During the past few cotton seasons in the CGA region there were approximately 20 spray drift reports per season, with nearly 40 unreported events per season. It is estimated that these events impacted 15-20,000ha of crop in our region alone. The 2015/16 Crop Consultants Australia survey estimated that 45,000ha of cotton was affected by spray drift. Spray drift events not only lead to yield reduction and so forfeited income but also leads to numerous social problems such as conflict between neighbours as well as damaging the image of cotton growers and ultimately impacting our social licence to farm. 

Southern cotton growers had the opportunity to tour northern cotton growing areas in 2017 and 2018 attending the GVIA field days, meeting number of industry leading farmers and visiting their properties. These tours not only exposed growers to the cotton growing systems in the north and cotton research but it also provided a tremendous opportunity to network with growers from other regions, learn about alternative irrigation systems relevant to their farming operations.