Dryland Cotton * Premature Senescence or Verticillium? * Groundwater aquifers in the Missisippi * Crop Competition *N trial

This report, commissioned by the Cotton Research and Development Corporation, is exploratory

research designed to shed light on possible solutions or new ideas in the alternative energy space as

applied to the Australian cotton industry.

The broad aim of this project is to develop farmer-friendly resources to assist the Australian cotton

industry evaluate alternate energy sources that can be integrated into normal farming operations to

save energy, save money and reduce cotton’s carbon footprint.

The broad aim of the project was to assist the Australian cotton industry evaluate alternate energy sources that can be integrated into cotton farming systems to save energy, costs and reduce the carbon footprint of growing cotton.

The specific objectives were to:

- Review commercially available alternative (renewable) energy and fuel options.

- Assess the feasibility of commercially available alternative (renewable) energy and fuel options.

- Examine performance / characteristics of non-commercial alternative fuel sources and mixtures.

- Reduce operating costs and emissions of non-commercial alternative fuel sources and mixtures.

- Inform the cotton industry on opportunities, costs and greenhouse gas implications of alternative (renewable) energy and fuels.

The purpose of this report is to introduce the basics of energy and renewable energy. The uses of

traditional energy and alternative energy in agriculture, and their impacts on agricultural production

and environment are evaluated. Specific applicability of alternate energy sources in cotton production

is explored. Future research and development in the alternate energy sources is also identified and

discussed.

The key findings from the work were:

- Price, availability and ease of use are the most important factors when choosing an alternative energy source; environmental concerns were important, but to a lesser degree

- Diesel, LPG injection (for electronic engines) and electricity are similar in cost when expressed per GJ of energy output at the flywheel. Of these, LPG injection has the lowest emissions, followed by diesel. Electricity has the highest emissions of any energy source. Each of these options could be viable given different values for engine efficiency, electrical tariff etc., so growers will need to evaluate them based on their own specific circumstances

- B100 biofuels (100% biofuel) have negligible contribution to global warming, however their costs are much higher than traditional alternatives. Straight biofuels are hampered by the fact that there is no fuel rebate available

- B20 blends from waste feedstock, such as tallow, are close to being economic because fuel blends up to 20% still attract the full fuel rebate. These blends may be economical at different times depending on the relative pricing of B20 and diesel. Due to differences in calorific value and viscosity, biofuels have slightly lower combustion efficiency than diesel. These fuels would need to be around 2% cheaper than diesel for price parity.

- Coal Seam Gas (CSG) had the highest level of resistance to adoption. There is no current use and only 2% of respondents plan to use CSG. It was rated as ‘Not an option’ by 57% of respondents to this question with a further 4% selecting Potential but would not use it. This is consistent with the environmental concerns over CSG.

- Solar PV is an option to offset workshop and domestic electricity and is less feasible for pumping water.

- The reliability of wind in cotton growing areas is too low, and the generation costs too high, for wind power to be viable.

- Similarly, the reliability of water makes the economics of hydroelectric energy generation less attractive.

The fuels tested for performance and emissions were: diesel, cotton seed biodiesel, tallow biodiesel, low purity ethanol, algae biodiesel and LPG in combination with diesel and biodiesel. While the industry could be ‘self-sufficient’ by using cottonseed oil, it was the most expensive energy option due to low oil extraction rates.

This travel sponsorship funded the attendance of an Australian CSIRO researcher to attend the 77th Plenary meeting of the International Cotton Advisory Committee in the Ivory Coast representing the Australian experience with managing resistance and to demonstrate best practice.

During the past few cotton seasons in the CGA region there were approximately 20 spray drift reports per season, with nearly 40 unreported events per season. It is estimated that these events impacted 15-20,000ha of crop in our region alone. The 2015/16 Crop Consultants Australia survey estimated that 45,000ha of cotton was affected by spray drift. Spray drift events not only lead to yield reduction and so forfeited income but also leads to numerous social problems such as conflict between neighbours as well as damaging the image of cotton growers and ultimately impacting our social licence to farm. The objective of this funding was to provide educational and outreach programs for cotton growers in the southern valleys region, by partnering with other industries and organisations to cohesively fund various programs for the benefit of the growers in the region.

Southern cotton growers had the opportunity to tour northern cotton growing areas in 2017 and 2018 attending the Gwydir Valley CGA field days, meeting number of industry leading farmers and visiting their properties. These tours not only exposed growers to the cotton growing systems in the north and cotton research but it also provided a tremendous opportunity to network with growers from other regions, learn about alternative irrigation systems relevant to their farming operations.

A two fold objective was to target all local industries within the southern valleys CGA, and focus on the prevention and management of off target spray drift. A meeting was held in January 2019 attended by around 60 representatives from all agriculture and spray related industries including, dryland cropping and grazing, rice, grains and horticultural production systems, apiarists, local council weeds officers, irrigation companies and government departments. A stakeholder spray drift committee was formed and since then, Stop Off-Target Spraying Riverina Valleys Inc (SOS RV) has been formed. The SOS RV who meet monthly, ran a two day training event targeting advisors and agronomists in late October and a series of farmer focussed workshops also in late October.

The second objective was to organise and coordinate a trip to the northern valleys for growers in the southern region. The aim of this trip was to create an opportunity for these less experienced growers to explore the farming operations and learn about some of the cotton growing fundamentals in the northern valleys to ultimately increase their knowledge and develop and implement some of these methods in their own farming operations. In March, 18 southern growers and industry representatives were on the bus tour which included attending the 2019 Monsanto Cotton Grower of the Year Award Winner Field Day at Mundine, Goondiwindi as well as tour of Keytah and other properties around Moree.

In this project, a novel treatment was investigated to improve whiteness, brightness, softness and dye uptake of cotton yarn and fabric. It uses an eco-friendly amino acid treatment in place of highly concentrated caustic soda used in mercerization process. The treatment can be conducted in yarn package form without needing any additional or specialised equipment. The project has demonstrated through subjective assessment and spectrophotometric measurements that samples prepared by this process has higher whiteness and reduced yellowness. The treatment if flexible and desired fabric properties can be achieved by treatment at both acidic and alkali pH thereby allowing this to be extended to blends with cotton.

The influence of the treatment on the mechanical properties show that fabric strength is increased. The dye pick is significantly improved for commonly used reactive dyes as well as direct dyes. The improvement in handle was evaluated by instrumental analysis as well as subjective measurements. The increase in softness is achieved in addition to whiteness, brightness, dye pick up and without reduction in strength which is not achieved by any other chemical processing of cotton.

This project investigated a range of factors leading to dieback and low recruitment rates of river red gums in cotton-growing regions of the northern Murray-Darling Basin. Our research echoes the sentiments of previous research, confirming that multiple complex interacting factors are driving tree dieback and recruitment processes in these landscapes and many factors are context-dependent. Tree dieback is a natural process, however, human management, including regulation of river systems, drawdown of groundwater aquifers, use of broad spectrum insecticide chemicals and introduction of competitive exotic species has exacerbated the frequency, extent and severity of dieback events, stressing trees further than they are evolved to cope with in already variable environments. Changing climatic conditions are also likely to intensify tree dieback and recruitment processes, including increasing moisture stress and insect herbivory.

A dieback identification and management guide has been produced and is available through the Cottoninfo website (www.cottoninfo.com.au/publications/tree-dieback-guide). Growers are urged to

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seek out that document for more information on how dieback can be addressed in specific situations. A range of scientific publications will be available in coming months and will be made available through CRDC.

Riparian ecosystems hold a variety of environmental, social and economic values. Unfortunately there is no silver bullet answer to immediately improve tree health and management is likely to be context-specific. However, a variety of management options are available to growers that wish to improve tree health, as outlined in the tree dieback identification and management guide available through Cottoninfo. Commitment to improving tree health on cotton farms for a variety of outcomes, including biodiversity conservation and ecosystem service provision, demonstrates the industry’s dedication to sustainability and environmental stewardship.

Australian agriculture is experiencing a labour and skills shortage, driven by an aging workforce, low attraction rates and strong competition from the resource sector. The cotton industry is challenged with attracting and retaining core staff, on-farm labour, and access to professional advisers and service providers. The problem has recently been exacerbated by expansion following years of drought, and the resources boom.

The role of the Education Officer has developed and expanded since conception to (i) provide educational opportunities that enabled a flexible path for developing skills across the industry; (ii) co-ordinate specialist short courses and training for cotton consultants, agribusinesses, cotton growers and their staff; and (iii) promote science and agriculture in schools. The CRDC project also integrated broad industry investments in education and continued to develop relationships and partnerships with external education and government agencies.

The three year project reported on herein is the continuation of that initial project directly with the CRDC, which extends the strategies developed within it that aim to attract, develop and retain skilled people in the cotton industry. The Education Officer will maintain established links with education organisations, government agencies and industry bodies to promote science and agriculture in cotton regions. It will link with other industry investments in education, development and delivery. The Education Officer is employed by CSIRO based at the Australian Cotton Research Institute, Narrabri. This facilitated continued direct connections with the industry, schools, universities and rural communities.

In Australia we have a proud tradition of extension and adoption within primary industries. Extension services play an important role in assisting Australian farmers and fishers to adopt research and development (R&D), to innovate and change, and to keep their business profitable. The Consolidating Targeted and Practical Extension for Australian Farmers and Fishers project was welcomed as the start of a much needed national conversation about the future of extension and is now complete. Funded under the Australian Government’s Rural R&D for Profit Programme, it was an ambitious project that aimed to reverse some of the drivers of fragmentation that are impacting on delivery, to evaluate the extension system, and to consolidate extension knowledge. The 18 month project also identified practical and achievable actions that will lead to improvements to our extension systems, helping it meet future demands and opportunities in primary industries. Key project deliverables and outcomes were: • A practical extension information ‘hub’ • An evaluation of the current extension environment and systems • Information and advice on strategic next steps to improve the efficiency of extension • Undertaking forums and information exchange Extension Hub A key achievement of the project was the creation of a web-based ‘hub’ to support extension professionals as they plan and deliver information to Australian farmers and fishers. The Extension Hub consolidates and organises existing knowledge, tools and resources in an accessible way so that it can be easily used to inform the design and implementation of extension by public and private providers. The site, established as the Extension Practice Community of Practice (CoP), went live November 2016. It currently contains 30 curated articles on extension relevant to target audiences. They are tagged with keywords, and linked to other sources including YouTube. Further resources are being added by the CoP leader. Currently there are 1300 users of the site. Communities of Practice on crop diseases and crop nutrition are also housed on the site. Visitors can listen to podcasts, read articles or “ask an expert” technical questions on the subject area of the Community of Practice. 

The research conference brought together 230 delegates with 135 presentations across a range of disciplines as well as 7 keynote speakers. The conference provided an excellent opportunity for CRDC R&D Managers and CottonInfo team members to review the research currently being undertaken across the entire research portfolio as well as being able to network with a number of scientists at this meeting.

In 2008 the Cotton CRC invested in an Education Officer, Trudy Staines, for 5 years to promote science and agriculture in schools. The schools program was developed to enhance and expand the science and environmental management syllabus in primary and high schools by providing relevant cotton information and opportunities for practical on-farm activities. The strategy proposed by the Cotton CRC was the promotion of science and agriculture in schools to encourage school students into careers in science and agriculture, specifically the cotton industry through collaborations with school teachers, scientists, the cotton extension teams, industry, catchment and government education agencies, to encourage primary and secondary school students to develop resources and implement science and agricultural based activities that engage students and ultimately promote the cotton industry as an employee’s career of choice. The three year project reported on herein is the continuation of that initial project directly with the CRDC.

All of the main objectives of this project were met: to (1) become the central point of contact for industry education; (2) support the continued development of existing industry education initiatives; (3) actively engaging with PISCE; (4) represent the cotton industry in numerous education initiatives; (5) support undergraduate programmes; (6) support the industry post-graduate program; and (7) work with Gordon Stone in developing a new strategy for work force development.

Notable achievements included: (1) delivering the “Enviro stories” competition which is curriculum based with education kits and information packs available online. This activity is a stepping stone in introducing science and agricultural related concepts and is moving into the digital era with books available online; (2) engaging with The Primary Industry Centre for Science Education to promote Science & Agriculture to high schools (public & private). The program consists of class visits, science investigations, industry camp, industry placement, undergrad internships, teacher personal development, and CD resource development. This activity engages students and teachers to participate in science and agriculture areas with a ‘hands on’ approach and gives them a solid back ground in what careers are available within the cotton industry. It is an integral part of the young cotton professional program having an already established and proven model; and (3) Establishing better links with Cotton Agribusinesses and matching them with suitable undergraduate students for work placement experiences. Importantly, this project provided a proactive methodology for the cotton industry to seek out high quality, skilled and passionate young people. Their suitability was judged via placements with cotton agribusiness employers and through a structured process a database of suitable employees can be developed, based on feedback from host employers.

This project made an important contribution to the industry and rural communities as it worked towards defining career pathways for potential cotton industry employees. The industry and community benefits may not be immediately apparent but will develop in the years to come. The outcome of this project is that it will make a significant contribution to the continued supply of educated, highly qualified, skilled and passionate workers to the industry and a more science and agriculturally aware community. We detailed examples of the career pathways of 5 students that have interacted directly with several initiatives in the ongoing schools project. We also tracked the impact of our programs at local high schools in the region directly through subject choices taken by year 10 students for their year 11 curriculum