The Cotton Catchment Communities CRC company was incorporated on 20 September 2005 and beganformal operations on 1 October 2005. The elected Board had been meeting and planning since May 2005,in preparation for taking over the running of the CRC once all legal formalities and agreements had been finalised by the participants. The CRC was officially opened in November 2005 by the then Deputy Prime Minister, John Anderson MP. It has advanced rapidly since that time and currently has some 150 projects under way. The CRC has produced a Strategic Plan executive summary document, “Prosperity through Innovation”, which is intended to be a dynamic and regularly reviewed guide to the CRC’s activities. We have achieved a great deal in our first nine months of operations, including setting up and instituting new administration and research management systems, policies and charters. We have been actively fostering the integration of our many new partners into CRC and cotton industry activities and, with many of the CRC start up issues behind us, will aim to improve this in the next year. In the first year of the CRC, we have been focusing on getting our research projects under way. Looking ahead to the coming year, we will increase our focus and attention on adoption and extension strategies so that the CRC is well positioned to see its research outcomes bringing measurable benefits to the Australian cotton industry, its catchments and its communities. We will further consolidate and integrate our portfolio of projects. We will also review our operational plans and continue to consult with the cotton industry and other partners on R&D gaps and opportunities.