The drought emptied dams and left cotton growers, and other farmers, in a parlous state. After a very wet summer, things are turning around.

From Stock Journal:

IT HAS been a roller-coaster growing season for Australia’s cotton producers but leading into the defoliation period prior to harvest the industry is upbeat about prospects.

“We were a little nervous at Christmas, it had been cool and we were worried about missing out on some of that optimum flowering period but things turned around nicely and the crops are now looking good in the final part of the growing season,” said Cotton Seed Distributors (CSD) NSW extension and development manager Jorian Millyard.

Mr Millyard’s sentiments have been backed by the latest report from the Australia Bureau of Agricultural Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) crop report, which found that there is likely to be a monster jump in Australian cotton production in 2021-22.

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ABARES is forecasting a 91 per cent year on year increase in production, to 1.16 million tonnes, with a 75pc increase in Queensland and a 94pc rise in NSW, on the proviso of a relatively dry finish.

Mr Millyard said there were good plantings on the back of high allocations of irrigation water, while the wet summer has meant dryland cotton has also come into its own.

He said gross margins were likely to be healthy based on current high cotton prices.

Cotton producers received another boost this week with hefty gains in international futures on the back of a big lift in US exports to China.

With cotton from China’s major production region in Xinjiang province under embargo in many places China is being forced to look elsewhere for demand for its textile industry

This includes imports from the US at present and most likely Australia once our crop comes on line.

However, while things are looking rosy now, Mr Millyard said there had been plenty of nervy moments along the way.

“Different valleys have had different issues, but we’ve had a few issues with flooding and the associated disease pressures you see with these wet years.”

“In terms of the flooding the Namoi was probably the worst hit along with the western Gwydir, while up into Queensland we’ve obviously seen the issues in the Lockyer Valley in recent weeks and there was some nasty hail late last year that caused isolated severe damage, however overall things are good.”

Mr Millyard said while there had been slightly less than optimum heat on the crop the absence of extreme temperatures had made up for it.

“We’ve had a really mild summer and the crop hasn’t had to withstand that intense heat we can sometimes get, so that has been a real positive for growth in terms of things like flower development and boll size.”

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