Water for cotton dries up

Although the price for cotton is currently low, farmers and industry experts alike have agreed access to water is the biggest reason the cotton crop has been forecast to fall from 256 000 hectares in 2013 to 2014, to about 147,000 ha this season.

“Whether you’re dryland or irrigating, water is the main issue at the moment (more so than the price),” said Merced Farming co-owner James Kahl.

Mr Kahl said his Wee Waa-based family-owned farming operation was still looking at planting some cotton, but it would probably only be about a third of last season’s crop.

“So the potential is there for sorghum or summer legumes... cotton is coming third in that race,” he said.

“We’ll do whatever we can to make a quid.”

Mr Kahl said most farmers around the State were in the same boat looking for water, but the new cotton areas in southern NSW should still be able to produce a good sized crop.

Menindee’s Tandou Farm manager Robert Lowe agreed the south was the region more cotton could be planted.

Mr Lowe said the Menindee farm would have about half as much cotton planted this season, but the Tandou Farm down at Hay would have more than double the amount of cotton.

“It’s completely due to water,” he said.

“We would have to know there’s a significant run on the Darling River in the next three weeks to look at planting more (at Menindee). It’s unlikely.”

Cotton Compass co-owner Pete Johnson said available water and two new cotton gins meant areas such as the Murrumbidgee and Riverina were well placed for a good crop this season.

“That region is coming up the capacity to expand the industry,” he said.

In the Central West, Local Land Services senior land service officer for cropping Neroli Brennan said many farmers around the Macquarie Valley were considering not putting in any summer crop at all.

The lack of water meant cotton was well behind other options even if rain fell immediately, she said, and estimated only about one-third of the amount of dryland cotton would be planted in the area.

“If we do get some falls of rain (in spring) there might be some people who think about mungbeans or the odd bit of sorghum; most will fallow it over and wait for next year,” Ms Brennan said.

Leaving the land fallow would hopefully allow farmers to build up their soil moisture profile in the soil for next season.

Namoi Cotton trader Pedr Harvey estimated there would be about 125,000ha of irrigated

cotton planted in NSW this season, and 12,000ha of dryland cotton.

This was down significantly on the amount listed in ABARES crop report for the last season, which listed the total cotton crop in NSW at 256,000ha.

Mr Johnson said big rainfall in September could still increase the amount of dryland cotton, and Mr Kahl said irrigated cotton could also get a boost with heavy spring rainfall.

Mr Kahl said he could wait until mid-October to decide exactly what to plant and in what quantities and he was waiting to see how much spring rain there was before making a final decision.

He said he was not looking at maize or corn as a substitute.

“Corn will give us less of a return per megalitre of water,” he said.

The NSW Department of Primary Industries said maize used double the amount of water per hectare than mungbeans, and about three more megalitres per hectare than sorghum.

LESS than a quarter of last season’s cotton crop will be planted at “Muntham” this year, as lack of water increases the risk factor for the crop.

Tony Quigley, “Muntham”, Trangie, planted about 400 hectares of cotton last year, and as a dry spring continues he said he was now looking at planting only 50ha to 100ha.

“At eight megalitres to the hectare... it’s too much risk to buy in a lot of water to grow the crop,” Mr Quigley said.

The region around Trangie needed a full soil moisture profile for farmers to really feel confident planting cotton, and without big rain events and high river flows by mid-October there would be little or no crops planted.

“In the Macquarie Valley, it’s getting too late... the chances of getting big in-flows for summer are rapidly reducing.”

Mr Quigley said he would use his smaller cotton crop this season as a learning experience, to continue teaching himself about using a new linear irrigation system.

“We’re still on a learning curve... we’ll grow the 50ha to see what works and what doesn’t.”

Mr Quigley said he still hoped for a good return on the cotton by the end of the season, even though prices had been down to $400 a bale over the past month.

Mr Quigley hoped to earn about $450 a bale when it came time to sell this season’s crop.