With the help of dryer and warmer temperatures since Christmas, picking has started in much of Australia’s cotton-growing area, suggesting that the flooding and farm damage late last year may not have been as disastrous as initially thought.
Even though the effects varied from state to state and region to region, some farmers were forced to reduce their plantings, particularly in the Southern Valleys and Macquarie, where farmers could not access their paddocks to plant and consequently missed their window of opportunity; Cotton Australia said in a media release.
According to Cotton Australia CEO Adam Kay, producers are reevaluating output and quality due to extraordinary circumstances in most of the 65 or so local government areas farming cotton this year. “You must first acknowledge where we were to appreciate where we are today. According to Kay, every interior river basin from the Queensland border to Victoria was full or inundated in November, and there were almost 100 current warnings.
The Southern Valleys, where planting was delayed, are one location affected by the rainy weather. Defoliation has barely begun there. A third less produce was sown because of the wet weather during the planting stage.
In the Macquarie Valley, picking has just begun north of Warren after farmers there reported a 30% crop loss due to the year’s above-average rainfall.
On the plus side, quality is anticipated to be high, and crops have significantly benefited from above-average temperatures in February and March for boll filling, according to the press release.
Early dryland harvesting in the Gwydir Valley produces up to 7 bales per hectare of cotton, with irrigated cotton yielding around twice as much. About 15% of the cotton in the Gwydir, 30% in the lower Namoi, 5% in the upper Namoi, and picking has just begun in Walgett, and Bourke are among the 14 bales per hectare of cotton that is not affected by spray drift. Yield predictions are challenging, especially in drift-affected areas. 44,000 ha of irrigated cotton and 8,000 ha of dryland cotton have been planted in the MacIntyre Valley; 15% of the plants have already been harvested, and production will peak this week. The cotton grown in dryland areas might have utilized some late rain, but the irrigated area is doing quite well. Although the gins are not yet running, the cotton provided appears to be of good caliber.
Most of the early harvest will be picked during the next two weeks, while the latter crop won’t be picked for another month. Picking is already in full swing in St. George, Dirranbandi, and Mungindi. Although early signs are promising, gins are only getting started, so there aren’t any results to back up the bullish view. Growers are reporting solid yields and quality. Most producers have reached the season’s defoliation stage on the Darling Downs, and a select handful have begun harvesting the early-planted fields. More extensive than usual acreage was planted, with around 75% irrigated fields and 25% rain-fed, due to full storages, total water allocations, and a complete soil moisture profile at the start of the season. According to the press release, Gins expects to begin the entire operation in the second week of May.
Ten producers in the Lockyer Valley have planted about 1500 acres of cotton, more than in prior years due to the price, crop rotation techniques, and growing circumstances. Five hundred hectares have been planted by three farmers in Maryborough.
However, early crops report up to 13 bales per hectare of irrigation in the Central Highlands when both gins operate and the cotton is clean. Numerous producers will continue to irrigate until the June harvest.
Kay says Cotton Australia expects to harvest 5.2 million bales in 2023. “Around 1.2 million tonnes of fiber and 1.4 million tonnes of cottonseed will come from this. Given the demand for the Australian-grown product, every bale of cotton and tonne of seed will be sold. According to the Murray Darling Basin Authority, the primary water storage facilities in the basin are at around 90% of their capacity, which indicates that the forecast for the upcoming season is favorable.
