Cotton news
News from Australia

Cotton fiber represented by the Cotton LEADS℠ program, which promotes the responsible production practices of cotton growers in Australia and the United States, is deemed 100% biobased amid changes to the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) BioPreferred Program guidelines.

Now celebrating its one-year anniversary, the Cotton LEADS℠ Program success over the past year is featured in international news publication, Sourcing Journal. The Cotton LEADS℠ program provides the industry and program partners the confidence that their cotton supply chain is responsibly produced.

The Cotton LEADS℠ Program participated in in the world’s largest textile apparel tradeshow, Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics, October 20-23. Cotton Australia, Cotton Council International and Cotton Incorporated operated prominent booths where exhibitors and visitors could learn more about the Cotton LEADS℠ program and responsible cotton production practices in Australia and the United States.

The prestigious Australian 2014 Brownhill Cup has been awarded to the Watson family, cotton growers from Boggabri, NSW who are a shining example of responsible cotton production in Australia. Andrew Watson accepts the 2014 Brownhill Cup The Watsons have been recognised for their outstanding efforts in trialling and implementing new on-farm innovations designed to improve sustainability while maximising productivity and profit.

As more and more growers participate in myBMP program, there is a greater emphasis on the wide-reaching benefits of the program. Cotton Australia’s team of regional managers, alongside a network of certified myBMP advisors, are available to provide one-on-one support to growers.

More than 1,000 people gathered to celebrate the recipients of the 2014 Australian Cotton Industry Awards at a ceremony held at the Gold Coast in August. 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.

A major survey of the water management practices of 40 irrigators from Central Queensland to southern NSW in the three cotton-growing seasons of 2006-07, 2008-09 and 2012-13 have shown a dramatic improvement in water use efficiency across the industry. NSW Department of Primary Industries irrigation officer Janelle Montgomery, Moree, said the surveys were a benchmark or the industry because they confirmed that there had been a 40 per cent increase in water use efficiency over the past 10 years.

As part of a strategy to reduce energy use in Australia’s irrigation sector, Cotton Australia in collaboration with the NSW Irrigators Council (NSWIC) have engaged with the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) to set up an Energy Efficiency Pilot Project. The pilot will consist of 7 to 10 subsidised on-farm energy efficiency audits the development of specific business cases that will detail potential energy efficiency opportunities on-farm.