A team of researchers from the University of Southern Queensland have been named the Cotton Seed Distributors Researchers of the Year at the 2018 Australian Cotton Industry Awards.
Dr Joseph Foley, Dr Alison McCarthy and Dr Malcolm Gillies form the smart automated irrigation team as part of USQ’s National Centre for Engineering in Agriculture.
The team’s most recent work has drawn on technological developments in irrigation management, measurement and control, for application in cotton irrigation systems.
The team has brought engineering expertise and knowledge to the cotton industry in a number of areas, including in-field irrigation and water management skills, software and instrumentation development for irrigation improvement.
The 2018 Australian Cotton Industry Awards recipients are:

Monsanto Grower of the Year: Brett Corish, Corish Management Pty Ltd, ‘Mundine’. Goondiwindi, QLD
AgriRisk High Achiever of the Year: Bernie Bierhoff, Farm Manager at Avondale Ag, Rowena, NSW
ADAMA Chris Lehmann Trust Young Cotton Achiever of the Year: William Back, Auscott Ltd, Narrabri, NSW
Cotton Seed Distributors Researcher of the Year: Dr Joseph Foley, Dr Malcolm Gillies and Dr Alison McCarthy, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD
IPF Service to Industry Award: David Montgomery, Moree, NSW
Cotton Australia CEO Adam Kay says each of the award recipients excelled in their field.
“The one thing all the recipients have in common is that they are constantly testing the boundaries of what can be achieved in their respective fields,” Mr Kay says.
“Whether it’s making improvements to sustainability and water efficiency on farm, delivering crucial new research to farmers, making outstanding contributions to industry or leading the next generation of cotton growers – they’re all making significant advancements.”
“The Australian Cotton Industry Awards are an important way of showcasing those who are achieving great things, and also a way of discovering new ambassadors for the industry.”
“It was an extremely strong field of finalists and I congratulate them all.”
Mr Kay says the Awards dinner was a huge success, bringing together growers and industry representatives from all corners of Australia’s cotton-growing valleys.
Sponsors of this year’s Awards were Monsanto, AgriRisk, ADAMA, Cotton Seed Distributors and IPF.