The Winter 2023 edition of Spotlight takes a closer look at the new CRDC Strategic RD&E Plan for 2023-28 – Clever Cotton – which will shortly be signed off by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, before coming into effect on 1 July. In this edition, we bring you an update on what Clever Cotton means for cotton RD&E, and the list of our 2023-24 investments.

This edition also look at the work CRDC's Innovation Broker Stacey Vogel and the Sustainability Working Group have been undertaking of late: talking to landholders about their thoughts on native vegetation and setting targets for the industry. These issues are complex – like others that fall within the PLANET. PEOPLE. PADDOCK Sustainability Framework – and so CRDC and Cotton Australia are working with growers to ensure we, as an industry, get them right.

CRDC's also seeking feedback on a new tool to calculate greenhouse gas emissions on cotton farms. Until now, there has been no method to collect this information. Importantly, this tool is based on those developed for other primary industries, like grains, sheep and beef, to ensure consistency across different commodities – and it will help underpin a whole-of-farm tool being built now with CRDC’s support. We invite growers to try out the new tool and provide feedback.

And finally, it’s that time of year again: cotton growers are invited to provide feedback to CRDC on a number of issues and aspects of cotton growing via the annual CRDC Grower Survey, which opens on 1 June. 

All this, and more, in Spotlight.