Cotton buyers, especially those from India, are bolstering a resilient summer cropping scene, with ample access to irrigated water helping reduce the pressures on cotton crops from a dry and searing end to summer.
Irrigated cotton is flying the flag for the summer cropping industry, with southern cotton growers overcoming a wet start with a strong crop that may average 10 bales a hectare. While yields are down on the past two record years, bale prices are holding up at close to $540, there is stable demand, and a good skilled worker base has added to confidence.
India’s entry into the cotton market has also driven confidence, with Australian Cotton Shippers Association backing up the Indian interest with a marketing tour to India this year. Indian cotton spinners account for about 35 per cent of the Australian cotton market, compared to about 3pc only a few years ago. India has picked up the slack where China has left off due to its big cotton stockpile.
ABARES said the area planted to irrigated cotton in Australia is estimated to have increased by 66pc to 348,000ha and area planted to dryland cotton is estimated to have increased by 248pc to 209,400ha in 2016-17. “The increase in the share of area planted to dryland cotton is forecast to result in a 21pc fall in the average yield, and cotton production is forecast to rise by 64pc to one million tonnes of lint and around 1.5m tonnes of cottonseed.” In NSW, Cotton Australia estimates there is 220,000ha of irrigated cotton and 73,000ha of dryland cotton this season.
Cotton Australia chief executive officer Adam Kay said cotton was a good news story for Australian agriculture and the interest of major players such as Indian spinners (cotton spinners) has had a positive effect on the market. Mr Kay estimated the Riverina cotton crop at about 60,000ha. Southern Cotton said in the Murrumbidgee valley, plantings were about 42,000ha, down from 46,000ha last year.
Mr Kay said farmers had overcome adverse conditions to sustain a reasonable crop. “Since a promising spring there has been little rainfall,” he said. “Dryland cotton has suffered, but the irrigated crops are not looking too bad with ample access to water. We are looking at an average yield this year, but people are just copping it on the chin. In the Riverina it was a hard start, wet and then cool, and hard to get the plants in and everyone has had to respond to the weather by staggering their irrigation cycles so their crops didn’t stress. People are quietly happy with what they’ve got considering the hard year that it’s been.
“But there is a lot of good news around. Prices have stayed above $500 a bale for some time and the Indian buyers are bolstering the market.”
The Stott family’s venture into cotton growing in the Murrumbidgee Valley didn’t start well. They were long-term corn and rice growers and didn’t even consider cotton. Eventually they went just all winter crops.
When they made a decision to start cotton growing near Whitton back in the 2010-11 season, conditions couldn’t have been worse. A cloudy, cool January in 2011, ruined much of the yield potential. The final fruit was pathetic.
But instead of cutting their losses, the Stotts upped the ante. The next season they planted more cotton. Coming off the back of fantastic seasons in the past two years, Dallas Stott, of Houghton Road, says the future for cotton is “massive”.
The Stotts have planted 730 hectares this year, about their average planting. They do some rotational crops, including barley in winter. Unlike northern growers, picking starts late, in May, and may even go to the end of that month in some areas of the farm.
But there is a lot of good news around. Prices have stayed above $500 a bale for some time and the Indian buyers are bolstering the market.
- Adam Kay, ceo, Cotton Australia
The issue in a hard season had been to keep the cotton plants “happy”. “We needed to keep on top of the watering, trying to keep the crop happy all the time.”
The Stotts send 80 per cent of their cotton to Southern Cotton and 20pc to RivCott at Carrathool. The Stotts support both ginners.
Southern Cotton general manager Kate O’Callaghan said southern cotton ginners and growers now had access to an excellent pool of skilled workers. The gin has 10 permanent staff and 40 seasonal casuals. “They are moving from grains to grapes and then cotton, so we don’t lose those skilled workers,” Ms Callaghan said. The resolution of the backpackers tax issue had stabilised labour supply. A third of the gin’s workforce were backpackers.
John Ellicott
journalist and author
journalist and author
