ADDING a cotton property to their business has made Spring Plains’ Watson family double fibre producers.
Allabah Pastoral Company’s Murray and Nanette Watson and their son Ben will now grow cotton alongside their 3000 Merino sheep.
“Fernhill” was purchased at the end of June and it’s been a steep learning for 27-year-old Ben, who has never been involved in the industry, despite being surrounded by it his whole life.
The Watsons will grow 260 hectares of Sicot 74BRF cotton in their first year, with the intention to grow more in following years, particularly dryland cotton when the opportunity arises.
“Just on the bore water we can comfortably keep growing about 200 hectares but we’ve got good opportunity to harvest overland flow so in a good year we could have about 300ha,” Ben said.
Mr Watson has employed Todd Farrer who has plenty of experience in the industry, as his cotton manager.
There’s been plenty of work in the lead-up to planting in the middle of October, with the team renovating beds before putting fertiliser down.
“Cotton was grown in a three-year rotation but we’re bringing it back to a two-year rotation,” Mr Watson said.
“We’ve used 160 units of nitrogen and that was placed five centimetres below furrow depth, then we came back through and put down Cotton Sustain, a starter blend which went in at the same depth.”
Water has been pumped into the 1200 megalitre storage since August 15, with the three bores yielding 17 megalitres a day.
“We need about 800 megalitres in storage before we start watering,” Mr Watson said.
Mr Watson is fortunate to have a full groundwater allocation this season.
“The bore water is one of the real strengths of the place because the water supply is very secure even though the cost of running bores is quite high,” Mr Watson said.
“It’s dear water, but it’s very low risk – we’re always going to have access to it.
The family also has 2300ha of dryland farming and 2800ha of grass country for sheep.
Logistics will be a major issue with planting clashing with grain harvest and picking at the same time as winter crop sowing.
Another concern is the property’s irrigation system using pipe-through banks (PTBs), which cover 580ha. Only 30ha uses the siphon system.
Fellow cotton growers and consultants have played a big role in the family’s first crop, with Mr Watson saying the industry had been supportive.
“We’re learning all the time but that’s been the most exciting part – they approach you with open arms and give you plenty of information,” he said.
Mr Watson has already made plans for his picked crop, choosing to gin the cotton at Namoi Cotton’s Merah North gin, 40km away.
“They’re doing the marketing as well. We wanted to keep it all together for the first year to have one contact through the first stages,” he said.
“We’ve already sold 1000 bales worth of seed, and we haven’t even bought seed to plant.”
He’s now looking at licensing options under Monsanto’s Cotton Choices program, but under new rules won’t need to make a decision until February.
