Cotton news

Cotton Incorporated will host the 2014 Crop Management Seminar (CMS) on November 11th & 12th in Tifton, GA. The objective for this biennial event is to facilitate the exchange of information between the research community and end-users, including county extension agents, crop consultants and other advisers who support cotton producers.

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.

Companies signing on include: Target Corporation, AEON TopValu, Fountain Set, American & Efird, and Operadora LOB. The Cotton LEADS℠ program, launched in October of 2013, has attained more than 200 partners across the global cotton textile supply chain.

Research Identifies Minimum Nitrogen Requirements To Optimize Yield and Minimize Environmental Impacts Nitrogen (N) is often the nutrient applied in greatest quantity to cotton and the nutrient that is most chemically dynamic in the environment. While a standard N recommendation for cotton has been 50-55 lbs. N/480 lb. bale, small-seeded, modern cotton cultivars might require ess N than did those previously grown.

Cotton Australia Chairman, Lyndon Mulligan, attended the opening of the Cotton Research Hub in Armidale on 4 July, 2014. The new hub is a part of the University of New England (UNE) and forms a partnership between UNE and the CRDC.

Ben Egan, sixth generation cotton producer in Central West New South Wales Australia, shows how Australian producers use precision farming techniques to ensure there is a future in cotton farming for generations to come.

The Cotton LEADS℠ Program hosted a Partner Lunch in Hong Kong on May 21. The lunch offered partners from the region a unique opportunity to meet cotton producers and founders from Australia and the United States and offer ideas or concerns in an open discussion.