A more recent survey by CSD (Cotton Seed Distributors Ltd.) in 2007 targeted growers that were achieving 12 bales /ha cotton yields. They found that 87% of crops that achieved at least 12 bales /ha were planted into fallow fields, the majority of which had grown a cereal since the previous cotton crop. New varieties and improvements in irrigation management are recognised as key drivers of high cotton yields in recent seasons, however yield stagnation or decline in back-to-back cotton fields has also become more apparent. Crop rotation is critical in order for irrigators to achieve the productivity improvements on offer in cotton. The impact cereal rotations have on the soil provides an insight into how crop rotations build an inherently more productive cropping system

Australian companies have approximately $500 million invested in Ginning Infrastructure in Qld and NSW. In recent years due to the prolonged drought these investments have in many if not all areas been under utilized eg. During the 2008 ginning season eleven out of thirty seven gins were closed and the remainder on greatly reduced production.

The Australian Cotton Industry has been actively practising insecticide resistance management for 25 years, with the introduction of the Insecticide Resistance Management Strategy (IRMS) in 1983. Initial focus was on Helicoverpa armigera, and managed resistance primarily to the pyrethroids and endosulfan. The IRMS has since evolved to include aphids, mites, and whiteflies with guidance provided also for mirids. There are now more than 18 chemical groups managed for these 5 cotton pests.

A simulation framework, VARIwise, is being developed to evaluate control strategies for cotton irrigation via lateral moves and centre pivots. VARIwise allows for field scale variations in input parameters and will simulate various levels of control for site-specific irrigation at different spatial scales. The simulation model is presently OZCOT. The work reported on this poster provides a preliminary demonstration of the framework for conceptual purposes only

The Australian cotton industry has faced countless threats over the years and capitalised on many opportunities. We have a strong, resilient supply chain which is constantly evolving and adapting to change. The businesses that make up our industry are some of the most professional and knowledge hungry enterprises in Australian Agriculture. I believe three key areas will determine our ultimate success; farming system development, product improvement and infrastructure investment.

During work conducted between 2003 and 2006 on the potential for genetically modified cotton to affect soil microbiota it became apparent that variety type can influence microbiology associated with the rhizosphere. To further investigate this we commenced a project to determine the influence of current commercial cotton varieties on their associated rhizosphere microbial populations and functions. Over the duration of the project we have shown that different cotton varieties can significantly influence rhizosphere microbial populations and functions, and we have made some progress into understanding how these differences are brought about. The significance of these observations, with particular reference to reduced or more efficient input systems are discussed. Further research is required before field recommendations can be made.

Change has always been present, but the cotton industry like all Australian agriculture in general is facing change at an unprecedented rate and from different causes. In this article we consider changes that the cotton industry faces associated with: 'climate change' in the meteorological sense; regulatory issues relating to reductions in water availability and carbon emissions trading; rising costs of production; and competition from other commodities. For cotton 'climate change' per se will influence production directly through rising CO2 levels, experiencing higher temperature more often, lower humidity and less water availability. To combat these changes as well as dealing with increasing costs caused by rises in energy, and future emissions trading will mean that sustainable cotton production will need to adopt practices in combination that will: increase and/or maintain high yield and quality; improve a range of production efficiencies (water, nitrogen, energy /bale etc.); seek to improve a better return for lint and seed; or consider other cropping options as alternatives. We present the impacts of these changes on cotton production systems and highlight some options. Management options include: high yielding/high quality stress tolerant varieties; optimising water use; manipulating maturity; varying planting time; optimising crop nutrition; and maintaining diligent monitoring practices for weeds, pests and diseases to enable flexible management.

Whilst considerable investment has been made in research intended to improve industry practices, the extent of practice change sometimes falls short. Less research has been conducted in understanding why change is so difficult to implement. Agriculture has a long history of research into improving production systems. More recently, attention is also being paid to value chains beyond the farm gate. Yet every production system and value chain is first and foremost a social system, comprised of people with individual and collective behaviours. In this neglected arena lies the potential for greatest gains, socially, economically and environmentally. The paper will explain why people tend to be naturally conservative and resistant to change. Based on the simple premise that we cannot manage what we do not understand, the intent,

Since the completion of the EMS Pathways project the Australian Cotton Shippers Association (ACSA) and Cotton Australia (CA) have been committed to maintaining the momentum the project created by taking on the following activities: continuing with initiatives taken during the project, actioning some of the project's findings and developing new BMP promotional initiatives. This paper gives some brief background information before detailing how ACSA and CA are going about actioning these activities

Experience in the cotton industry in Australia demonstrates significant sensitivity to climate factors in terms of yield and yield variability, quality, water availability, pest and weed issues, input costs and natural resource management. Consequently if the climate changes, there are likely to be systemic changes in cotton production systems. This paper will outline the climate changes that are already occurring in Australia, projections of future changes that may be of significance to the cotton industry and the likely impacts of these. This paper does not address the issue of how to sustainably reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the cotton industry as this topic is dealt with by another paper at this conference (Keogh 2008