What’s your background?

I grew up on the Darling Downs on grain growing property (wheat/sorghum/sunflowers) and a few cattle.  I studied Biology at the University of Southern Queensland and followed that later with post graduate entomology studies at University of Queensland. I worked in the entomology group on various projects, on pests including helicoverpa, aphids and whitefly in grain and cotton.

How did you end up in Cotton Research?

In the early years I worked in and out of the cotton industry in response to pest issues, I was fortunate to receive a CRDC…

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It has been reported this season that some cotton fields have had issues with residual herbicide carryover with symptoms ranging from poor establishment, slow early growth or the need to re-plant. The function of residual herbicides is to provide a barrier to weed emergence by preventing weed seeds present in the soil from germinating. Some herbicides can remain active in the soil for weeks, months or years. This can be an advantage as it ensures good long term weed control. However, if the herbicide stays in the soil longer than intended it may damage sensitive crop or pasture species…

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More than 2,400 grain and cotton growers and spray contractors across QLD and NSW have signed on to a world-first, Australian-developed weather data system to help minimise spray drift and limit the damage it causes to food and fibre crops and the environment.

Spray drift has long been recognised as a significant, multimillion-dollar problem for agriculture. This is highlighted by the recently published CRDC Grower Survey, 2023, which reported a staggering one in two cotton growers being impacted by spray drift, with a devastating impact – on average – of over $250,000 for each…

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November 13, 2023

After an extensive recruitment process, Dr Janelle Montgomery has been named as the new Program Lead for the Australian cotton industry’s extension program, CottonInfo.

An industry leader in her own right, Janelle is a familiar and trusted face, having been part of the CottonInfo team since its establishment in 2012; first as a Technical Lead for water use efficiency, then taking on the Regional Extension Officer (REO) role in the Gwydir Valley in 2017.

Based in Moree, Janelle has managed the REO team for the past five years, and said she feels incredibly…

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It’s that time of year again and planning is underway for the 2024 CottonInfo calendar.

As water use efficiency gains continue to exceed expectations (recent research results showing near 100% improvement on water benchmarking) while industry works to balance a forecast El Nino in the coming seasons, we’ve decided that the focus of the 2024 calendar will be WATER.

So we’re putting a call out for your favourite water shots from cotton paddocks and cotton growing valleys.

This might be your perfect irrigation row, your new bankless set-up or a spectacular sunrise or…

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After nine years as Program Manager for the Australian cotton industry's joint extension program - CottonInfo - Warwick Waters will finish in the role at the end of the month.

Since its inception in 2012, the CottonInfo program team has grown from just nine to today having more than 20 experts working to connect cotton growers, agronomists and industry with research and development outcomes.

Warwick said he was incredibly proud of the outcomes achieved by the CottonInfo team during his tenure.

“From the nearly 100 on-farm trials we’ve run…

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As of mid-December 2022, spray drift has been reported in a number of cotton regions. With harvest almost done and fallow sprays in the coming weeks it is critical we do what we can to prevent any further spray drift across all valleys.

With thanks to CottonInfo Regional Extension Officers, an update and resource PDF has been compiled for cotton grower reference.

The December 2022 Spray Drift Update and Resources document includes:

The 5 Commandments to preventing spray drift The importance of mapping crops on SataCrop The importance of notifying… Read More

CottonInfo, the Australian cotton industry's joint extension program, has published a new interactive guide to help cotton growers restore native habitats on their farms.

The Native Revegetation Guide for Australian Cotton Growers is available to download now from the CottonInfo website. It builds on the latest research and outlines six key steps to successful revegetation in cotton catchments. 

CottonInfo's NRM Technical Lead, Stacey Vogel, said the new guide responds to the rising grower interest in restoring native habitats to support the rich diversity of…

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Disease Management in Cotton Farming Systems – a Participatory Action Research Approach to Deliver Solutions

Information for Growers, Consultants and Industry

This initiative will be supported via Cotton Seed Distributors (CSD) Richard Williams’ Commercial Research Initiative with additional support from the Cotton Research Development Corporation (CRDC) and Crown Analytical Services (CAS). The initiative will run for 3 years and adopts participatory action research. This approach allows for input, decision making and ownership by participants, who are most affected by the…

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Australia is a global leader in water productivity and the cotton industry has shown continuous improvement in this area.

Through the Water Productivity Benchmarking Project, co-funded by NSW DPI and the Cotton Research and Development Corporation, improvements are being monitored in the cotton industry.

Like all data however, the more that's collected, the more powerful the final outcomes.

CottonInfo is working to support the project by encouraging new participants to the benchmarking process.

Click on the PDF link below to review a presentation overview of…

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