Wee Waa based businesses are highly dependent (82%) on agriculture and irrigation water availability. Cotton accounts for over half of their business income (51%). * Business turnover has increased significantly (77%) with increased irrigation water supplies during 2012, but employment levels in small business have not. One third of businesses in the main street have changed ownership since the worst of the drought in 2008. * Staff recruitment, especially skilled labour, is one of the biggest challenges facing small businesses as employment levels slowly increase with better water availability. * Drought caused significant social and community impacts due to the reduction in population * There is a high degree of social and economic interdependence of Wee Waa businesses, surrounding farms and community services. They all depend on each other. * There is a currently a changing socio demographic in Wee Waa due to rising housing costs in Narrabri associated with the expanding minerals industries. Housing is now in short supply in Wee Waa, which is the complete opposite situation being experienced during the drought

Deep drainage below irrigated crops wastes a scarce resource and can potentially lead to rising water tables and salinity. The lysimeter facility at the Australian Cotton Research Institute (ACRI) was used to measure deep drainage at 2.1 m depth under a furrow irrigated cotton-wheat rotation Drainage accounted for 11% of the irrigation. Two distinct types of drainage were observed - matrix and bypass. Bypass drainage was much faster and occurred immediately after irrigation. It accounted for most of the drainage. Drainage could arrive at the watertable at 16 m depth within 15 - 30 days. Bypass drainage was inefficient at leaching accumulated salt, but removed about 6% of the applied nitrogen.

There are several important questions that have been raised about the black root rot pathogen, including: How can one detect black root rot? What makes it spread so fast? What makes it so hard to control? Would rotation with other crops, or fallow, reduce or control the disease? How about biofumigation? Could black root rot episodes be predicted? Are there any means for controlling black root rot? What is next in black root rot research? This review has been written in an attempt to answer some questions on what is known, unknown and currently investigated about cotton black root rot. It is answered from a microbiologist perspective.

Australian cotton is usually purchased to produce high quality, fine count ring spun yarn. Spinners nominate low contamination as one of the favoured properties of Australian cotton.

The study determined the chemical components of cotton and alternative host plants that influence acceptance or rejection of such plants by adults and larvae of Helicoverpa spp. Fractionalised extracts of Plant X were assessed for bioactivity towards both adult and larvae of Helicoverpa spp. in the laboratory. The results showed that Plant X have shown oviposition and feeding deterrence towards Helicoverpa spp. and high toxicity towards larvae. In addition, different modes of action of Plant X extracts have been identified. We conclude that natural chemical tools such as Plant X can be used as part of IPM to manage Helicoverpa spp. in cotton.

We measured the emission of nitrous oxide (N2O) from irrigated cotton that had been fertilised at four rates of N. Cotton that received N fertiliser applications at or below the economic optimum for lint production emitted relatively small quantities of N2O. Excessively high N fertiliser application increased N2O emissions exponentially.

A collaborative partnership of 16 industry and government organisations from around Australia who have chosen to partner in investments in research and development and its adoption to improve the productivity and sustainability of irrigation in Australia.

Future world meat and milk production has to increase to feed a population of 8-10 billion people within a few years. Feed resources to increase animal production will be limited by decreasing availability of cereal grains in the future as climate change, resource depletion and competition with food and fuel uses, limit grain availability. The only likely available feed biomass that is underutilized are crop byproducts and residues. The only feasible future approach to increase animal protein availability will be to use herbivores and ruminants in particular fed straws and improve their efficiency of utilisation of such materials. Bypass proteins will be critical as technology develops to use particularly the 3 billion tonnes of straw produced annually throughout the world. Harnessing the (cottonseed meal) CSM produced in Australia for efficient ruminant production is an urgent priority as it stimulates all production parameters and the efficiency of use of these low digestibility forages by ruminants.

Both neonicotinoid seed treatments provided ineffective control against resistant cotton aphid. Further use of these treatments against resistant populations may exacerbate resistance.

About 1,000,000 tons of textile fibre wastes are generated each year in Australia, of which about 900,000 tons goes to landfill. As about 35-40% of textile fibres are cotton, the cotton pipeline has a significant environmental responsibility to fulfil.