Cotton Tarps for Vanuatu, MyBMP Support, National Cotton Industry Awards, Young Farming Champion, Employment of Casual Staff, CottonInfo websit, Nitrogen trial, Boss Strip Till Machine Field day, Young Ag. Professionals Conference

Two workshops were organised by The Cotton Info Team to address a number of grower requests for human resource information and managing staff. Vanguard Consulting's Mark Gardner , with a depth of knowledge and experience working with agricultural businesses on strategic planning, business management and people management was engaged. Mark has been engaged as a regular trainer for the Dairy Australia HR Diploma and has a wide range of experience across agricultural industries. Meetings were held at Maules Creek and Burren Junction.

The aim of the workshops were threefold:

1.Increase capacity of growers to attract and retain staff.

2.Understanding of the legal requirements of managing staff.

3.Progress through the myBMP HR module.

CRDC undertakes an annual survey of cotton growers to gather information about farming practices and growers’ views on research, development and extension. This information helps to inform CRDC about the benefits of the research it invests in. Change in industry practice can be quantified by comparing information across the surveys conducted over the past 20 years.

Previous surveys have included a number of core annual questions and then a number of focus areas to investigate specific aspects of the farming system.

In 2017 CRDC undertook a review of the aims, purpose and design for the survey. The 2017 Grower Survey was developed by a working group including CRDC, Cotton Australia, researchers and others.

The overall survey program is guided by CRDC’s Monitoring and Evaluation Framework and supplemented by research questions relevant to the seasonal conditions. This survey gathered midterm assessment of growers’ views of CRDC’s performance against the Strategic R&D Plan 2013-18.

For the first time in 2017, CRDC has published the results of this survey in two formats: a PDF of the survey report; and an interactive online digital dashboard, available at: www.crdc.com.au/publications/growersurvey

A survey was conducted to ascertain the presence of feral cotton plants in off-farm drainage areas and along roadsides associated with cotton production and transport throughout Queensland and parts of northern NSW. The establishment of these plants is the direct result of the movement of cotton seed from overland flow associated with irrigation runoff into common drainage lines or module road freight. Perennial plants were sub-sampled to determine disease status, transgenic heritage, and pest insect presence as well as geotagged for future reference.

The overall aim of this project is to improve the ability of refuges to counter both the threat of resistance developing via genetic mutation, and the potential threat of crop failure via inducible tolerance. By accessing and countering these threats while concurrently developing better refuge management and benchmarking techniques to improve refuge governance, the ultimate aim is to avoid the cost of losing Bt cotton efficacy.

Moths of the genus Helicoverpa are the most destructive pests in Australian cotton. They have been also some of the most difficult to manage because H. armigera (in particular) has quickly developed resistance (within 5-8 years) to nearly every insecticide used in its control (Whitehouse et al. 2007). To hinder H.armigera developing resistance to Bt cotton, a Resistance Management Plan (RMP) was put in place when Bt cotton was first used commercially in Australia in 1996. As this was over 15 years ago, the RMP has been successful. Nevertheless, in light of the development of resistance to Bt cotton by H. armigera in other parts of the world (Tay et al. 2013) it is important to remain vigilant and keep testing the tools used in the RMP.

A key tool of the RMP is the use of refuges. Refuges help maintain the potency of Bt cotton by producing unselected Helicoverpa moths that mate with any resistant moths emerging from the Bt crop, thereby diluting their genetic contribution to the next generation and slowing the development of resistance.

Refuge governance is based on models with assumptions that are difficult to test on farms. The Helicoverpa Genome Project has mapped all of Helicoverpa’s genes, making it easier to test two assumptions on the frequency of resistant (R) and susceptible (S) genes, and on the degree to which moths mix both within valleys and between Bt cotton and its refuges. If these assumptions are incorrect, then refuges may be underperforming.

Although refuges are designed to counter Bt resistance developing from genetic mutations, a recent CRDC project (03UA002) showed that under laboratory conditions, the exposure of Helicoverpa to low, non-lethal doses of Bt toxins over 12 generations can cause H.armigera to develop inducible tolerance to Bt toxins, to the extent that they are not killed by levels of Bt toxin fatal to susceptible H.armigera. As stressed Bt cotton plants may produce less toxin, and some parts of the plant produce low levels of toxin, inducible tolerance could be another pathway by which Helicoverpa could survive on Bt cotton. An aim of this project is to test the likelihood that inducible tolerance could occur in field crops of Bt cotton, and if so, if refuges could reduce that risk.

For refuges to counter genetic resistance and inducible tolerance to Bt toxins, they must be working optimally on farms and produce as many moths as possible. To do so refuges need to attract sufficient egglays, and then support as many of the resulting Helicoverpa larvae as possible until maturity. For many growers it isn’t clear if their refuges are countering the development of resistance; how to improve the productivity of their refuges; or how to measure the effectiveness of their refuges in order to improve efficacy. Monitoring refuge productivity is a challenge, with current reporting often at odds with on farm realities. A remote method of checking refuges could be used to identify refuges facing difficulties, which could be then ground-truthed. The ultimate aim of this work is to incorporate best management practises into myBMP to improve refuge governance and also to develop better monitoring techniques to identify under-performing refuges which may need more assistance.

Barbara Grey is an irrigated cotton farmer from Mungindi, in SW Qld, and the 2011 Rural Women’s Award Winner for Qld, and National Runner-up. The report outlines the results of the Rural Women’s Award project developed and delivered by Barbara.

The Report is of relevance to those organisations who have a vested interest in the capacity building of regional, rural and remote women, and in particular with regard to improving their understanding of, and interaction with, the political system.

People in regional, rural and remote areas often feel disconnected from and disconcerted with, those in Canberra who make the decisions that affect our livelihood and quality of life. The pilot educational work-shop, ‘Women Affecting Change’ (WAC), was developed to target women of regional/rural Australia who are in a position to affect change in their community or industry. The overall aim of WAC was to strengthen and develop the capacity of these women to influence and affect change, through an increased understanding of the political system and other national processes. The project embraced participants from across Australia, from each state and territory, and from a diverse cross-section of industries and communities. For example, agriculture, health, education, sport, small business, and not-for-profit

The key objectives:

o Raise awareness of the political system

o Developing their knowledge of how to engage media, policy makers, government agencies, and

politicians

o Networking women who are developing leadership roles in rural, remote and regional Australia o Developing their capacity to articulate their objectives and understand the barriers to change The project involved development and implementation of the pilot educational workshop, delivered in Canberra during sitting week, October 2011.

Workshop results exceeded expectations. The high calibre and diverse cross-section of women participants was impressive, and the women eagerly seized the opportunity to connect, contribute, network, and share their community/industry stories. Participants indicated they hoped WAC would not be a one-off event, and expressed the need for the provision of similar workshops on a regular, on-going basis.

The WAC workshop delivered a clear message, that is, rural/regional/remote residents have much to gain from being politically astute, to being well-informed about the process, and to thereby engage constructively and proactively in the political debate. Ongoing support for the delivery of educational workshops that provide an increased understanding of the political system and associated agents, for regional, rural and remote women from across Australia, during parliament’s sitting week in Canberra is highly recommended.

The Menindee and Lower Darling Cotton Growing Association (MLD CGA) is one of a number of CGA organisation's formed throughout cotton growing areas in Australia by local growers and sponsored by Cotton Australia with the aims of;

1. To be a link between grower, community and industry.

2. To promote cotton production as a sustainable and responsible industry.

3. To be a source of information for members and the community.

CGA's do this by supporting events that are going on in their community and educating people within their district about the cotton industry, as well as promoting what the industry does, the growers and anything else on offer.

Objectives

This project has three key aspects:

1. Developing a school based traineeship for two students at Menindee central school. Traineeships run in conjunction with the Menindee Enterprise Park Education Services provides great options for students disadvantaged by isolation to access skills and training otherwise not available. It also encourages students to finish their year 11 and 12 studies and provides some full time employment.

2. Educating students studying high school level agriculture. Members of the Menindee and lower Darling CGA and Tandou LTD staff have offered their time to provide tours and awareness of cotton production. Additionally Tandou agronomists have offered to conduct training on chemical and spray application as well as advice on the school ag plot.

3. Educating and promoting the cotton industry to the general public (particularly Menindee, Broken Hill and Mildura regions) through a field day at Tandou.

The Lachlan and Murrumbidgee Cotton Growing Association (LM CGA) is one of a number of CGA organisation's formed throughout cotton growing areas in Australia by local growers and sponsored by Cotton Australia with the aims of; 1. To be a link between grower, community and industry. 2. To promote cotton production as a sustainable and responsible industry. 3. To be a source of information for members and the community. CGA's do this by supporting events that are going on in their community and educating people within their district about the cotton industry, as well as promoting what the industry does, the growers and anything else on offer.

This project aimed to increase the awareness of the significance of cotton production to the local economy of the Lachland and Murrumbidgee valley.Four bus trips were planned in this project but due to clashes only one trip followed the planned format.

Extra bus trips were planned but due to clashes they did not occur. High school students were able to participate in the Southern Cotton Expo on the 25th July with 32 Griffith High School students attending. This project paid for their transport and entry into this event. See attached photos.

Other target audiences were catered for in different ways. Researchers from NSW DPI Yanco, Wagga and CSU organised their own transport and completed a tour in early June.

Funds from this project enabled the CGA Expo to be held and provide an excellent network forum for growers, researchers and industry.

An awareness tour has been planned for early February for financial institutions from the MIA/CIA. This is in response to a request from some of the financial organisations.

To remain flexible in the format of these awareness tours is a point that future projects should take into account.

Verticillium wilt of cotton is caused by Verticillium dahliae, a soil-borne fungus that enters the roots and grows into the vascular system of the plant. Although the industry has been managing Verticillium wilt on cotton for years, a newly identified defoliating strain has been detected in Queensland and NSW.

Cotton Mealybugs have moved south from Central Queensland with confirmed sightings on the Darling Downs and in the Macintyre Valley in January & February 2017. As a new pest in these districts, with the imminent threat of their movement the Gwydir and Namoi Valleys, the CottonInfo Team acted quickly with a range of communications. Mealybug workshops were conducted in Dalby and Goondiwindi, however to reach a larger geographical area a webinar was thought to be a suitable extension tool. John James, Director High Impact Training was engaged to provide support in developing and running of the webinar.