In 2017, there has been plenty of good news for the Australian agricultural sector with the value of farm production forecast to increase by 8.3 percent, making it a record production year across a number of crop industries (ABARES, 2017). Although there are concerns that the productivity of Australian farms is plateauing, and understandably there is concerted efforts to improve research and technology to address this issue (Hall, Dijkman, Taylor, Williams, & Kelly, 2017). It is widely recognised that a key component required for driving agricultural production gains is a capable and motivated workforce, both throughout the supply chain and on-farm (Commonwealth of Australia, 2015).

Recognising the value of people in production outcomes, the Cotton Research Development Corporation (CRDC) has been investing in research and developing a workforce development strategy for the cotton industry. In the workforce development strategy action plan, it is noted:

While cotton growers lead the world in many areas of farm management, general evidence suggests that, like other agrifood industries, human resource management is not keeping pace with changing business models.The challenge for the cotton industry is whether the talent for innovation can be adapted to developing a more sustainable approach to securing a workforce (Agrifood Skills Solutions, 2015, p. 19).

A key aspect of persuading and engaging cotton growers to implement changes in their business is the use of evidence specific to the cotton farm context. The CRDC’s (2013a) multi-disciplinary “People” program of research aims to capture evidence to inform the practical implementation of the workforce development strategy and demonstrate the impacts that different aspects of workforce development has in improving cotton farm productivity. The current research project is funded by the CRDC and contributes to this agenda.

In attempting to tackle current on-farm workforce attraction and retention issues, the cotton industry aims for each cotton farm to be viewed as a desirable workplace where employees can achieve overall job satisfaction (Agrifood Skills Solutions, 2015). For the individual, job satisfaction has been linked to a number of positive health and wellbeing outcomes, and is one domain that can influence overall life satisfaction (Faragher, Cass & Cooper, 2005; Ford, Heinen, & Langkamer, 2007; Lent et al., 2005). Job satisfaction also has been linked to worker productivity, commitment and reduced turnover intentions (Judge, Thoresen, Bono, & Patton, 2001; Griffeth, Hom, Gaertner, 2000; Meyer, Stanley, Herscovitch, & Topolnytsky, 2002). In seeking to understand the antecedents of job satisfaction in the cotton farm context, I argue that there is a need to better understand the psychological factors that impact a farm worker’s career experiences and result in the individual’s attitudinal appraisal. Vocational Psychology and, more specifically, Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) offers an ideal lense through which to view such a phenomena.

This thesis reports on research into the application of the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) of job satisfaction in a sample of Australian farm workers. The SCCT job satisfaction model maps the relationships between five predictor variables: (a) personality and affective traits; (b) goal and efficacy-relevant environmental barriers, supports and resources; (c) self-efficacy; (d) expected and received work conditions and outcomes; and (e) goals and goal-directed activity, and their direct and indirect influence on fostering (or inhibiting) the individual’s experience of work satisfaction (Lent & Brown, 2006a). SCCT is a dominant theory in the Vocational Psychology discipline and has been tested for generalisability in a wide range of cultures and work contexts. As yet, it has not been extensively applied to understand the career motivations of the Australian agricultural workforce. The current research addresses this gap in the vocational psychology literature and attempts to counter the agentic assumptions of the SCCT by proposing the addition of work volition to the model.

The literature on career motivations for Australian agricultural workers is reviewed, informing consideration for the application of the SCCT in this context. The proposed testing of the SCCT Model of Job Satisfaction in the Australian farming context draws on other existing theories and frameworks including, the Psychology of Working, self-efficacy theory, person-organisation fit theory, organisational support theory, and job demands-resources theory. In this way, the SCCT is used to synthesise multiple perspectives of contributing factors to job satisfaction and provide a comprehensive understanding of psychological factors that influence attraction and retention of workers to the Australian agricultural industry and more specifically to the Australian cotton industry.

A sequential mixed methods design is used to position the farm work context as central to testing the SCCT Model of Job Satisfaction. Firstly, semi-structured interviews conducted with Australian cotton farm workers and growers were used to collect data which described the SCCT constructs in the farming context. Following thematic analysis of these data, the face validity of measures that operationalised the SCCT constructs was discussed. Furthermore, a new measure to capture farm worker self-efficacy was developed. Respondent’s descriptions of work volition were used to inform the integration of this construct into the newly proposed SCCT Model of Farm Worker Job Satisfaction. The second study surveyed farm workers and used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test two conceptual models; (a) the SCCT Model of Farm Worker Job Satisfaction and (b) the SCCT Model of Farm Worker Job Satisfaction including work volition.

The results found sufficient evidence to support the generalisability of the SCCT Model of Job Satisfaction to the Australian agricultural context and the cotton farm context. Although, it would appear that the relationships between self-efficacy and the SCCT antecedent and outcome constructs are more complex than the direct relationships hypothesised. While the addition of work volition to the SCCT Model of Farm Worker Job Satisfaction added little to the prediction of reported levels of job satisfaction, this did contribute to the explanation of the relationships between the SCCT predictor variables. The theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed and recommendations for application of the findings and future research are made.

Two successful workshops were held with approximately 50 enthusiastic participants at each. Participants were presented with latest research on river red gums, pointed out noteworthy birds, trees and shrubs. Discussions about the carbon sequestration benefits of riparian vegetation, as well as its value in providing a range of ecosystem services and providing habitat and connectivity through cotton landscapes were conducted during the workshops.

Present research on Rivercare (riparian zone management) and soil carbon during kayaking fieldtrips at Gogeldrie and Hay, Southern NSW. A series of kayaking workshops have been organised by Vogel Consulting, local Landcare and Cottoninfo staff across the cotton growing regions, to illustrate the importance, and some of the lesser known values of riparian zones.

Boron and Potassium have overlapping roles to play in plant physiology and hence are synergistic. Like Potassium, Boron is also involved in some aspect of flowering and fruiting processes, pollen germination, cell division, nitrogen metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, active salt absorption, hormone movement and action, water metabolism and the water relations in plants.

The presence of high levels of sodium in the soil (which is common in most cotton growing areas) is determinantal to the growth of any crop. This is due to reverse osmosis created due to high negative water potential around the rhizosphere. This leads to desiccation of plants and improper or highly reduced mineral and water uptake due to the impact on the roots. This will have its adverse effect on the total photosynthetic potential of the plants causing yield and quality decline.

This trial has been conducted in collaboration with the CRDC and leading cotton grower, Vitonga Pty Ltd in identifying why some paddocks are producing 16 bales/Ha of cotton and on the same farm, other paddocks drop off to 11-12 bales/Ha under the same management practices.

In soil analysis, the paddocks producing 16 bale crops consistently, the Potassium:Sodium ratio is believed to be a critical factor impacting the yield. In those high yielding paddocks, the ratio in meq/100g soil for the Potassium:Sodium ratio was 2:1, while in field 7 where the trial was conducted, the ratio was 1.05:1 (ideal would be 1.4:1). In addition, soil analysis found that the Calcium:Boron ratio at in field 7 was 4038:1. This Calcium:Boron ratio indicates a significant Boron deficiency exists in the soil.

The project objective was to build on an earlier project and fill some gaps in the Walgett area which do not have adequate weather information which growers can utilise to make management decisions and to help in reducing the level of off-target spray drift.

The objectives were to establish more weather stations and build local knowledge of wind and temperature so as to reduce the incidence of spray drift in areas which are devoid of accurate weather information. The initial objective was to purchase one, more expensive weather station and three inversion towers to collaborate with a CRDC project looking at predicting inversion risk. We soon established that inversion towers were not very accurate and businesses were unwilling to supply and support due to the possible risk of legal responsibility and along with this the weather data was still not accurate enough to include in the CRDC project anyway. It was then decided that a better use of funding would be to fill in more of the gaps where weather information is not available and purchase three weather station to be hosted hosted on the Ozforcast website.

The Carbon Farming Futures program was about ensuring that advances in land management technologies and techniques for emissions reduction and adaptation will lead to enhanced productivity and sustainable land use under a changing climate. These advances were seen to be able to allow farmers and land managers to benefit from the economic opportunities of the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) while assisting Australia in achieving its long term emission reduction targets .

The Carbon Farming Initiative was a voluntary carbon abatement scheme that ran between September 2011 and December 2014 when it was integrated with the Emissions Reduction Fund – projects automatically became Emissions Reduction Fund projects.

The Australian Government repealed the Carbon Tax with effect from 1 July 2014. Through its Direct Action Plan, the government planned to introduce a mix of new policies, including the Emissions Reduction Fund which was intended to build on the existing Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) and provide ongoing opportunities for farmers and land managers to participate in emission reduction projects. It was noted that Extension and Outreach projects already funded under the Carbon Farming Futures program would continue to support the communication of opportunities under the CFI, and the transition to the Emissions Reduction Fund.

The Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) is a voluntary scheme that aimed to provide incentives for a range of organisations and individuals to adopt new practices and technologies to reduce their emissions. It is enacted through the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Act 2011, the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Regulations 2011 and the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Rule 2015 .

Through the Extension and Outreach component of the Carbon Farming Futures program the Australian Government invested funding from 2011–12 to 2016–17 to assist farmers and land managers to participate in land sector emissions reduction activities and the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI). In April 2013, 24 projects valued at $21.3 million were funded under the Extension and Outreach program to deliver information that is clear, consistent and current to farmers, land managers and their key influencers using a mix of traditional and new extension services.

The Carbon farming in the Australian cotton industry project aimed to integrate the latest information on carbon, climate change and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions management into the cotton industry’s extension efforts. This will be done by up-skilling industry information providers, incorporating information into the myBMP web portal tool (an online farm management tool for cotton growers) and developing cotton specific carbon farming communication campaigns .

This project funds the contract for Coutts J&R to review the achievements and impact of the Carbon Farming in the Australian Cotton industry

The cotton industry led with over a decade of industry investment in emissions research, a strong commitment to improvement through industry Best Management Practices (BMP) and a dedicated cotton Development and Delivery team. Reducing emissions and optimising sequestration on farm was seen to have been hampered by a lack of technical capacity in the integration of the various sciences, practical farm management, the policy context and economics. This project was seen to fit this need.

The intention was to encourage cotton and grain growers to understand, assess and reduce emissions from their cropping systems, optimise carbon sequestration in the landscape and participate in the carbon farming initiative.

This project aims to evaluate the reliance of riparian vegetation on groundwater in the Lower Balonne region. It will do so through the analysis of stratigraphy/hydrogeology in riparian vegetation communities and the recharge of groundwater through flooding events. Field investigations will help to define the hydrological regimes of shallow aquifers and unsaturated zones within the floodplain. This information will determine the importance of river flooding in providing water requirements to vegetation in the region.

Research undertaken by the student will involve the interpretation of geophysical and core data from riparian transects to develop hydrogeological models of the riparian zone. These transects are being described as part of a project within the MDB EWKR (Environmental Watering, Knowledge and Research) Program. Some sites will also be used within an MDBA long-term vegetation condition monitoring project. Collection of field data (geophysics, topography, soil coring) will occur in conjunction with the DNRM team. In some cases (if appropriate conditions arise) a transect will be imaged before and after a flood event). Coring and geophysical data will be collated to create an interpreted hydrogeology, from which surface water/groundwater interactions will be assessed through simple groundwater modelling.

This project further builds on knowledge developed in project DNRM1401 and other CRDC and non-CRDC funded riparian vegetation projects by Griffith University and DNRM/DSITI/MDB EWKR . It does so by both value-adding to existing sites and creating new benchmark sites for other researchers. The outcomes of the project will support CRDCs interests in responsible landscape management through better understanding of riparian zones and how they are impacted by flows.

This sponsorship funded the travel of one CRDC researcher to attend the 18th Australian Cotton Conference in August 2016. The researcher presented in a three minute Thesis presentation to communicate the results of the CRDC funded soil management research undertaken in 2016. Attendance also represented a networking opportunity into the Australian cotton research community. The research results have significance for soil carbon storage and nutrient application strategies that should be communicated to representatives of the Cotton Industry, Australian cotton researchers and policy makers. Thesis topic: Stoichiometric ratios of cotton soils under different land management practices: consequences for carbon storage and cropping strategies

Prior to teh commencement of the 2016/17 cotton season, it was predicted that early season pest numbers would be extreme and widespread due to good winter and spring rainfall in all areas.

This forecast was particularly alarming due to the potential for widespread insecticide applications which can have very serious consequences such as resistance, the disruption of natural pest enemies, secondary pest outbreaks, and damage to the environment.

Taking these potential threats into consideration, the CottonInfo team determined that the industry needed confidence to approach pest management using sustainable pest control measures encouraged via integrated pest management (IPM). The team also agreed that extending the IPM message early in the season will be a priority.

As a result, CottonInfo and CRDC partnered with leading industry experts, including Dr Lewis Wilson and Dr Michael Bange of CSIRO, to deliver a series of workshops on IPM across five cotton growing valleys – encouraging growers to consider their potential pest management strategies.

Over 130 participants from the cotton industry attended the IPM workshops. 38 [er cent of these participants filled in evaluation forms. Results from these forms showed that 32 per cent of respondees were growers, 40 per cent were consultants and crop scouts and 28 per cent were from another sector of the industry, for example research staff and reseller agronomists. The five workshops took place at Warren, Darlington Point, Cecil Plains, Boggabilla and Boggabri during late November 2016 and early December 2016.

Previous research has highlighted that glyphosate resistant and tolerant weeds are increasing in cotton farming systems. This situation is not unique to cotton systems, indeed broadacre agriculture in Australia is dealing with a range of herbicide resistant weeds across all farming systems. Glyphosate tolerant cotton has been widely adopted in Australia since its introduction in the early 2000’s. A consequence of this technology was a shift to a simplified system of weed control dominated by multiple applications of glyphosate in crop.

A series of comprehensive weed surveys were conducted across cotton farming systems in 2015, 2016 and 2017 seasons. The focus of the surveys was five common weeds identified as the most problematic in cotton farming systems: feathertop Rhodes grass, windmill grass, awnless barnyard grass, sowthistle and fleabane.

The samples were germinated in a glasshouse and screened against the commercial rate of glyphosate. The testing process confirmed very high levels of resistance in fleabane (>95%) windmill grass (>90%) and awnless barnyard grass (>65%). The level of resistance in sowthistle and feathertop Rhodes grass was lower, however in excess of 25% of populations tested as resistant. Group A resistance was also confirmed in grass populations collected during the surveys.

The additional information from the resistance testing was a catalyst for updating the Herbicide Resistance Management Strategy (HRMS). The new strategy includes information on herbicide resistance for: Group M, L, I and A herbicides. A resistance risk assessment tool has also been incorporated into the HRMS table. Feedback from consultants and growers has been positive, especially with the traffic light approach in the table. The new HRMS has been included in the 2018 Cotton Pest Management Guide. In addition, all tables within the Weed Management section have been updated and consolidated into a more user friendly format.

Since the start of the project in 2014 and the extension of herbicide resistance results there has been an increase in the use pattern of pre-emergent and residual herbicides. This is a positive outcome for the industry and further reinforces the need to provide growers with additional options for weed control other than glyphosate. A research officer was appointed to the project in February 2017 further increasing the capacity of weed research in the cotton industry.

A study tour to the US cotton industry in September 2017 reinforced to researchers, growers and industry the importance of maintaining a diverse approach to weed control in Australian cotton farming systems. The reliance on herbicides alone for weed control has resulted in widespread resistance developing in the US, especially to glyphosate. The Australian industry based HRMS (2 + 2 & NO survivors) is essential to maintaining the efficacy of glyphosate for the cotton industry. The importance of non-glyphosate tactics in-crop and in fallow, and controlling any survivors is paramount to the long term sustainability of our cotton farming system.

Phenology studies confirmed that susceptible windmill grass populations accumulated higher levels of shikimate than resistant phenotypes. This work suggests that resistance is likely to be target site based (not confirmed). Low levels of paraquat applied to fleabane populations showed increased growth rates for resistant populations compared to susceptible types (hormesis). One population of fleabane has tested R to paraquat and this is being communicated through future WEEDsmart and Spotlight articles. Dose response experiments on barnyard grass showed that even when exposing plants to high rates of glyphosate they were able to survive by reducing tiller numbers, shortened growth habit and a reduction in seeds per spikelet.

The pupae busting experiment at ACRI has been updated to include a range of integrated weed management tactics to differentiate previous trial treatments. Early indications are of a weed species shift between the control (W3) treatments and the introduction of pre-emergent herbicides.

Eric was appointed as the Weed Management Technical Lead with CottonInfo in February 2017. Eric has also assumed the role as the co-ordinator of the Herbicide Technical Panel. The Technical Lead has responsibility for the Weed component of the Annual Operating Plan for CottonInfo Regional Extension Officers’s. A series of weed management case studies was completed in the Summer of 2018 and published on the WeedSmart web site and in industry publications. Eric has participated in the filming of three videos on Herbicide resistance management and integrated weed management.

Industry engagement at workshops, conferences and field days were a key component of the project. A pre-emergent demonstration trial at Whitton NSW highlighted the effectiveness of adding a pre-emergent herbicide especially in the presence of high populations of grass weeds.

The Situation paper “Weeds, Herbicides and Traits in Australian Cotton” is in final draft form and awaiting feedback from reviewers.

This travel scholarship provided funded for the researcher to present the major findings from the researchers PhD to the European Conference on Sustainability, Energy & the Environment 2015. Studies conducted between 2012 and 2015 researched rural communities and their struggles to effectively participate in environmental decision-making. A collection of case studies from the New England region that present empirical evidence of how community members and industry interact through the legal requirements of NRM planning and resource development was documented.

These in-depth case studies contribute important insights into the way that legal and policy frameworks promote and/or limit the opportunity for innovation in NRM decision-making.

Evidence from the Australian rural context is useful for other for other jurisdictions that also struggle with reducing government investment and the rising use of market instruments. Research findings offer a strong methodology for analysis of existing legal requirements for community engagement and suggests a number of possible reforms, as well as future research directions, that are of interest to the wider natural resource and socio-legal communities.