Cotton’s High Achievers Acknowledged

In a series of awards presented last week, Cotton Seed Distributors recognised the outstanding achievements in yield and fibre quality achieved by its trial cooperators during the 2007-08 season.

CSD, Australia’s largest supplier of cotton planting seed, annually conducts up to 65 large scale, replicated variety trials in cooperation with growers in all production areas.

The John Grellman Shield for the highest yield in a CSD variety trial was won this year by Stuart and Maxine Armitage from Cecil Plains on Queensland’s Darling Downs with a yield of 13.97 bales per hectare- or 5.65 bales per acre.

This yield was achieved with Sicot 70BRF, a new variety released in limited quantities in the 2007-08 season, and fully available for the forthcoming 2008 plant.

CSD’s Darling Downs-based agronomist John Marshall spent a lot of time in this crop and said it was one of the highest yielding cotton crops ever to have been grown in the region.

“It goes to show what can be achieved with attention to detail and getting the basics right and it’s good to see these new varieties reward growers for good management ”, John Marshall said.

The Dr Norm Thomson Shield for outstanding fibre quality was presented to David and Kim Coulton, from Boggabilla in the Macintyre Valley with a crop of the premium fibre variety Sicala 350B.

The crop produced fibre with strength of 32.8 grams per tex, micronaire of 3.9 and length of 43 thirty-seconds on an inch, which according to CSD’s Goondiwindi-based agronomist David Kelly, is almost on the scale of Pima cotton.

CSD General Manager Steve Ainsworth said the results produced by this year’s award-winners highlight what Australian growers are capable of achieving with the current technology.

“These awards epitomise what CSD is all about- breaking new boundaries with yields and fibre quality,” Mr Ainsworth said.

The awards were presented during CSD’s annual information tour last week.