Rain does wonders for Australia’s cotton crop

Widespread rainfall over the Christmas period has ensured most of the 180,000 hectare Australian cotton crop will receive adequate moisture for the remainder of the season, increasing the chances of good yields and quality.

After a hot and relentlessly dry start to the season, many growers were facing the prospect of sacrificing some of their area – and in some cases this tough decision had already been made.

For most regions the fate of the current crop is assured but a lack of inflows into the major water storages means there’s a long way to go before next season’s crop can be guaranteed.

CSD’s Darling Downs based extension agronomist John Marshall said the Central Highlands, around Emerald, received varying amounts of rainfall and a small inflow into Fairbairn Dam.

“Falls varied from around 100mm on the eastern margins of the irrigation area to 30 to 40mm in the west,” he said.

“Further south, Theodore had falls up to 125mm but it varied a lot as well,” he said.

“Most Theodore crops here were on the verge of running out of water so we were lucky to get some rainfall to keep them going, then a flow in the Dawson River to secure enough water to get them through,” he said.

“Crops in all of the Central Queensland growing areas are looking good,” he said.

The hard luck story for the period is the Darling Downs where falls were low to non-existent.

“We had the humid, cloudy weather but it just wouldn’t rain,” John Marshall said.

“The exception is in the south east of the Downs around Pampas and Brookstead which had good falls, but the rest missed out so they’re trying to use what water they have available to finish their crops off as quickly as possible,” he said.

“Those crops where adequate water is available are looking very good, the soft weather of the last month being very favourable for growth and fruit set plus insect pressure has been very low.

In the Border River area, CSD agronomist David Kelly said the rain and subsequent river flows had secured water for almost all crops – and just in the nick of time.

“Most Macintyre growers were coming to the realisation that they would be running short of water and in fact some had removed some areas of crop in December. A flood harvesting opportunity in the Macintyre has put all these people back on track,” he said.

“It’s a pity not much made it into Pindari or Glenlyon dams, but the system should be pretty primed now,” he said.

“In St George, before Christmas, Beardmore Dam was on the verge of being empty, most growers had abandoned some crops already and the rest would not have made it far into January,” he said.

“Beardmore is now full, there is adequate water for the current crop and there’s a lot of mungbeans being planted so it’s really turned the place around. Some of the abandoned crops are too far gone, so people won’t try and grow them out,” he said.

“There was also a little flow in the Moonie River,” he said.

Moree based CSD agronomist James Quinn said most of the Gwydir valley received around 150mm which had resulted in phenomenal crop growth.

“The crops are looking fantastic – it timed out perfectly for the local dryland crops which would have started suffering if the rain hadn’t come,” he said.

“There has been a small amount of water logging and some fruit shed. The earlier crops tended to handle it very well and the later ones should still have plenty of time to recover as they were only just past first flower,” he said.

James Quinn said while the fate of the current crop is secured due to water captured on farm and a small amount of flood harvesting but very little water went into Copeton Dam so further falls would be required to secure water for next season’s crop.

The Namoi valley, similar to the Gwydir, received falls around 150 mm, and while very little made it into Lake Keepit, according to CSD’s Wee Waa based agronomist Rob Eveleigh, growers were able to harvest reasonable amounts of water on their supplementary flows and from water captured on farm.

“It means growers won’t need to use the remainder of the allocation from Keepit, guaranteeing water for next year which should mean a moderate sized crop – similar to this year,” he said.

“The falls were a relief to irrigators in the lower Namoi who source most of their water from bores and were only just keeping up with irrigation demands during the hot, dry start to the season,” he said.

“Some growers who punted on some extra area this season will now have enough water to get through,” he said.

“The only downside has been some water logging, particularly in the heavy soils of the upper Namoi. It was worse on crops that had just been irrigated prior to the rain or those fields with poor drainage and there are a few crops also that had water across the top of them,” he said.

At the other end of the Namoi, Walgett growers would have been starting to run short of water if it didn’t rain, and according to Rob Eveleigh, a flow through both the Namoi and Barwon systems has provided enough water for this crop as well as filling on-farm storages.

“I’d imagine some of this will be used on winter crop and some carried over for cotton next season,” he said.

In the Macquarie, CSD’s agronomist for the southern regions Bob Ford said most growers received falls between 100 and 150 mm and were able to pump a small amount of their supplementary allocations.

“For the small areas of cotton in the ground, it has done wonders in terms of crop growth and has secured water to complete the crop,” he said.

“Unfortunately very little went into Burrendong Dam, so we’ll need some more falls before people start making plans for next season,” he said.

“The rain got less and less as you went further south – Hillston only received 30 mm but the crops there are looking good and are maturing early, he said.

“Bourke had the big rainfall totals – around 200 mm or more. It fell quite quickly and where people were able to get the water off fields, the crops have recovered very well,” he said.

“Through capture of on-farm water and flood harvesting, most on-farm storages in Bourke are full which will guarantee the rest of the current crop plus a summer crop next year,” he said.

This year’s national crop is the largest in four seasons.

12 January 2010

Further Information:

John Marshall 0428 920010
David Kelly 0428 950021
James Quinn 0428 950028
Rob Eveleigh 0427 915921
Bob Ford 0428 950015