District Reports - Greenmount Press

Central QueenslandFollowing a couple of unusually wet winters in CentralQueensland, the lack of rain this winter, while probablymore typical for the area, has certainly been a shock.June to August rainfall totals for Emerald and Theodorewere 10 mm and 12 mm respectively. There was limitedirrigated winter cropping. Above average temperaturesin September have seen these crops finish quickly allowingfor a quick turnaround back into cotton.Cotton planting is well underway with the plantingwindow in Central Queensland September 22 throughto November 2. Fairbairn Dam is at 78 per cent and thishas resulted in a large Central Highlands planting witharound 17,000 hectares estimated. The Callide Dawsonarea is expected to be somewhere between 4000 hectaresand 5300 hectares with most of the definite hectaresplanted and the remainder waiting on rain. Thisarea is up despite security of water being an issue inthe Dawson system with the water year having finishedat the end of September and issues around carryover.The Lower Dawson weirs are approaching record lows,similar to those of 2006.The dry winter has certainly made field preparations forthe season challenging. In particular watering up has useda lot of water with as much as three ML per hectare beingreported. Cooler than average night temperatures haveslowed emergence slightly. Some early planted cotton,that was planted dry and flushed up struggled with the coldnights and hot windy days with some replants required.The dryland winter harvest in CQ is about 75 per centcomplete. Dryland wheat crops are averaging about onetonne per hectare, but the range is very wide from 0.5–3tonnes per hectare, with the top end yields reflectingsome areas receiving low but timely rainfall.Chickpea yields varied widely across CQ from 0.2–2.5 tonnes per hectare with good crops averaging 1–1.2tonnes per hectare.Susan MaasOctober 5, 2009St GeorgeDirranbandiWell you know another cotton season is upon us whenyou see the growers clearing the snow off the plantersand moving into the fields. Well maybe its not that badbut it has certainly been cool.Unfortunately the St George and Dirranbandi areawill be close to half the acres of last season. Expectationsare that there will be close to 2500 hectares atDirran and approximately 8000 at St George. Althoughthe outlook was positive at the beginning of the year andistrictextremely dry winter has meant more water being usedfor pre irrigation and water-up than expected. Generallyrainfall was limited to the 50 mm at the end of May andvery little since. This is certainly evident in the potentialdryland wheat yields.As has become the norm we will need a flow in thenext month to see any real increase in the planted area,even some decent rain would be gladly welcomed.The majority of the area will once again be BollgardII with perhaps nearly all of this being Sicot 71/70BRF.Conventional cotton may be close to 10 per cent of thearea.A cold change during the last week of September mayresult in a few fields having to be replanted though themajority of growers watering-up have held off until theminimum temperatures reached the late teens. Seed bedtilth has overall been quite good considering the lack ofrainfall throughout winter. Although a couple of fieldswere planted early, most fields are only just beginningto emerge now.Bring on the heat and rain or floods, either would befine at the moment.Dallas KingOctober 9, 2009…54sreportsOCTOBER–NOVEMBER 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN COTTONGROWER — 53

districtreportsw53…DISTRICT REPORTSBorder RiversFollowing a great start to the winter with 70 mm and35 mm in May and June, the tap turned off with bothJuly and August registering less that 10 mm each. Theresult has been capping the potential of the winter cropand sapping some of the enthusiasm about the upcomingsummer crop.A general rainfall event in early September deliveredbetween 20–30 mm across the area and helped to alleviatethis to some degree. From the middle of September,temperatures began to increase, and the prospectof planting on rain moisture became very real for manygrowers. Temperatures stayed warm until September 23when they plummeted. At the time of writing they remainlow and the development of the young crops thatwent in during this period is very slow.Many growers have decided to plant in mid-late October,and so will miss this run of cooler weather.At the time of planting, Pindari dam remains at 44per cent, a level it has been at since receiving good inflowsin May. Glenlyon Dam’s level is 24 per cent whileLake Coolmunda is 34 per cent.Estimates on projected planted area for this seasonare between 35,000 and 45,000 hectares – the largestcrop in four years. For many growers it will be their firstcotton crop in four years, with most looking forward toit after stints with winter and summer cereals.Early estimates on technology suggest about threequartersof the area will be planted to Bollgard II/Roundup Ready Flex varieties, mostly Sicot 71BRF,with the remainder reasonably evenly distributed betweenconventional, Roundup Ready Flex and BollgardII varieties.With sorghum prices at low levels, there has been alot of interest in dryland cotton in the area, particularlygiven the ease of management now with the Bollgard IIand Roundup Ready Flex and the good results achievedin 2008–09. A good rainfall event sometime in the nextsix weeks will see a flurry of planting.David KellySeptember 30, 2009Darling DownsIn stark contrast to last season, it has been an extremelytough start to the 2010 season. Early heatwaves followed by cold periods, dust storms, dry windsand a few patchy rainfall events have all added to a veryuncertain start to the planting period.A few dryland crops were planted following rainfall inearly September. A cold period immediately after planting,followed by hot, dry windy conditions resulted invery poor establishment and crop losses.Some growers have started to pre irrigate their fieldswhile others have planted dry and are watering up.There have been problems with watering, with growershaving difficulty wetting their fields. Although they arenot using a lot of water (approximately 0.7–0.8 megsper hectare) they are having difficulty in getting uniformityacross the fields.The hard start to the season has significantly reducedthe possible area to be planted this season. Estimatesvary, but the total area expected to be planted shouldrange be between 27,000 and 32,000 hectares.There is still a lot of optimism despite the poor earlyweather conditions and cotton remains a very attractiveoption for many growers. A lot of growers have goodsoil moisture profiles even though they are losing moisturefrom the top. If the Downs could receive between35–50 mm in the last three weeks of October, the totalarea planted could still be significantly larger than lastyear.DDCG Inc Grower of the Year AwardsDarling Downs Grower Awards were presented at the2009 DDCG Inc dinner in Dalby on September 4 withsome 230 growers and guests acknowledging and celebratingthe achievements of growers and consultants ata very successful function.All seven growers nominated for the awards havedemonstrated high levels of achievement and successfulcotton crop production in very challenging seasonal conditions.A highlight has been the successful managementof limited water supplies based on very well designedirrigation systems, variable row configurations and strategicirrigation scheduling ensuring optimised water useefficiency.Following the nomination of four young growers, theYoung Grower of the Year Award was established thisyear to recognise the achievements of growers under theage of 35 and their consultants. They are in the developmentalphases of their properties and their cotton–grainfarming enterprises and are highly commended for theirachievements..The successful growers and their consultants in the2009 awards were:Yield AwardsIrrigated – Pat Hilliar, “Wongara”, Jimbour. 15.31bales per hectare.Dryland – James and Daniel Hayllor, “Karinya”, Kupunn6.88 bales per hectare.Young Grower of the YearJames and Daniel Hayllor, “Karinya”, KupunnConsultant – Murray Boshammer, Total AG Services,DalbyHighly Commended Grower of the Year AwardNeil and Sonya McVeigh, “Maclands”, MacalisterConsultant – Bernie Caffery, Crop ManagementServices, DalbyGrower of the Year AwardGlenn and Julie Bischoff, “Arrawatta”, MacalisterConsultant – Geoff Rudd, CotTec Consulting, Dalby54 — THE AUSTRALIAN COTTONGROWER OCTOBER–NOVEMBER 2009

The DDCG Inc Service to Industry AwardBernie Caffery, Crop Management Services, DalbyBernie established his Crop Management Servicesbusiness at Dalby in 1979 and has conducted 30 yearsof successful crop consulting practice in the region - he ishighly regarded and a stalwart of the industry.Darling Downs growers also celebrated the achievementof Jamie and Susie Grant, “Kiella”, Jimbour, winnersof the AgriRisk Innovative Grower of the Year inthe Australian Cotton Industry Awards for 2009.DDCG Inc AGMDDCG Inc executive officers for 2009 elected at theOctober AGM are:President – Stuart ArmitageVice President – Greg BenderSecretary – Meg KummerowTreasurer – Johnathon Mengel.Duncan WeirOctober 9, 2009Namoi ValleyContinued dry and cold weather has been of little usefor establishing cotton or finishing winter crops. A fewearly crops were planted in late September and establishedquickly given the very warm conditions. Cropsplanted in early October have struggled with the coldweather. By mid October general plantings were wellunderway, with the majority of crops watered up in lessthan ideal conditions. Harvest of winter crops has begunup to two weeks earlier than normal due to the verydry winter. Irrigated winter crops were generally onlywatered once as growers hold back water for summercrops. Winter crop yield will be well back on average.I expect about 11,000 hectares of cotton to beplanted in the Upper Namoi and about 32,000 hectaresin the Lower Namoi provided we get a planting rain fordryland crops. It is currently very dry and we will needat least 50 mm of rain before mid November to plant. Itcould be the largest dryland area for several years. Mostgrowers have stored good profiles of moisture from lastsummer. About 6000 hectares of dryland are plannedfor the Namoi.The area planted to BRF has increased on last seasonwith virtually 100 per cent in both the upper and lowerNamoi. The new Sicot 71BRF makes up most of thearea with smaller areas of Siokra V-18BRF and Sicot70BRF. It’s too early to make any predictions on insectnumbers. My only hope is that we don’t get a repeatof the whitefly problem that occurred last season. ButI have noticed a lot of the garden plants in Narrabri alreadyhave the pest in high numbers.The water supply situation remains ordinary but betterthan last season, with Keepit at 35 per cent and SplitRock dam virtually empty. On a positive note Chaffeydam near Tamworth is still full and any heavy rain in thecatchment will lead to significant run off.Cotton prices on offer this season are not the best, butbetter than many of the alternative such as sorghum andcorn. It will take very good yields to make a few dollars.Although it has been a less than ideal start to the seasonwe all know it’s the end of the season that counts.Robert EveleighOctober 11, 2009Macquarie ValleydistrictThe dry spring continues and it follows a dry end towinter. The outlook for spring and summer is mixed withvarying forecasts for below average, average and aboveaverage rainfall. Weather forecasters like to hedge theirbets!Early planted cotton has emerged and has struggledwith cool night temperatures. Recent warm weather hashelped to improve soil temperatures for those crops.Some windy days and a dust storm have really dried outany remaining soil moisture.It is yet another small crop with around 6200 hectaresforecast to be planted in the Macquarie which is actuallyup on the past few seasons. The general security waterallocation remains at zero per cent with access to carryover.Burrendong Dam is just below 16 per cent and falling.The probability of receiving an allocation is reducing aswe head towards summer with little or no inflows. Therehave been some substantial water releases for the MacquarieMarshes during the winter.Winter crop prospects are mixed with some areasreceiving some useful rain in September but other areasall but missing out. All areas would benefit from agood soaking with rain as crops approach maturity. Thehigher Australian dollar has in part reduced the priceoutlook for this harvest and many growers are looking…56sreportsOCTOBER–NOVEMBER 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN COTTONGROWER — 55

districtreportsw55…DISTRICT REPORTSto store grain on farm with a view to selling when pricesimprove.Planting of the bulk of the crop will occur in earlyOctober as temperatures increase. Moisture will be at apremium and all steps will be taken to utilise what is inthe bed and stopping it from drying out too quickly.All fingers are crossed for massive inflows into BurrendongDam so that there can be a huge revival in theirrigated cropping industry in this area.Craig McDonaldOctober 1, 2009Southern NSWThe start to the 2009–10 season has been one of thetoughest experienced for a long time. In Hay there havebeen only three days over 25°C between September 20and October 8 and only two nights over 12°C. In additionthere have been five nights under 5°C in the past10 days.Area for the 2009–10 crop is going to be approximately3500 hectares for the Lachlan/Murrumbidgee.Planting started as early as September 10 with a growersowing into moisture and taking advantage of a coupleof days of early heat (see photo below taken on September23).The majority of growers have planted a proportion ofcrop between September 20 and October 8. Growersare now playing the waiting game to determine the effectsof the latest cold snap.The challenge is we are now running out of seasonlength as historically it has been beneficial to have allcrops planted and watered by October 15. Thereare quite a few fields sown dry with growers studyingweather forecasts closely in anticipation of an increasein temperature.The Lachlan is still without a river allocation yet theMurrumbidgee has received three per cent general security.This has resulted in temporary water prices fallingto approximately $200 per meg. Unfortunately the announcementwas a little late for a significant increase incotton area.James HillOctober 8, 2009Answer to Ian’sMystery Tractor QuizThe tractor is a genuine Aussie. It is a 1935 Ronaldson-Tippett 18-30 Super Drive, manufactured in Ballarat,Victoria. The only non-Australian content was theAmerican Wisconsin engine. The photo shows Ian at thecontrols of a magnificently restored example on displayat the Pioneer Settlement Village, Swan Hill, Victoria.Advertiser’s IndexAgricultural Appointments..... 2AgriRisk...............................11Aquatech Consulting............ 23Barcoo..................................14Caltex.................................. 37Cargill Cotton...................... 30Case IH.................................. 5Charlton.............................. 40Cotton Grower Services........IFCCotton Outlook................... IBCCountryco Training.............. 39CSD....................................... 7Dinner Plain.................... 1, 32drumMUSTER........................ 3Excel Ag...............................13Ipswich Girls’ Grammar....... 36John Deere ........................8, 9Monsanto.............................19Moree Real Estate............... 30Namoi Cotton...................... 33Neils Parts........................... 39Queensland Cotton.............. 31SMK Consultants.................... 2Study Tours................... 35, 49Sumitomo.........................OBCUltimate Agri-Products......... 21Valmont...............................17Volvo Penta Oceania.............15Westfield Augers..................4156 — THE AUSTRALIAN COTTONGROWER OCTOBER–NOVEMBER 2009