There is a saying that you should &quote;begin with the end in mind&quote;. How does Australia's cotton industry see its position in the community by the year 2006? How will we be organising our activities, solving problems and operating as a rural industry in the next ten years? If we are to meet the challenges facing modem agriculture and at the same time have real influence over our destiny, the cotton industry is going to have to focus its energies on a shared vision of its future. Once we have some agreed image of where we want to be, the industry can set about working more effectively towards building that future. Security, prosperity and a greater acceptance by the community are likely to be key elements of that future.

Australian cotton production has fluctuated dramatically over the last five years. The industry’s capacity to respond to these rapid and extreme fluctuations is largely attributable to the strength of its people, their networks and the effectiveness of these relationships. Trusted relationships and networks have been the basis for industry innovation, collaboration and effective change and are of critical

importance as the industry continues to grow and new people enter the industry. Vital to the industry’s on-going success in a future of increasing complexity and uncertainty are strong and durable networks, both throughout the industry and with other sectors. This theme creates opportunities for these relationships to be developed and continue being supported. (CRDC, 2013)

The Central Highlands Cotton Growers and Irrigators Association has been an active and highly functioning local growers association. It was incorporated in 1991 and has operated under its current constitution since then. Given recent changes by the regulator in relation to constitutions, this project funding supported the CHCG&IA to revise their constitution and adopt the model rules as recommended by the Office of Fair Trading. The CHCG&IA needed to develop a policy and procedure manual to support their constitution and ensure they meet any regulatory requirements.

Travel funding to attend the Agriculture and Climate Change Conference in March 2017 in Spain for one researcher. The conference focused on the likely impact of climate change on crop production and explored approaches to maintain and increase crop productivity in a changing climate. Approximately 300 delegates attended the conference, and thus provided an opportunity for numerous seminars, posters and discussions on climate change research in a diverse range of crops. The themes for the sessions included: increased agricultural uncertainty; modelling and its application; impacts on nutrition, quality and resource use efficiency; abiotic stress; effects of CO2 on plant growth; plant-microbe interactions; innovative agronomic and breeding practices; and new crops for a new climate.

A couple of the particularly interesting oral presentations included the agronomic and metabolic responses of rice during simultaneous heat and drought stress and subsequent recovery; and the impact of elevated CO2 concentrations on interactions between grapevines and the pathogen Plasmopara viticola ). Other interesting presentations highlighted some of the other climate research that is conducted in Australia. For instance, an interesting presentation about adapting to risk in marginal dryland cropping systems of Southern Australia and one Australian Researcher presented research on the implications of a changing climate for pastures and the Australian dairy industry. Several of the presentations re-enforced that climate change offers exploitable opportunities that we need to utilise in order to offset potential losses in production. The opportunity was taken also to have a conversation with Dr Kenneth Boote about the use of models in capturing responses to elevated atmospheric [CO2]. Several papers are referenced in the presentations that will be useful to read, and the opportunity to participate in an Author workshop run by Elsevier that gave hints and tips for publishing research articles in high quality journals.

Australian research was well received by the international scientific community. This was an exciting opportunity to showcase research conducted in the Australian Cotton Industry, and there was a lot of interest regarding how the cotton industry operates in Australia. There was significant interest from other scientists regarding our in-field chambers and the experiments being conducted in the facility. It was clear that the Australian approach was novel and unique in this area, with presentations generating discussions about the importance of in-field research into climate change interactions. This trip was important to begin linkages with European agricultural scientists, in addition to our close collaborations with U.S. research. A number of scientistsindicated an expression of interest in continuing discussions and looking for collaborations in this area.

This project funded the travel for one researcher to present information on Australian cotton fibre quality (spinning and dyeing quality) at ACSA EMD tour seminars in India. Presentations are made to buyer and sellers (spinners & merchants) of Australian cotton. Support ACSA members with technical and scientific information on the processing of Australian fibre.Extend information on Australian fibre quality to spinners in the new and growing market of India. Provide support to ACSA members in conversations about Australian fibre quality. Liaise with spinners from each country to hear about the qualities of fibre they require.

Green mind, Creontiades dilitus (Stal), is an important sporadic pest of cotton at the seedling stage and through early squaring. Together with other sucking pests such as thrips, aphids and mites, they will continue to demand specific control actions after the introduction of transgenic (Bt) cotton varieties. In some seasons green mind infestations result in the loss of early squares and delays in crop maturity. Controlling green minds, particularly during early squaring, relies on the use of broad spectrum organophosphates (dimethoate or omethoate) or synthetic pyrethroids. The use of these products disrupts beneficial insect populations at a crucial early stage of the season. For this reason it is important that controls be applied only when necessary. The decision to control green minds is further complicated by the uncertainties of sampling and action thresholds. In this paper we present some of our recent investigations related to sampling and damage caused by green minds in cotton.

This project sets out to address some of the problems associated with growing dryland cotton using reduced and notillage practices, and look for possible solutions which will allow cotton to be integrated into sustainable farming systems for these important production areas.

CRDC engaged strategy and foresight consulting group, Emergent Futures, in August 2009 to facilitate a project, Cotton Industry Vision 2029, for the development of a shared industry vision. The project commenced in September 2009 and concluded in March 2010.

The Vision 2029 project was a collaboration between CRDC, Cotton Australia and the Australian Cotton Industry Council, with representatives from these organisations forming a Reference Group for the project. The project scope covered the whole of the Australian cotton industry from input suppliers through to marketers.

This project funded a series of workshops in January 2017, four soil nitrate and cotton nutrition workshops were conducted by CottonInfo in conjunction with Dr Chris Dowling of Back Paddock. These workshops, held in the Upper and Lower Namoi Valley were designed to be informal, encourage networking, discussion and aid in key decisions occurring at the crops current growth stage. Acknowledging that the wet winter reduced opportunities to have seedbeds prepared and key nutrients added to the fields prior to planting, many growers are required to carefully monitor crop nutrition to ensure yields are maximised.

The Agricultural Engineering Research Unit, based at Trangie ARC, undertook a research program to ensure an even and adequate (but not excessive) supply of NH3 to the crop in conditions which allow full utilisation by the crop. By so doing, this would either reduce or eliminate the presence of &quote;striping&quote; in cotton. The research program was initiated in 1989 to (i) determine the level and cause of variability in NH3 flow and distribution from the outlets of rigs, and (ii) modify the NH3 application systems to ensure even flow and distribution.

This course has given me skills to continue in my role as workforce co-ordinator for Cotton Australia. It has also been useful in my role of overviewing the HR module of BMP and allowing me to help cotton producers ensure they are meeting their HR requirements. It has also been useful when reviewing People in Ag.