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.

RELATED: US concern at cotton disease

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.”

Read the rest of the article here

This is great news for the cotton industry and for wormkind!

From the ABC:

Cotton waste composter uses earthworms to turn waste into high-grade fertiliser

Cotton trash can take years to break down naturally.(ABC Landline: Tim Lee)

From afar, the Worm Tech composting facility in southern New South Wales resembles a run-of-the-mill domestic rubbish tip.

Key points:

Australia’s multi-billion-dollar cotton industry produces waste that can take years to break down
A NSW entrepreneur has created a composting business to turn the waste into fertiliser
The process uses earthworms to break down the tough cotton residue

Look closer and you’ll see lines of white, woolly material.

It’s cotton trash, the residue leftover from processing, and it has long been a problem for Australia’s multi-billion-dollar cotton industry.

But as the saying goes, one man’s trash is another’s treasure.

To Adrian Raccanello, cotton residue is the backbone of his burgeoning composting business.

“It’s got a lot of properties,” the former viticulturist said.

A man in a high-vis jacket kneels on the ground, holding soil in his cupped hands. — Adrian Raccanello displays some of his millions of earthworms.(ABC Landline: Tim Lee)

“The broader the mix of organic material, the better the end product.”

In the past year, Mr Raccanello has trucked out about 50,000 tonnes of high-grade fertiliser.

Soon he expects to produce 200,000 tonnes annually.

Much of it is going back onto the region’s cotton fields in the form of fine, granular worm castings.

A spreader puts compost back onto a brown, bare cotton field. — Cotton compost is spread back onto a cotton field.(ABC Landline: Tim Lee)

Using an underground army

The business began as a bare field in a vast paddock adjacent to the Rivcott Cotton Gin at Carrathool, in southern New South Wales, in 2010.

The aim was to find a way to turn thousands of tonnes of cotton residue into fertiliser.

The secret was getting the right mix, one that could maximise a natural asset: earthworms.

A close-up shot of a man's hands holding wet soil with red earthworms in it. — The cotton compost mix promotes the growth of earthworms, which break down the materials.(ABC Landline: Tim Lee)

So Mr Raccanello won some contracts to process domestic organic waste from regional towns, such as Mildura and Wagga Wagga.

He blended the waste with cotton trash and carefully tended his rows of waste material to ensure optimal conditions for worms.

He soon found the perfect recipe, and so was born a unique compost product that will soon be available to the retail market as well.

“We basically just feed the top 4 to 6 inches [10 to 15 centimetres],” Mr Raccanello said.

“Then the worms work their way through it and just break it down.

A green harvester in a field of white cotton. — The cotton industry is now proudly part of what’s called the ‘circular economy’.(ABC Landline: Tim Lee)

From waste to valuable resource

Some cotton gins have their own composting programs in place for cotton residues, but in a good year, there’s simply too much to handle.

Local cotton grower Peter Tuohey is thrilled to see the Carrathool venture succeeding.

“The gin produces thousands of tonnes of the cotton residue and Worm Tech have been able to take that product and convert it into a very, very valuable commodity that we buy off them and spread back out on the land,” Mr Tuohey said.

A man in a cap and black jacket stands in front of a cotton bale. — Carrathool cotton grower Peter Tuohey is a keen supporter of the nearby worm farm.(ABC Landline: Tim Lee)

“So it’s really waste to resource,” added Mr Raccanello.

It’s rather startling what this unseen underground army of worms is capable of chewing through.

Cotton trash is fibrous and left out in the weather, it sets into hard mounds that can take years to decompose, between eight and 10 years in its natural state.

A mound of brown and white fluffy material. — Mounds of cotton trash have long been a problem for the industry.(ABC Landline: Tim Lee)

“We’re combining it with other waste to give it diverse ingredients and we’re doing it in about eight weeks,” he said.

His plan to dramatically upscale the business means he’s seeking more organic waste from municipal councils across southern Australia.

“We want to be a receptacle for untapped organic waste,” he said.

A yellow farm machine loads a brown, powdery material into a spreader. — Mr Raccanello’s cotton compost is now sought-after.(ABC Landline: Tim Lee)

Once, people thought he was mad when they saw him alone amongst the cotton trash heaps in the midst of winter. Others simply thought he would fail.

Now those same people are lining up to buy his organic fertiliser.

“I haven’t had to advertise, it’s all been word of mouth,” Mr Raccanello said.

Watch this story on ABC TV’s Landline at 12:30pm on Sunday, or on iview.

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