Two “Spray Drift Workshops” were held at Norwin Hall and St Ruth Hall on the 5th and 6th of January respectively. The agenda of the workshops was designed to give participants a working knowledge of nozzles and application parameters that reduce the risk of spray drift but maintain efficacy of the products used.

Outcomes from the workshop included;

All respondents thought that the workshops were worthwhile and they gained

extra useful and relevant information. Approximately 30% of respondents changed their nozzles to produce coarse droplet spray quality. The other 70% of respondents were already running with nozzles that produce a coarse spray quality.

The respondents noted that the 4 main areas where they gained extra knowledge

was on droplet behaviour, weather conditions, nozzle selection and planning.

21 participants expressed interest in undertaking the commercial applicators

course.

Branding has become one of the latest buzzwords, and there are a number of brand developers out there who purport to offer businesses mystical solutions to building their brand. There's a lot of confusion and misinformation about the benefits of building a brand - why you build one, why you shouldn't, what a brand actually is and does. Today I'll explain to you how Cato Purnell Partners defines a brand, and the benefits of branding your product.

Over the last decade, grape growers in SE South Australia have had their water entitlements

converted to volumetric allocations, experienced a reduction in annual rainfall and seen a

rise in the salinity of groundwater which is used for irrigation. Irrigators have moved away

from flood and sprinkler irrigation, which was still widely used in the last decade of the 20

century, to precision irrigation applied with drippers. Annual application rates have decreased from between 4 and 6 ML/ha down to 2 or less ML/ha. In middle of the first

decade in the 21st century, salinity damage was emerging in some vineyards. In response the Limestone Coast Wine Industry Council convened a Root Zone Salinity Workshop in May 2006 at Padthaway. The current project addresses concerns raised following this workshop viz. ,

. characterising soil and vine salt status in vineyards affected by salinity

. developing techniques to more sustainably manage these vineyards

. extending knowledge about salinity management tools by supporting a salinity

monitoring network in the Limestone Coast Gl

. quantifying effects of long term precision irrigation with saline water on soil structure

Three salt affected vineyards were assessed at the close of the irrigation season in 2009 The high concentrations of sodium and/or chloride in leaves indicated that salinity was causing yield loss. Soils under the vine were saline and sodic with average values for salinity and ESP of 7.7 dS/in and 16%, respectively. However, soils in the mid-row were non-saline and non-sodic with average values for salinity and ESP of 0.6 dS/in and 4 16. Re- sampling at one of these sites after winter (365 min rain) showed that rainfall had Ieached soil salts and reduced sodicity with average under-vine values for salinity and ESP declining over winter from 9.3 to 2.5 dS/in and from 21 to 12%, respectively. In soils located under the vines in between drippers, the infiltration rate of rainwater was high, indicating that the high

ESP was not adversely affecting conductivity of these soils to low salinity water. However

indirect evidence points to reduced infiltration into the surface soil located nearer the

drippers. The soils under the vine were mounded and a reduction in infiltration would direct rain toward the mid-row. The flushing of soil salts by winter rain was not sufficient to bring

the salinity of soils to values below the threshold for salinity damage to vines. In part, this may reflect the persistence of a high ESP in deeper soils which may have limited drainage.

Under saline supplementary precision irrigation, the salts are added with the irrigation and the water to flush salt through the soil is provided by rain. The salinity of a soil is indicative of the balance between these two processes. Insufficient rain leads to salt build up and sufficient prevents it. Soils under the vines were saline, whereas those in the mid-row were non-saline. Rain reaching in mid-row soils was in excess of that required to prevent salinisation. Re-direction of this excess water to the soils under vine would reduce soil

salinity in this region provided that subsoil drainage rates were high enough to support the extra flushing. We hypothesised that changes in floor management which direct rain from the mid-row toward the soil under vine and which address high ESP in the soils at depth

under the vine, may assist in reducing salinity damage.

At the end of the irrigation season in the 2010, a trial was installed in a salt affected Chardonnay vineyard where soils from the mid-row had been mounded under the vine to a depth of about 0.2 in. The treatments consisted of a control(designated A), the removal of soil mounded under the vine (B), the application of calcium nitrate to 1 m wide strip of soil under the drip line (C), the covering of the mid-row with plastic to reduce losses from evapotranspiration (D), relocating the mounded soil under vine to the inid row and covering it

with plastic (E), and E combined with the application of calcium nitrate to 1 m wide strip of soil under the drip line (F). The trial ran for two seasons, 2011 and 2012 (year of harvest). Effects on soil salinity were assessed by measuring the salinity of the soil under the vine at the opening and close of the irrigation seasons. Measures of sodium and chloride concentration in leaves and fruit were used to asses the effect of treatments on vine salinity. The significances of different floor management regimes were tested with ANOVA and a set of contrasts.

Relative to salinity levels observed in vines and soils in the 2009 and 2010 seasons, those observed in the control, treatment A, during the trial were low, excepting soil salinity at the close of the 2012 season which had returned to pretrial levels. Low soil salinity in the control was not associated with variation in the depth of winter rain, but rather a variation in the depth of within season rain; when this was higher, irrigation depths were lower and hence so too was the annual saltload added to the vineyard.

Redirection of rain from the mid-row, treatments E and F, reduced the salinity of soils under the vine at the ends of the 2010 and 2011 seasons and at the openings of the 2011 and 2012 seasons; removal of the under vine mound, treatment B, reduced soil salinity at the end of the 2011 ahd the opening of the 2012 seasons. With in season rainfall in the 2012 season was low, less than a third of that in 2011 and just half of that in 2010. None of the treatments had an effect on the salinity of soil under the vine at the close of the 2012 season. At this time, the salinities of soils located at a quarter and half way across the row were also measured. In the control, treatment A, measurements of salinity and sodicity showed that the values had returned to the higher levels present at the end of the 2010 season

Redirection of rainfall(E and F) had increased the salinity of soils located at a quarter and half way across the row; addition of calcium nitrate (C and F) had increased the salinity of soils located half way across the row. The sodicity of deeper soil under the vine was measured at the close of the 2012 season. Redirection of rainfall(E and F) and addition of calcium nitrate (C and F) reduced soil sodicity by about 50%.

Measurements of salt concentration in plant organs represent an integration of salt pressure throughout organ development. In both seasons, redirection of rainfall(E and F) lowered leaf petiole sodium concentrations and leaf patiole and lainina chloride concentrations, and removing the under vine mound (B) lowered petiole chloride concentrations. In one of two seasons, covering the inid-row with plastic (D) reduced sodium and chloride concentrations, and removing the under vine mound (B) reduced petiole sodium and lainina chloride concentrations

In 2011. and 2012 seasons, redirecting rainfall (E and F) lowered sodium and chloride concentrations in the juice. In 2012, the concentrations of both ions were also reduced by removing the under vine mound.

Treatments did not affect yield. They caused smallreductions in juice 'Brix and increases in juice titratable acidity

Salinity monitoring sites were installed in a grower operated network at 14 sites across the Limestone Coast region before the 2010 season. The project staff provided each participant in the network with training and on-going support in sampling techniques. Sites were located in drip irrigated vineyards planted to Cabernet Sauvignon on own roots growing on mainly clay loam soils. Soil solution samplers were installed at each site at 0.3 and 0.6 in depth. Participants collected data on irrigation water and soil solution salinity, and rainfall depth and irrigation volumes. This data was cross related to measures of soil and vine salinity undertaken by project staff. Participants received biennial collations of all data and this

provided them the opportunity to benchmark their salinity measures against those of other network members. Soil solution salinity rose during the irrigation season and fell with winter rains. This readily obtainable measure of soil salinity did not provide a reliable basis upon which to predict either the standard measure of soil salinity (EC) or standard measures of vine salt status (sodium and chloride concentrations in petiole and juice). However, all measures of EC, below 3.5 dS/m had corresponding EC, values below the threshold of 2.1 dS/m for vine salinity damage and all measures of Econ above 7 dS/m had corresponding EC, measures above the threshold. In between these two values, there was a grey area where more conventional sampling techniques need to be applied to establish vineyards salinity status.

SARDl assessed the effect of a decade of saline irrigation on soil physical and chemical properties by comparing a set of current measurements of these properties with those made a decade ago at the same site by CSIRO Plant lndustry. Soils were sodic and saline in 1997 and again when measured in 2009; the salinity of soil in the top 0.6 in was 5.0 dS/m and the sodicity (ESP) was 13%. After, above average winter rain in 2011 the salinity of soils in top 0.6 in was 2.1 and the sodicity (ESP) was 7%. The sodic soils had been subjectto annual cycles of saline high SAR irrigation in summer and non-saline low SAR rain in winter over the previous decade. The return to non-saline and non-sodic state in 2011 indicates that any change in soil structure wrought by a decade of these cycles was not yet a significant impediment to Ieaching of salts and displacement of sodium from the clay eXchange sites. Comparison between two set of soil moisture release characteristics determined at either end of the decade showed they were different, however this may have been due to slight differences in the soil composition (5% gravel content in the earlier sample), rather than the effects of a decade of saline irrigation

Communication activities included: three journal papers, five conference papers, this final report, six steering committee meetings, three factsheets, seven workshops and seminars, and nine salinity monitoring network summary sheet mail outs.

The second Agriculture and Climate Change 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.

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 we were conducting in the facility. It was clear that our approach was novel and unique in this area, and my presentations generated 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 scientists expressed interest in continuing discussions and looking for collaborations in this area.

The Australian Rural Leadership Foundation was established in 1992 based on the premise that developing leaders in rural, regional and remote Australia could influence change across organisations, industries as a whole, and rural communities in general. The ARLF exists to develop leaders for rural, regional and remote Australia. We support the development of leaders for the greater good – no matter where they live or work. The Foundation takes an ethical approach, challenges assumptions and seeks to respectfully influence change for the greater good. Our flagship program is the Australian Rural Leadership Program (ARLP). This program has been running since our inception and we will commence Course 23 in 2016. We currently have over 650 ARLP graduates from throughout Australia. Other educational programs are shorter in length and are either targeted to a specific leadership level or client-focused (organized by a client for their sector). All graduates become life-long members of the Foundation’s network which now numbers over 1,000 leaders. As part of our existing effort we regularly assess and evaluate all our programs. However given the Foundation’s educational philosophy that emphasises people-development through values-based leadership learning, the impacts are difficult to quantify in a simplified manner. So while our existing evaluation measures can provide insight into the impact of our programs on individuals and from an ARLF viewpoint, they do not provide an expression of impact that is easy to communicate to third party investors and other interested parties. The broad objective of the longitudinal evaluation is to identify the influence of the ARLP and other Foundation programs upon the leadership of program graduates and, consequently, the impact of their leadership within regional, remote and rural Australia (and beyond) over time. The ARLF has a unique position relative to other leadership development courses with its focus on RRR Australia. The ARLF has over 25 years developed a flagship program, the ARLP that is premised upon two approaches to leadership development – that it is experientially based and is premised upon reflective practice. Eight core principles develop from this philosophy, each associated with a set of leadership dispositions or capabilities. The aim of each of the ARLF programs seeks to develop/enhance in individuals these dispositions and capabilities.

A pilot project was initiated to employ four Aboriginal trainees to work on cotton farms in the Narrabri district. This pilot was funded through the Australian Government’s Caring for Our Country Initiative supported by the Cotton Catchment Communities CRC and the Cotton Research and Development Corporation. For young people in the local Aboriginal community the traineeships offered the chance to gain skills and experience and a nationally recognised qualification in agriculture and in natural resource management, both industries with strong job demand.

Three of the trainees completed a Certificate II in Rural Production and upon completion of the program one trainee obtained full time employment within the cotton industry. For young people in the local Aboriginal community the traineeships offer the chance to gain skills and experience and a nationally recognised qualification in agriculture and in natural resource management, both industries with strong job demand.

Energy use and efficiency has become increasing important globally due to the increasing cost and scarcity of energy sources (particularly crude oil) and the associated production of greenhouse gasses causing global warming. The rising costs of energy and associated energy-intensive products such as fertilizers and chemicals are now one of the major challenges facing modern mechanised agriculture. This problem is particularly acute in Australian cotton farming systems which are often expansive and require high inputs of all of these commodities.

Continuously increasing energy prices and the needs for significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions make the improvement of farming energy efficiency essential. Exploration of new alternative and renewable energy sources is also vital.

The broad aim of this project was 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 specific objectives of this work include:

• 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.

One of the major mental health problems facing rural Australia today remains men’s lack of desire to seek help for depression and other mental health issues. The pressure of farm life impacts heavily on not only those who work in the industry but their families. Most often, women are the link in the chain between health professionals, and their partners /male relatives. The more resilient women are, and the better informed they are about the industry their partners work in, the better equipped they will be to act as those links and ensure family members take good care of themselves and maintain good mental health. To be proactive, women themselves must feel strong, knowledgeable and supported. The Cotton Picking Women’s Picnic aims to cultivate this in the women who attend through inspirational speakers, cotton industry education opportunities, health & well-being stalls, and a general opportunity for friendship and resilience building.

The women business partners in the cotton business can also offer a lot to the industry. Many are skilled and highly qualified in a range of professional fields, however, often they are not directly involved in the day-to-day operation. This perspective, combined with some capacity building around the cotton industry could lead to innovative solutions, marketing and product development ideas.

Organisers of the 2014 Cotton Picking Women’s Picnic aimed to:

i) Develop a public relations campaign around the event and advertise more widely across the region, thereby targeting a wider audience to attract to the event; and disseminating widely the message that the cotton industry is taking a proactive role in achieving better mental health in rural Australian communities;

ii) attract double the number of women to the event than the 2013 picnic, to include a wider population of cotton growing women, including from the Namoi Valley;

iii) provide an opportunity for attendees to further their knowledge of the cotton industry by hosting a short course version of the Field to Fabric course;

iv) Provide an inspirational guest speaker who can deliver the message of good mental health in rural communities;

v) Inspire and reinvigorate interest in the cotton industry through a fashion parade featuring successful Australian designers who utilise cotton.

Human Capacity Assessment and Benchmarking project funded by the Cotton Research and Development Corporation through the Human Capacity program has resulted in the development and delivery of the Cotton Industry Skills Benchmarking system. This is a web based system that allows participants to carry out a self assessment in a wide range of skills relevant to cotton production which are categorised into 21 Skill Areas. These skills are all based in Units of Competence from the Agriculture, Horticulture and Conservation Training Package (Agrifood Skills Australia, 2011) as a tool to carry out an audit of skills and knowledge and give a broad picture of human capacity in the industry and therefore align to what is considered to be current industry best practice. Please see agskills.com.au The Cotton Industry Skills Benchmarking system is a ‘self serve’ online package which allows cotton farmers to create an account for their business and identify and segregate different farm skills within the enterprise if needed. They can subsequently identify and segregate all of the staff employed on different farms. Each enterprise owner or manager participating in Cotton Industry Skills Benchmarking system registers their business and all of their staff members to commence the process. Once workers have completed the assessment process the manager can view a report for all of their staff presented in a graph format. A farm manager will only have access to data about staff working on that farm. This information can by used by management for a range of purposes including:

• Recruitment
• Development of training and personal development plans
• Allocation of duties on the farm

The system is also structured to provide industry-wide information on skills. This information collected at the individual and enterprise level can be aggregated and analysed on an industry-wide basis to develop a picture of the skills profile of the industry. This will identify any areas of skills gaps which may be addressed with new training programs. All data collected by the system used to generate industry-wide information will be made anonymous so the privacy of individuals and businesses are completely protected.

Drs Robert Mensah and Lewis Wilson were invited by on the Organising Committee of the

International Congress of Entomology Conference to organise a symposium on the

'Biological control of emerging pests on transgenic cotton crops' which is of significant

importance to our situation in Australia. The symposium attracted world renowned

entomologists working on pests on transgenic cotton crops.

The International Congress of Entomology (ICE) is held every four years in different

countries in the world. It serves as a forum where those involved in all facets of entomology

can interact and learn from each other. The congress in Korea gathered 2 900 entomologists

from all over the world working on various aspects of entomology from taxonomy through to

pest management and covering all aspects of crop production and medical entomology.

Scientists, particularly renowned entomologists working in other crops and also in cotton,

normally attend the ICE conference to present the papers in their area of specialty. Thus this

provides an opportunity for researchers to present and hear about pertinent research problems

in their areas of specialty. The conference also attracts extension officers, agro-chemical

companies, administrators, Gritomological suppliers and publishers. The conference covered

aspects of entomology such as integrated pest management, insect biological control, insect

behavior and chemical ecology, pesticides, GM crops, resistance, toxicology, conservation,

biodiversity, climate change, insect biological control, medical and veterinary entomology,

invasive species and quarantine, stored products and post harvest entomology, acarology,

insect related interactions at a multi-tropic ecosystem, genetics, genomics and evolutionary

entomology, systematic s, phylogeny and zoo geography. The conference has enhanced Dr's

Mensah and Wilson's research in Australia.

The title of the symposium jointly organized by Dr Robert Mensah and Dr Lewis Wilson at

the conference was "Biological control of Emerging pests on transgenic cotton" (Symposium

1104). Many audiences attended our symposium, showed significant interest in papers

presented and generated good discussion, especially about the contrlbution of GM crops to

enha CG biological control. Dr Mensah also presented a paper in another symposium on the

use of a natural plant extract for the management of sucking pests on cotton in Australia

(Symposium 608 on 24 August 2012). Dr Wilson also presented a paper on 'Evaluating the

IPM fit of insecticides; Sorting myth from reality' in Symposium 1010 on 21 August 2012.

I Both papers were well received and stimulated a range of questions by the audience. Many

of the applied entomologists working on ERM in field crops were most interested to use

biopesticides being developed in Dr Mensah's research for field trials in their target pests and

crops. The Technical Editor for the Australian Journal of Entomology requested Dr Wilson to

prepare a review article for publication..