Although cotton has been grown in Australia for over one hundred years, mainly in Queensland prior to the early 1960's, it was not until 1963/1964 following the completion of the Keepit Dam and the introduction of the Raw Cotton Bounty Act (1964) that production started 1n New South Wales. It is worth remembering that the Bounty Act was brought in by the Federal Government to encourage cotton production for use by the local textile industry, in order to save much needed foreign exchange. The Bounty Act was one of the most successful schemes ever introduced by the Federal Government and by the late sixties some small quantities were produced surplus to domestic needs leading to the first exports of Australian cotton on the overseas market. The Bounty Scheme was subsequently phased out in 1971.