Bringing you the latest comments from our team, via our CottonInfo blog.

We are working to improve sustainability in 9 key areas

Productivity: More cotton per hectare

Our goal is to increase Australian cotton yield and quality within sustainable environmental boundaries. 
This aligns to UN SDG 2.4: implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity, help maintain ecosystems, strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, and improve land and soil quality.

Why is this a priority?
With the world’s population forecast to increase from 7.7 billion in 2018 to 9.7 billion in 2050, farmers all around…

We are working to improve sustainability in 9 key areas

Workplace: continuing to create safe, inclusive and skilled workplaces

Why is this a priority?

Wellbeing is defined by our partners at the University of Canberra’s Regional Wellbeing Survey as being a state in which a person can realise their own potential and contribute to their community.

This is a complex topic: wellbeing is influenced by a combination of physical, mental, financial, social and other factors. This complexity means no single organisation – or no single industry – is…

We are working to improve sustainability in 9 key areas

Workplace: continuing to create safe, inclusive and skilled workplaces

Why this is a priority?

Farms are made up of natural resources, but it is human resources – people – that turn these natural assets into some of the world’s finest and most efficiently-grown cotton. People are the difference between an industry that is average, and an industry that is the high-performing, dynamic and innovative one which Australia’s…

We are working to improve sustainability in 9 key areas. The fourth of these is soil health: Making soil health the driver of sustainable cotton productivity and yield improvements.

Why this is a priority?

Soils are a national asset. Healthy soil is the starting point for productive agriculture and the foundation of all terrestrial life. Soil health underpins the productivity of a farming business, providing all plants including cotton with support and access to water, oxygen and nutrients.

For cotton growers, improved soil health means improved resource efficiency…

Maules Creek farmers Andrew and Heike Watson and their family recently hosted a revegetation demonstration field day at 'Merriendi'.

Local farmers, residents and Landcare groups joined industry experts, researchers, and drone and tubestock specialists to share the latest revegetation methods and information.

The popular event was organised by CottonInfo, the Australian cotton industry's joint extension program.

It centred on research by Dr Rhiannon Smith from the University of New England comparing using drones for native revegetation in…

Planning ahead for the next cotton season begins in winter. Nutrient management is a good place to start. 

The primary nutrients we apply to our cotton fields are nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K), and all are important to maximise yield. But crop use and the plant requirement for each nutrient differ for cotton and your management should be aligned to ensure high fertiliser recovery.

Our first action is to build your nutrition management plan – this includes finalising your application rates and what application method suits your operation.…

We are working to improve sustainability in 9 key areas. The fourth of these is pesticides: careful pesticide use that optimises crop production while having the smallest possible impact on people and the environment.

Why this is a priority?

Pesticides (including insecticides and herbicides) are used in agriculture to control crop losses from pests. Australian cotton growers use pesticides within an integrated approach, where a range of management decisions and resources are called on to reduce pest, weed and disease outbreaks and reduce reliance on herbicides and…

Authored by Janelle Montgomery, CottonInfo Regional Extension Officer. 

Dr Roger Coles from QUT was recently in the Moree district recording the calls of an important beneficial organism of cotton – the insectivorous (insect-eating) bat.

Insectivorous bats play an important role on cotton farms, controlling insect numbers (including a range of pest species like heliothis moths and beetles) by eating 50 to 70 per cent of their body weight in insects each night…

We are working to improve sustainability in 9 key areas. The third of these is biodiversity: Improving the condition of biodiversity across the cotton landscape to benefit cotton farms and the environment.

Why this is a priority?

Along with soil and water, biodiversity – the variety of life forms found in an environment including animals, plants, bacteria, fungi and micro-organisms – makes up the natural capital that cotton farms rely on to exist.

For cotton growers, biodiversity provides services including natural pest control and pollination, erosion…

We are working to improve sustainability in 9 key areas. The second of these is reducing net emissions from greenhouse gases: less emissions, more sequestration.

Why this is a priority?

Like many other agriculture sectors, cotton is both impacted by climate change and can help reduce its effects.

The production of cotton creates greenhouse gases, which are creating extra heat in the global climate system. Cotton farms also store atmospheric carbon dioxide as carbon in soil and vegetation.

While cotton is a relatively small contributor – about 0.2 per cent of…