Big cotton prospects for NSW

Cotton is clearly at the top of the agenda for northern and central New South Wales farmers with more than 350 people attending a series of information meetings throughout the state hosted by Cotton Seed Distributors.

CSD general manager Steve Ainsworth said the interest in the crop stemmed from both irrigated and dryland producers keen to capitalise on good commodity prices.

“Since Christmas 2009 when we started getting some rainfall and stream flows throughout the traditional cotton areas there’s been a noticeable increase in interest and with the release of some exciting new varieties – it’s gone from strength to strength,” he said.

CSD Agronomist Bob Ford said interest in cotton this season had come from the traditional cotton growing areas as well as a surge of enquiry from traditional rice and corn growers in the Lachlan and Murrumbidgee areas.

“At the moment, for southern NSW growers, the returns from cotton are about triple that of rice per hectare and four times per megalitre of water so there’s a lot of traditional rice growers looking at cotton for the first time, he said.”

Introducing the new varieties for 2010, CSD agronomist James Quinn said most interest centred on the high yielding Sicot 74BRF.

“This variety is suited to the warmer parts of the state such as Walgett and Moree where our trial results shows it yielding around five percent better than Sicot 71BRF, however as you head further south the advantage isn’t there so people may be better off staying with Sicot 71BRF,” he said.

“A new dryland variety, Siokra 24BRF will be released in limited quantities this year and results so far shows that it will supersede the previous dryland favourites Siokra V-16BR and Sicot 80BRF,” he said.

“The new premium fibre quality variety Sicala 340BRF yields within five percent of Sicot 71BRF but with big improvements in length and strength.”

“What’s particularly impressive about all these new varieties is the Fusarium resistance – all have an F-Rank over 120, making them amongst the most resistant of the commercially available varieties,” James Quinn said.

CSD general manager Steve Ainsworth said a common question he had received over the past three weeks was whether there would be enough planting seed for the 2010 season.

“We’ve been proactive in increasing seed supply of all varieties since the planting intentions for 2010 started to become apparent to a point where we’re confident there’s enough seed of our key varieties to supply the industry.”

“As with every year, if growers want to ensure they get the varieties and the seed treatments they want and have it ready when they need it, they should place an early order by 6th August,” he said.

Steve Ainsworth said there would be some volume limitations on the new varieties this season.

“We’ve had a good seed increase of Sicot 74BRF but given its performance this year we won’t be able to meet the expected demand for it so we’re releasing it on a ratio of 1:4 with orders of Sicot 71BRF – if you order four bags of 71BRF then you’re able to order one bag of Sicot 74BRF. This needs to be done by early order date, Friday 6th August, and growers should speak to their distributors for more information,” he said.

“The seed increase of Sicala 340BRF has been good also and we’re expecting that what we’ve got available should be enough to fill the demand but to be assured, growers who want some should place their orders by 6th August,” he said.

“The Siokra 24BRF was only available in very small quantities which we have distributed by a ballot with our members but it will be available in fully commercial quantities in 2011,” he said.

A total of 700 people attended CSD’s cotton information meetings in Queensland and New South Wales this year.

8 July 2010

Further Information

Steve Ainsworth 0267 950000
Bob Ford 0267 950000
James Quinn 0428 950028