Each year, Crop Consultants Australia - with support from CRDC - conduct a qualitative survey of cotton consultants regarding their practices and attitudes, as well as those of their cotton grower clients. The resulting report provides valuable information to the Australian cotton industry regarding on-farm practices , helping to benchmark the industry's performance in a range of key areas over time. This report, published in March 2026, looks at the 2024-25 cotton growing season.

There is a need to develop a circular economy for cotton industry by cutting carbon emissions and decreasing waste and pollution for Australian cotton industry. To address this, natural dyeing as a more sustainable coloration alternative was trialled to develop cotton-based smart textiles with chemical sensing capacity triggered by a colour-changing mechanism. Natural colorant was obtained to demonstrate the colour-changing capacity on cotton fabrics after the coloration process. Cotton-based smart textiles with chemical sensing capacity was prototyped and its related technology was explored. The natural dyeing recipe specially for cotton was optimised, and the colour-changing mechanism was discussed for further development of chemical sensing capability. Some prototypes of design work using the obtained colour change yarns were demonstrated. This project contributes to the development of circular economy for Australian cotton by employing a sustainable alternative coloration technique with the capability to develop smart textiles.

This project supported A/Prof. Xin Wang to attend the 3rd International Conference of Fashion and Sustainability (ICFS 2025) and deliver an invited talk entitled “Materials Innovation towards Fashion Sustainability”. The planned travel offered an opportunity for A/Prof. Wang to exchange his research results and outcomes within a broad international community in the context of fashion and sustainability, and A/Prof. Wang updated his knowledge and skills from a broader international community by attending the conference presentations and events. This travel also consolidated A/Prof. Wang's research network, especially the cotton-related research collaboration with the School of Textile Science and Engineering at Wuhan Textile University (WTU).

In this work we integrated, refined and validated molecular tools for Bt resistance monitoring in Helicoverpa spp. in Australian cotton fields.

1.      We have simple easy to use workflows for Bt resistance allele detection that are very sensitive in a variable genome

2.      A first pass population genetics study of Helicoverpa armigera, including the northern cotton growing regions and over time reveals no genetic differentiation at any spatial or temporal scale investigated here

3.      We have identified putative Bt resistance alleles in laboratory-maintained, field-derived Bt resistant insect colonies using a quantitative genetics approach. Many of these live insect colonies are now being maintained at CSIRO Black Mountain.

The molecular tools used here offer new insights into the genetic complexity of Bt resistance in Helicoverpa spp in Australian cotton systems, indicating the RMP strategies are highly effective at reduce the selection pressure on insects and preventing the evolution of resistance. However, in the context of Bt resistance, these molecular tools must be used in conjunction with traditional bioassays or phenotype-based resistance monitoring, as they are not effective at identifying novel Bt resistance causing mutations.

There was a strong interest in the Northern CGA visiting the Emerald region in Queensland to look at farming systems with a focus on understanding the principles of grow non cotton, the potential opportunities it may enable across the north and the requirements and challenges this would present for our northern farming systems. The expectation isn't that the Emerald system can be copy and paste into the north, but that this trip will provide foundations for Northern farming systems discussions. 

The key outcomes of the Emerald trip were:

·       Growers visited a 5 regional farms with a focus on “Grown On” cotton

·       A number of farms were visited; each had a slightly different management approached to grown on cotton. Growers, their consultants & other industry members were very generous in sharing their knowledge on grown on cotton

·       Different approaches to grown on cotton included planned, growing on as a result of early season fruit loss and skip row configurations

·       It was very evident that there is still a lot to learn about this approach, particularly in terms of nutrient mining and canopy management, and there is no one method fits all

·       The trip was extremely valuable and a lot of interest in grown on cotton was generated. It is expected that some growers will trial the approach in the 2024-25 season

·       Grown on has the potential to benefit cotton production in the NT however research needs to be done to determine whether it is a viable option and will work in with our complex climate  

CRDC, OneBasin CRC, and the University of Southern Queensland jointly funded a short-duration travel grant enabling Michael Scobie to attend the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) annual conference in Toronto, Canada, in July 2025. This support partially covered airfare, accommodation, conference registration, and regional transportation. The funding aimed to facilitate international collaboration and knowledge exchange between Australian research teams and global leaders in agricultural engineering.

The ASABE conference is the largest annual gathering of agricultural and biological engineers worldwide. More than 2,000 delegates from academia, industry, and government agencies convened to share research breakthroughs, emerging technologies, and best-practice innovations. Sessions covered precision irrigation, climate-resilient crops, robotics for agronomic monitoring, and sustainable water-resource management. Michael engaged with keynote speakers and participated in targeted workshops on evaporation mitigation, directly aligning with his Australian cotton industry research.

Michael delivered a technical presentation titled “Mitigating Evaporation Loss from Water Storages: Ideas from the Australian Cotton Industry,” co-authored with Justine Baillie, Derek Long, Sarah Seton, Guangnan Chen, and Marti Beston. The presentation attracted significant interest, leading to follow-up discussions on joint experimental designs and shared funding opportunities across continents.

The Australian Rural Leadership Program (ARLP) Course 31 brought together 28 leaders from diverse industries, cultures and regions to deepen their leadership practice and strengthen their contribution to rural, regional and remote Australia. Across the cohort, participants reported profound personal growth marked by self-awareness, emotional literacy, cultural humility and courage to lead differently. Many entered the program seeking tools to manage complexity, build confidence or reconnect with purpose. They completed it with renewed authenticity and greater clarity about their values. The program’s experiential design, spanning four sessions across settings such as Aotearoa and Central Australia, challenged participants to examine their assumptions, relationships and ways of leading. Through exposure to First Nations perspectives, systems thinking and adaptive leadership frameworks, participants strengthened their ability to navigate uncertainty, collaborate across difference and create change that lasts.

The Australian Rural Leadership Program develops and supports a network of leaders who are responding to regional rural and remote Australia’s most complex opportunities and challenges. The 30th cohort of the ARLP kicked off unlike any other. Participants gathered in Sydney to embark on a reinvigorated program featuring new partnerships, and experiences challenging new amphitheatres of learning anchored in the ARLF’s 30 years of leadership excellence. This report shares some key highlights of both Session 4 and the program as a whole. We are delighted to share the ongoing impact of our flagship program. Early evaluation and feedback demonstrates that the change has continued to strengthen the program and meet the needs of a new generation of leaders and the rural, regional and remote communities, industries and organisations that they are contributing to

The 29th cohort of the Australian Rural Leadership Program have officially completed their program, graduated and been welcomed to the alumni network of the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation. The cohort completed session 4, Influence and Impact over 10 days in September in the Canberra region. Following this the ARLF hosted a graduation ceremony to celebrate the cohorts ongoing leadership endeavours, the funding partners and the people that have supported the cohort across their program.  The ARLF extends its congratulations and well wishes to the cohort as they enter the next stage of their leadership contribution to rural, regional and remote Australia.

The TRAIL Emerging Leaders Program nurtures and develops the next generation of leaders in rural, regional and remote Australia. It is cross-sectorial and challenged-based in its approach and offers participants an experience designed to develop essential leadership skills, foster strategic thinking, and enhance collaboration through the power of network leadership. Tailored for individuals that are seeking to or have recently stepped into leadership roles, the program is designed to support their development as leaders and focuses on the following learning intentions.