.com.au

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Vice Chairman Toby Makim Ph: 02 6753 5250 Mob: 0417 857 975 E: manager@koramba.com.au Andrew Newell Mob: 0418 182844 E: Andrew_newell_05@yahoo.com.au Treasurer Nigel Corish Ph: 07 4671 1530 Mob: 0409 904 500 E: yambocully@bigpond.com

Macquarie Cotton Growers’ Association Chairman Ryan Pratten 129 Dappo Rd, Narromine, NSW 2821 Mob: 0439 894 554 E: ryan.pratten@mpac.net.au Vice Chairman Jake Hall Mob: 0438 837 333 E: jhall@auscott.com.au

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Secretary Kerry Duncan PO Box 130 Warren NSW 2824 Mob: 0427 889 621 E: admin@mcga.org.au

Menindee and Lower Darling Cotton Growers’ Association The MLDCGA was formed in 1998 by employees of Tandou Ltd to improve the flow of information and Cotton Australia’s services and resources to our isolated location.

Office PO Box 207 Menindee NSW 2879 Secretary/Treasurer Sammy-Jo Field Mob: 0427 256 501 E: sammyjo2880@hotmail.com

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Mungindi Cotton Growers’ and Water Users’ Association Address PO Box 68, Mungindi 2406 President Anthony Barlow Mob: 0427 537 253 E: anbarlow@bigpond.com Vice President Tristan Herslett Mob: 042 877 1078 E: cotton@reardonfarms.com Secretary Merryn Barlow Mob: 0438 060 303 E: merrynwyadrigah@bigpond.com Treasurer Rebecca Longworth Mob: 0427 151 018 E: rlongworth@southbunarba.com.au

50% off for

Aussie Growers thanks to the generous support of our sponsors:

www.cottoncompass.com.au COTTON YEARBOOK 2017 — 213

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Southern Valleys’ Cotton Growers Association Address PO Box 41 Whitton, NSW 2705 President John Durham Mob: 0475 831 093 E: john.durham@southerncotton.com.au Vice President Justin Macmillan Mob: 0400 861 017 E: jmcmillan@auscott.com.au Secretary Eliza Star Mob: 0436 008 200 E: eliza.star@olamnet.com Treasurer Helette Ferreira Mob: 0457 573 113 E: svcgat@gmail.com

St George Cotton Growers’ Association

MON1445 D LISTING AD_Cotton YB_FA.indd 1

214 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

Address PO Box 424 St George 4487 President Scott Armstrong Mob: 0418 721 444 E: scott@sharmarel.com Vice President Drew Knights Mob: 0427 265 553 Secretary Georgie Stower Mob: 0400 922 055 E: secretary@sgecga.com Treasurer Tom Crothers E: treasurer@sgecga.com 23/10/2017 3:53 PM

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Upper Namoi Cotton Growers’ Association Address PO Box 855 Gunnedah 2380 President Nick Beer Mob: 0429 868 920 E: nickbeer11@hotmail.com Vice President Scott McCalman Mob:0428 474 819 E: jedburghfarming@gmail.com Secretary/Treasurers Julie Glover Mob: 0427 426 393 E: Weetaliba@bigpond.com Scott Davies Mob: 0427 445 282 E: scott@carrollcotton.com.au

Walgett Cotton Growers’ Association President Jack Harris Mob: 0428 657 436 E: jack@pjhsons.com Vice President Bernie Bierhoff Mob: 0427 293 069 E: berniebierhoff@bigpond.com.au Secretary Lori Nemec c/- ‘Carlton’ Walgett NSW 2832 Mob: 0427 693 796 E: lanemec@yahoo.com

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SUPPLIERS’ DIRECTORY AG CHEM AND FERT Adama – www.adama.com Agsafe – www.agsafe.org.au B&W Rural/Elders – www.bwrural.com Barmac – www.barmac.com.au Cotton Grower Services – www.cgs.com.au Dow Agro – www.dowagro.com eChem Australia – www.echem.com.au FMC – www.fmcaustralasia.com.au Growth Ag – www.growthag.com.au Sero-X – www.innovate-ag.com.au/sero-x Incitec Pivot Fertilisers – www.incitecpivotfertilisers.com.au Koch Fertiliser Australia – www.kochfertaustralia.com Monsanto – www.monsanto.com NuFarm – www.nufarm.com/AU/Home Sipcam – www.sipcam.com.au Sumitomo – www.sumitomo-chem.com.au UPL – www.uplonline.com/uplaustralia Yara Australia – www.yara.com.au

Leverlink – www.leverlink.com.au Lindsay Irrigation – www.lindsay.com/irrigation Padman Stops – www.padmanstops.com.au Pivot Irrigation & Pumping – www.pivotirrigation.com.au Power Equipment – www.powerequipment.com.au Rodney Industries – www.rodneyind.com.au SMK Consultants Pty Ltd – www.smk.com.au Valmont Irrigation – www.valleyirrigation.com

MACHINERY

Ergon Energy – www.ergon.com.au Essential Energy – www.essentialenergy.com.au

BioTil – www.biotil.com.au BMC Partnership – www.bmcpartnership.com.au Bonfiglioni – www.bonfiglioli.com.au C and C Machining and Engineering – www.candcmachining.com Case IH – www.caseih.com/anz/en-au/home Chesterfield – www.chesterfieldaustralia.com.au Croplands – www.croplands.com.au Goldacres – www.goldacres.com.au Horsch – www.horsch.com K-Line Industries – www.k-line.net.au New Holland – www.newholland.com Serafin Machinery – www.serafinmachinery.com.au Simplicity Australia – www.simplicityaus.com.au Vanderfield – www.vanderfield.com.au Vomax – www.vomax.com.au Westfield Augers – www.westfieldaugers.com.au

GINNING AND MARKETING

MARKETING

CONSULTING McGregor Gourlay Agricultural Services – www.mcgregorgourlay.com.au

EDUCATION

Namoi Cotton – www.namoicotton.com.au Queensland Cotton – www.olamgroup.com

INSURANCE Achmea Australia – www.achmea.com.au AgriRisk Services – www.agririsk.com.au PMA Insurance – www.pmainsurance.com.au

IRRIGATION Aqua West – www.aquawest.com.au BnB Engineering – www.bnbeng.com.au Condamine Drilling – www.condaminedrilling.com.au Cotton Equipment – www.cottonequipment.com.au Eagle I – www.eaglei.com.au Environdata – www.environdata.com.au Filtermax – www.filtermax.com.au Irritek – www.irritek.com.au

Bridge Commodities – www.bridgecommodities.com Indigo Agriculture – www.indigoag.com/en-au Louis Dreyfus Company – www.ldcom.com/au/en OmniCotton – www.omnicotton.com Proclass – www.proclass.com.au Reinhart Australia Pty Limited – www.reinhart.com

PACKAGING Samuel Strapping – www.samuelstrapping.com Signode – www.signode.com.au

PETROLEUM IOR Petroleum – www.ior.com.au Lowes Petroleum – www.lowespetrol.com.au

PRECISION AG Trimble – www.trimble.com COTTON YEARBOOK 2017 — 215

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Moree Real Estate – www.moreerealestate.com.au Opteon Property – www.opg.net Ray White Rural – www.raywhiteruralmoree.com.au

Excel Agriculture – www.excelagr.com.au Gessner Industries – www.gessner.com.au Serafin Machinery – www.serafinmachinery.com.au Tillage Traders Queensland – www.ttq.net.au

SEED SUPPLIES

TRAINING AND EDUCATION

Cotton Seed Distributors – www.csd.net.au

SOIL MONITORING

Countryco Training – www.countryco.com.au Labour Solutions – www.laboursolutions.com.au

Sentek – www.sentek.com.au

TYRES

SPECIALIST TUNING

Big Tyre – www.bigtyre.com.au

Agritune – www.agritune.com.au

WATER TRADING

TILLAGE

KeyWater – www.keywater.com.au

Boss Engineering – www.bosseng.com.au

ADVERTISERS’ INDEX Achmea Australia..................................................................55 Adama.........................................................................4, 7, IBC AgriRisk Services...................................................................19 Agsafe..................................................................................45 Aqua West .........................................................................151 Auto Tyre Agritune.................................................................75 Barcoo Lodge......................................................................140 B&W Rural/Elders..................................................................77 Barmac...............................................................................129 Big Tyre....................................................................36-37, 119 BMC Partnership.................................................................131 BnB Engineering/Rodney Industries......................................109 Bonfiglioni............................................................................27 Boss Agriculture....................................................................51 Bridge Commodities – Indigo Agriculture.........................9. 198 C and C Machining and Engineering....................................159 Case IH.........................................................................31, 115 Charlton Tackle..............................................................70, 195 Chesterfield.........................................................................105 Cleancut Contracting...........................................................132 Condamine Drilling................................................................13 Cotton Compass..................................................................213 Cotton Equipment.................................................................57 Cotton Grower Services (CGS)...............................................IFC Cotton Seed Distributors (CSD)........................................67, 73 Countryco Training.................................................................28 Croplands...........................................................................134 Dinner Plain........................................................................120 Dow AgroSciences.......................................................155, 157 eChem (Australia) .................................................................35 Eagle I..................................................................................25 Environdata.........................................................................207 Ergon Energy.........................................................................47 Essential Energy ...........................................................69, 208 Excel Gyral..................................................................135, 203 Filtermax.............................................................................108 FMC............................................................................139, 143 Garson & Co.........................................................................40 Gessner Industries.............................................................. OBC Goldacres............................................................................141 Growth Ag - Sero-X.........................................................15, 17 Harvest Agents & Advisory.....................................................43 Horsch................................................................................165 Incitec Pivot Fertilisers.........................................................163 IOR Petroleum.......................................................................29

216 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2017

Irritek..................................................................................112 K-Line Industries..........................................................199, 210 KeyWater............................................................................204 Koch Fertiliser Australia........................................................123 Labour Solutions..................................................................196 Leverlink.............................................................................103 Lindsay...............................................................................136 Lindsay Irrigation.................................................................117 Louis Dreyfus Company........................................................191 Lowes Petroleum.................................................................211 McGregor Gourlay Agricultural Services .................................81 Moree Real Estate.................................................................76 Monsanto......................................................................21, 214 Namoi Cotton.....................................................................181 New Holland.........................................................................41 North West Ginning.............................................................179 NuFarm.................................................................................23 OmniCotton........................................................................197 Opteon Property..................................................................194 Padman Stops.....................................................................127 Pivot Irrigation & Pumping Pty Ltd.......................................107 PMA Insurance....................................................................133 Power Equipment..................................................................87 Proclass..............................................................................192 Queensland Cotton..............................................................189 Ray White Rural.....................................................................89 Reinhart Australia Pty Limited..............................................190 Rodney Industries/BnB Engineering......................................109 Samuel Strapping................................................................193 Sentek................................................................................205 Serafin Machinery............................................................85, 95 Simplicity Australia................................................................91 Sipcam................................................................................183 SMK Consultants Pty Ltd........................................................80 Sumitomo.............................................................................79 The Gate.............................................................................175 Tillage Traders Queensland (TTQ)............................................11 Tilco Ag...................................................................................2 Trimble................................................................ 147, 149, 212 UPL.......................................................................................93 Valmont Irrigation.................................................................99 Vanderfield..............................................................................1 Vomax................................................................................209 Westfield Augers (Australia) Pty Ltd......................................156 Yara Australia........................................................................49