Soil compaction is a hidden and continuing constraint to cotton productivity due to increasing size and weight of equipment and is estimated to be in the order of >$30M in lost revenue. Growers recognise compaction is an issue and address this by adopting pseudo-controlled traffic farming systems, however the incompatibility of equipment used by different crops restrict options for a fully matched CTF system. Identifying the extent of compaction is problematic: penetrometers measure soil strength which is dependent on soil moisture making interpretation difficult.

The project will engage with the cotton industry using discussion around soil pits in each cotton region to determine the extent of soil compaction as a constraint or cost to productivity with respect to water, nitrogen and energy use efficiency and subsequent yield and fibre quality. A recent survey of a limited number of growers suggested that 35 % of growers need to be able better identify soil compaction and have access to new strategies to “avoid” compaction, while the remaining 65 % would like novel strategies to ameliorate compaction and understand which strategies were more effective than others. These results indicate that the cotton industry appreciates that soil compaction is an issue and are looking for strategies to minimise the effect in the first instance and to determine which remediation practices are the most effective.

Soil compaction is seen as a negative in farming systems, perhaps we need to reassess the issue. Agricultural industries need to utilise soil compaction for benefit; as in a fully matched controlled traffic farming (CTF). Soil compaction is a constraint to productivity when it is allowed to occur in a random fashion, for example a non CTF system. This enables soil between traffic lanes to be managed optimally for water and nutrients and for crop growth. There is opportunity to manage or minimise the effect of soil compaction in cotton systems as growers tend to be land “rich”, providing an opportunity to ameliorate the effect of a wet pick by increasing the time between cotton in any one area.

The project plans to determine how growers currently identify soil compaction and the extent of the problem and to identify current strategies for minimising compaction in the first instance and then determine what growers are implementing to ameliorate/mitigate the effect of compaction. A key component in this is, how do growers decide which strategy to adopt and what is the criteria of success or otherwise of the outcome? By minimising compaction in the first instance the necessity for amelioration is minimised, which will reduce the cost of production. This should translate into greater water and fertiliser use efficiency and less greenhouse gas emissions. The industry will be able to optimise resource use to maximise productivity per ML of limited water. A key component of the project will be understanding how soil constraints are prioritised within the farming and management system.

This projected funded the purchase of an autoclave, which was identified as a critical capital asset for ACRI, with multiple NSW DPI and CSIRO research projects utilising the unit for cleaning and decontamination of laboratory glassware, media and waste. NSWDPI and CSIRO have discussed and reviewed usage patterns to identifying that the current autoclave unit could only achieve a maximum of three cycles per 24 hours, so the only viable solution is to procure an additional 100 litre autoclave unit.

Additional autoclave capacity will support the analysis of key pathology issues and identification of potential solutions for disease control leading to delivery of improved integrated disease management strategies for cottongrowers.

Fertiliser is commonly spread in a typical cotton farming system and evidence suggests that the spreaders being used have not been calibrated properly meaning that these machines are not operating at maximum efficiency. This workshop was developed to offer technique and training for accurate measurement and calibration of a number of fertiliser spreaders to optimise application.

The Cotton Grower Association through a targeted attempt, managed to secure a number of different types of spreaders which were subsequently tested and adjusted to ensure maximum efficiency. Manufacture representatives were present from Amazone, Landaco, Bredal and Agrispread and this allowed for adjustment on the day which lead to some very productive changes.

The cotton sector is a leader in farm WHS because growers have used evidence-based information to develop practical and effective systems to manage WHS. In some instances WHS can be complex due to conflicting interpretation of WHS standards e.g. advice on practical machinery guarding, bunding for diesel tanks, access to distribution tanks/ irrigation gates etc. This leads to less than optimal uptake and compliance by growers. It is widely accepted that for increased adoption of safety practices to occur, WHS systems need to be convenient, result in cost efficiencies and assist with meeting compliance and legislation requirements.

There is also a requirement to ensure that all workers are competent to undertake the tasks required, with a safety induction being critical to assist in this process. Consequently, enhancing the ease with which contractors can be inducted will assist growers.

With the increasing uptake of smart phone and tablet computer technologies by growers, this provides an opportunity to develop alternate approaches that may further streamline the process to improve WHS.

This project developed a Work Health and Safety (WHS) application (app) for use in smart phones (both i phone and android) and tablet computers, that will provide visual examples and summary information and visual examples of best practice hazard control for the common scenarios and risks that are known on cotton farms. Typically this will involve areas / facilities such as: fuel storage; chemical storage; workshops; pump stations; irrigation structures /channels; confined spaces; airstrips; farm traffic management systems; and machinery safety.

Growers will be able to cross reference best practice requirements from these areas/facilities in real-time and be able to rapidly ascertain issues that require attention. WHS information from these apps will then also be linked directly into the on-going development of the platform (as has been achieved with the Energy Calc Lite app that is currently under development for growers). This process will ensure growers can not only read but also have a visual example of what constitutes best practice and known (accepted) hazard control and will eliminate misinterpretation or any double handling of information as it can be integrated directly into their WHS records. Additionally, the approach will provide scope for further expansion into other WHS related issues over time.

Fertiliser nitrogen use efficiency in irrigated cotton was assessed on the Darling Downs over 3 years. A total of 47 treatments were examined from 2015/16-2017/18 from 12 locations combining N application rate (farmer’s practice vs 30% reduction), product (urea v DMPP) and irrigation method (furrow vs overhead).

The average yield across all sites and years for the three main fertiliser treatments (DMPP, Urea and Farmer’s Practice) was 9.9 bales ha-1 with the farmer’s average N application rate of 161 kg N ha-1. There was no significant effect of different fertiliser products and reduced rates on lint yield. On average 81 kg N ha-1 was removed in the lint and seed and 138 kg N ha-1 was lost from the system (maximum 260 kg N ha-1) in the form of soil and fertiliser N over the cropping season.

Nitrogen fertiliser use efficiency in irrigated cotton systems was consistently low, with 47% of the applied fertiliser lost over the season. The average rate of N application was only 137 kg N ha-1, well below the industry average of 275 kg N ha-1. We estimate that non-fertiliser derived N losses were 24% of mineralised N.

On average, only 17% of the N taken up by the crop was derived from fertiliser i.e. 83% was soil derived N. Nitrogen fertiliser losses were lower in the overhead irrigated sites (35%) compared to the furrow irrigated sites (51%). At harvest, on average 28% of the applied N was recovered in the soil, with 11% removed in lint and seed and 14% remaining on the field as residual plant material.

The use of the nitrification inhibitor DMPP increased the recovery of N fertiliser in the soil (at harvest) by 21% and reduced overall losses of N fertiliser by 16%, indicating that DMPP could potentially increase fNUE in irrigated cotton systems. More long-term trails on the effect of DMPP in irrigated cotton systems are required to better assess the potential of this product. Ideally, these are done with reduced N rates over multiple years and in N limited systems.

In addition to the N fertiliser, on average 264 kg N ha-1 was supplied from soil mineralisation (169 kg N ha-1) and mineral N in the soil profile at planting (144 kg N ha-1) compared to an average fertiliser application of only 137 kg N ha-1.

Commercial farms have highly elevated levels of available N in the soil, most likely due to excessive N fertiliser applications in previous years. Total crop N uptake averaged 218 kg N ha-1 in the N fertilised treatments, while an average of 194 kg N ha-1 taken up by the crop in the 0N plots. Our results confirm that growers could significantly reduce N fertiliser inputs without any negative impact on lint yield.

Nitrogen fertiliser is not used efficiently under current on-farm management strategies and demonstrates that mineralisation of soil organic N and recycling of N from previous fertilisation events or returned with crop residues is a key source of N in irrigated cotton production systems.

The intercomparison of calculators highlighted the great variability in the N recommendations on offer to the cotton industry. These differences can be attributed to the different methods used to estimate soil N mineralisation, crop residue decomposition and N losses.

The project has shown that remote sensing can provide accurate prediction of yield variability with RDVI being most suitable vegetation index for identification of in-field variability and in field management zones.

For the delineation of management zones it is crucial to have a certain degree of in-field variability and to use multiple years of data to understand whether variable yields are either stable or unstable.

Remotely sensed Vegetation indices could potentially be used in early January to assist in-season N management, but it is essential to evaluate the causes of variability in order to develop N management decisions.

At 31st December 2019, the Agfrontier Regional AgTech Incubator program was at the halfway point in its 14-month long duration. A cohort of ten agricultural innovators was selected from more than 30 applications received from across northern New South Wales and regional Queensland. The cohort is made up of start-ups and spin-offs at all stages of development, from ideation to Series A capital raise. There is a mix of hardware, firmware and software solutions as well as a spread of sectors across cropping (including cotton), livestock, horticulture and bee-keeping.

The program has focussed on creating a bespoke suite of tools to up-skill and equip the cohort with the knowledge, know-how and networks to go global. Key learnings from the program in terms of incubator program design have been:

1. The start-up ecosystem in Australia is still permeated by too much jargon and language that doesn’t lend itself well to the agricultural innovation audience;

2. One-on-one coaching for our cohort is frequently done in the car, in a tractor or out in the middle of a paddock or late at night. This means needing to adapt mainstream tools and techniques to compensate for this, particularly where regional connectivity remains a considerable challenge.

3. Relationships between cohort members have developed to have a constructive influence on program outcomes with interpersonal coaching, mentoring and business collaborations. This wasn’t an expected outcome in the original program design, however, has been a positive factor.

4. The importance of focussing on founder mental health as a component of the incubator program design has become very clear. Drought and its impact on both direct farming operations and the cohort customer base agribusiness function has brought this into sharp focus. Future program design will put more emphasis on shared knowledge, understanding and managing founder mental health.

Significant success has been achieved by our inaugural cohort, a short summary of key achievements below:

1. SwarmFarm Robotics based in Gindie, Queensland awarded 3rd place at the Global Agripreneurs Summit in Thessaloniki, Greece after winning the national event in Australian in 2018. They were also named as one of the world’s top 5 robotics start-ups by Startus Insights, an international data science company identifying emerging start-ups & technologies to deliver actionable innovation intelligence.

2. DataFarming based in Toowoomba, Queensland accepted in to the TERRA agrifood accelerator program, beating over 500 applicants from more than 30 countries to be the first Australia firm in this prestigious program. They were also named one of the 15 most promising agtech start-ups in the world by Startup City Magazine, an independent platform for decision makers in the United States, for the latest in start-up ecosystem news. Co-founder Tim Neale was also awarded the 2019 Pearcey Queensland Entrepreneur Award in October.

3. Ben Harzer from Thin & Trim Holdings in the Gayndah / Mundubbera district, Queensland successfully won a place in the Austrade Startup Catalyst Mission to Israel in November.

4. Two of our cohort have attracted significant venture capital investment either already in contract or under due diligence (both announcements currently embargoed).

5. A prototype was developed by Broken Plains Pastoral at Rolleston, Queensland from conceptual idea tackling the multi-million-dollar problem of buffalo fly in the beef industry.

6. An initial order for minimum viable product was placed by Big Sky Technologies based in Toowoomba for their exciting regional connectivity solutions. They were also long-listed for the MLA’s Digital Livestock 4.0 project, and;

7. AgFrontier was recognised by Brad Twynham, Incubator Facilitator with the Australian Department of Industry, Innovation and Science as being in the top 30% of all start-up incubators in the Australia (not just agtech focussed). We have fielded several inquiries from agricultural innovators wanting to apply for any future programs as well as organisations wanting to collaborate with us to deliver the program.

Some key numbers for Agfrontier:

• Three intensive face-to-face workshops completed with +85% total attendance;

• Average feedback score from participants was 4.5 (scale 1 low to 5 high);

• ~100 hours one-on-one coaching delivered, and;

• +260 attendees at AgTeCH19 Emerald: Build it. Use it. Profit.

The remaining program content includes for field visits to the six cohort businesses who have successfully been accepted into Stage 2 of our program, the Startup Catalyst AgFrontier Mission to the USA (Denver, Colorado, San Francisco & Silicon Valley, California), AgTeCH20 Mungindi Start-up Alley (1st April 2020) and the finale milestone event and investor pitch in Brisbane mid-2020. We look forward seeing the cohort further develop, garner investment and scale with the remaining program modules and thank our program partners for their support and investment in this worthy program for Australia’s agricultural industry.

A well-managed supply of clean, usable groundwater is vital for the continued success and growth of the Australian Cotton Industry. The ongoing provision of clean groundwater depends on healthy groundwater ecosystems containing microbes and invertebrates (stygofauna). These biota improve water quality and aid water flow. Without the sustainable management of groundwater, it is likely that the health of these ecosystems will decline, with the consequence that growers may be faced with increased costs for groundwater extraction, water treatment and/or declining cotton yields.

In 2006, the cotton industry, through the Cotton Catchment Communities (CCC) CRC, became the first industry in Australia to recognise the importance of groundwater ecosystem health for the supply of sustainable groundwater resources by funding the development of a groundwater ecosystem monitoring program. The CCC CRC began a world first program to develop a toolbox of biological and chemical indicators to measure and monitor groundwater ecosystem health.

Further funding from the CRDC, through the project reported here (2014-2018), enabled the initial toolbox to be refined through additional sampling and research. From this work, the weighted Groundwater Health Index (wGHI; Korbel & Hose 2017) was developed. The new, refined method allows groundwater health to be assessed and monitored using a combination of biological and water chemistry variables. Since the publication of this method, the authors were invited to present the framework to the European Union Groundwater Working Group (April 2017) as a potential framework for adoption in the Groundwater Framework Directive and NSW DPI have been in discussions about including the approach in their monitoring for groundwater dependent ecosystems within NSW.

The project has succeeded in providing

• Documentation of the extent and condition of subterranean GDEs in 4 subcatchments of the MDB

• Provision of baseline data on groundwater biodiversity

• Enhancing knowledge of GW ecosystems

• Improve groundwater ecosystem sampling methodologies

• Development of GHI to be used on farms with potential incorporation into MyBMP

The outcomes from this work are an improved groundwater management program, shifting from the current approach of managing water quality and quantity to an approach that considers groundwater biodiversity and the maintenance of ecosystem function and services. It will allow for future assessment of potential groundwater health decline due to competing industries. The results of this report will be implemented through the cotton industry My BMP program, promoting ecological sustainability and natural resource stewardship, while concurrently improving the capacity for the future management of this resource.

This Guide provides you with a comprehensive summary of the key cotton crop protection issues, and is brought to you by CRDC and the Australian cotton industry's joint extension program, CottonInfo. This year, for the first time, we have also partnered with our fellow key industry organisation, Crop Consultants Australia (CCA), on the development of the Guide.

CRDC sponsored ASDS to enable an international Verticillium speaker to present. As part of this sponsorship, CRDC has been provided with complementary registration for one participant. Brendon Warnock is taking this registration. It was also determined that it would be beneficial to have a Southern perspective at this event, and as such an invitation was extended to Todd Peach

As farming systems become more complex and the administrative burden grows, cotton farmers are not spending the time (and sometimes do not have the skills) to undertake high level climate, investment or business analysis for their cotton enterprises. Independent reviews and feasibility research are essential for growers and advisors considering practice change or capital investments in cotton farming businesses. Equipment suppliers often develop in-house feasibility with limited transparency on calculations / assumptions for a willing and sometimes unsuspecting consumer. Comprehensive peer review (including CottonInfo) of documentation and analysis underpins all outputs.

To make informed decisions, these analyses are essential. From 2017-2020, the following tasks were undertaken by CottonInfo’s Jon Welsh, in partnership with economist Janine Powell:

• Regular climate risk analysis via CottonInfo e-news, webinars and workshops to improve climate literacy of growers and advisors – allowing better management decisions to reduce climate risk and build industry resilience;

• Improved climate literacy was achieved by regular climate e-news including feature editions at winter and summer cropping decision points as well as webinars, face-to-face extension, presentations to industry and CCA and other novel approaches to messaging such as podcasts;

• Gross margin analysis of dry-land and irrigated cotton was broadened to include contracted operations and overhead irrigation scenarios. Key input analysis within the gross margins was also reported and extended. Industry budgets and analysis give current and new cotton growers a starting point to create their own budgets which can potentially lead to more informed cropping and input choices and a more profitable enterprise, business and industry.

• Energy efficiency extension for irrigators to build knowledge in what works and when. Improved energy literacy results in informed decision making for cotton growers. 5 large solar investments have been installed as a direct result of project extension material. These investments have improved energy efficiency and farm profitability through lower cost of energy. And also improved farm sustainability through lowered emissions.

• Resource efficiency analysis; limited irrigation water scenarios, incorporating renewables and energy technologies into irrigation systems, robotics in agriculture and, measuring practice change scenarios through dynamic gross margin analysis. The in-depth and targeted analysis conducted within the project were extended to the industry to inform cotton growers of the feasibility drivers for various new technologies and practice changes. Building this business knowledge in our industry can improve the return on investment capital creating a more profitable and sustainable cotton industry.