Open house forum on cotton sees new wave growers on show

Some of the leading edge cotton farmers in the field of sustainability and reduced carbon outputs were showcased at the meeting, to show technology was leading the way in water savings (through the use of such machines as sprinklers).

Although the main members of the audience appeared to be from the agriculture industry or government and academia or research, there seemed to be general consensus cotton needed to let the wider community know how it was 'greener and leaner'.

Although with the lowest cotton production due to the drought in history, the industry felt it was here to stay and the attraction of a natural fibre as opposed to polluting man-made fibres, would keep giving cotton an important place in agriculture.

With the president and chief executive of the National Farmers Federation on hand, Fiona Simson, and Tony Mahar, the question was posed by Mrs Simpson on what was the one thing that was an important issue to solve to the future of cottongrowing in Australia (that now extended from Emerald in Queensland right down the Victorian border at Swan Hill).

The replies were interesting from the first panellists on climate change issues at the Open House at NAB headquarters in George St in the city.

It was probably not surprising that Dr Ben McDonald, with extensive experience in the field as the group leader, soil and process and function, Sustainability program at CSIRO Agriculture and Food, said "how do you manage the fields in the best way so you get the best outcome when the water comes back".

Scott Morgan a cottongrower from Gunnedah, 'Kensal Green', who is an advocate for solar power on farms, said it was moving away from fossil fuels as he was "totally committed to renewable energy".

Nick Gillingham, farm manger at Keytah, Moree said it was "moving right away from a herbicide based control systems".

Dr Rhiannon Smith, research fellow and lecturer in Environmental Management, University of New England, said it was "how we manage native vegetation, so it can return a benefit for the environment and perhaps turn a dollar for the cotton farmer".

Dr Kate Broughton, post-doctoral at the CSIRO said it was finding a way to manage sustainable production and at the same time to keep both agriculture and local communities vibrant.

Cotton Australia chief executive Adam Kay outlined how cotton was an important part of Australian agriculture and communities - 90 per cent of cotton farms were owned by families, producing 80 per cent of the crop.

There were 1500 cotton farms in Australia. The 2019-2020 was probably the smallest crop in history due to the drought. The industry had reduced the use of insecticides by 93 per cent since 1993, he said. The industry was using about 50-60 per cent less water over the last 15 years to grow the same amount and over the last 15 years 30 per cent less land to grow 1kg of cotton.

He said it was vitally important that cotton industry became more engaged with the broader sector of agriculture and also the community.

"We sell every bale, every year," he said, such was the demand for Australian cotton. It was the equal of the highest quality in the world, with yields three times the world average.

Further topics raised at the forum will be reported on by The Land in coming weeks.