The purpose of this Final Report is to provide you with information regarding the participants, Ben Stephens, perspective of the development of his personal skills and understanding in relation to leadership, while undertaking the Australian Rural Leadership Program. While drafting the Final Report, the ALRP participant is encouraged to reflect on their experiences on the Program and to consider how these have influenced their understanding of leadership, of themselves, of their work and their role in their industry, and of rural Australia. Final Report for Ben Stephens is attached.

The three day Field to Fabric course was extensive and detailed, with a diverse range of

participants. It was an advantage to have people coming from all aspects of the cotton

industry as they provided a variety of knowledge and experience and contributed to well

rounded discussion sessions.

It was also a great advantage to be able to observe machinery and processes in action

once we were given the theoretical sessions. The staff made our question and observation

time worth while and we were able to spend extensive periods in the processing areas.

The course met all of my expectations and high lighted other issues in the cotton industry.

I have gained a good understanding of the processing aspects of cotton and have gained

an insight into the need for good quality fibre for this process. I have also learned about

the essential characteristics of quality fibre and the activities that can impact on these

characteristics particularly at a farm and gin level.

An excellent snapshot of the current global perspective of the cotton industry was

presented and included information on marketing, Australian markets and our

competitors.

I would recommend this course to all members of our industry for its comprehensive

coverage of the cotton industry and because it not only highlights where improvements

need to be made to ensure high quality Australian cotton and why, it also provides

suggestions on how improvements can be made.

In June-July 2007, five Year 12 students from all around Australia were given a once in a

lifetime opportunity to travel to Russia for a scientific study tour hosted by the All-Russian

Youth Aerospace Society, following their participation in the National Youth Science Forum

(NYSF) in January. The tour combined a week trekking near Kununurra in North Western

Australia and two weeks exploring Russia.

The purpose of the tour was to represent Australia, experience a country

and culture totally differento our own, and observe the science and

technology behind the space program of a major world player. There was

also a major emphasis on developing leadership, teamwork and time

management skills. Being placed into an environment outside our comfort

zone, we were all tested individually, resulting in us, ultimately,

becoming a stronger group within Australia's aspiring future scientists

and leaders.

The Russian Scientific Study_Tour 2007

We were all given the task of fundraising $5, 500 as a contribution to our

travels, and we each had to juggle our already hectic Year 12 lives in

order to do so. Despite very stressful and sometimes difficult moments for

both us and our families, we all managed to reach this target. Our success

would not have been possible were it not for the help and support of our

fantastic families, schools. sponsors, individual mentors and the Rotary

Clubs of Australia.

In 1996, a set of guidelines called the “Australian Cotton Industry Best Management Program”, or Cotton BMP for short was developed. This program is a voluntary, self regulated approach to the protection of resources, associated with cotton production and environmental management. Cotton BMP is a cornerstone model for the industry and during it’s evolution, it has lead the way for other industries in terns of assessing environmental risk. Cotton BMP accreditation is awarded to the property not the individual. This lack of recognition for the individual within the BMP accreditation process has lead to the development of this project.

This project is a strategic step towards building on this successful model for Queensland cotton producers. The project investigates how the Cotton BMP Assessment manual aligns to competencies within the Australian Training Framework. The results clearly showed alignment at various levels to 19 training competencies from the Business Management, Rural Production and Land Conservation training packages.

A skills mapping report was produced and ten units of competencies from this report were selected to form a Diploma of Agriculture. The Diploma of Agriculture has given rise to the concept of a Certified BMP Farm Manager. To the Cotton Industry, this title represents acknowledgement for an individual’s skill set developed by successfully achieving BMP accreditation for their farm.

A series of assessment sheets were then developed for the purpose of conducting ‘Recognition of Prior Learning’ (RPL) interviews on BMP accredited properties. Four pilot properties were tested with all four participants being awarded the Diploma of Agriculture within the BMP context. This was completed under stringent selection criteria which showed proof of skills and was conducted by an external Registered Training Organisation (RTO). The second stage of the project was to investigate ways to use this information to build a training framework around the Cotton BMP program. Discussions with industry have commenced and the industry endorsement of the certified BMP Farm manager is the first step being investigated.

Overall this ‘Targeted Industry Initiative’ project has developed strategic information that will assist industry in developing both a training culture and increased adoption of RPL assessments. Both aspects will benefit farm managers and owners in Queensland and the rest of the cotton industry.

Key Outcomes

1. The project has made significant steps towards the industry developing a national training framework

2. It has developed a linkage between the cotton BMP document and the national training competencies which paves the way for future training to be aligned to both the industry’s environmental stewardship guidelines and units of competencies that are formal qualifications. That is, all courses in the future that are developed from the BMP documentation now have a mapped link to national training packages.

3. Value adds to BMP by potentially rewarding the individual and offering another incentive to undertake BMP accreditation

4. Creates an opportunity for recognition of prior learning to be adopted within the industry.

Geographical factors are defining the extreme variability in climate and water supply in Australia and, in the past, this was used as a rationale for the construction of large irrigation projects to deliver water to rural, urban, and industrial users. During this ‘expansionary’ phase of Australia’s water use sector, the cost of augmenting supply was relatively low and environmental considerations were secondary to the development imperative. As a result, water resources became over-allocated for extractive uses spurred on by consistent underpricing of water, which indicated a failure to reflect the true cost of water supply. As Australia’s water economy entered a ‘mature’ phase, it was no longer possible to increase supply cheaply as the most easily accessible water resources had already been captured. This was followed by widespread environmental degradation manifested in the Murray- Darling Basin, the nation’s largest river basin which hosts much of Australia’s agricultural production. Consequently, the focus shifted towards demand management, leading to a myriad of regulation aimed at increasing the allocative efficiency of scarce water resources. Towards this end, substantial government funding was injected into the various initiatives throughout the water reform process. Despite the on-going government activities in the area of water reform, the understanding of the actual economic impact and environmental outcomes of various water policies in practice remains limited. In the absence of such understanding, the effectiveness of various government water initiatives is ambiguous and inevitably compromised. The present study addresses this knowledge gap by establishing a method for evaluating the economic and environmental outcomes of environmentally-oriented polices that affect irrigated industries in a catchment. The method is based on an integrated biophysical and economic modelling approach, which enables spatial relationships to be captured accurately allowing a more realistic analysis. Information generated from a computer based biophysical simulation model form the basis of an economic optimization model with constraints pertaining to environmental targets and water supply limits. The economic model consists of a linear programming and dynamic programming component, and involves the optimisation of resource use from a catchment manager’s perspective, seeking to achieve efficient resource use but at the same time conform to given environmental objectives. This two-stage modelling process was required to determine the optimal intra-seasonal and inter-seasonal water allocation, given various catchment environmental targets. The interdisciplinary approach enables the economic and ecological outcomes of the catchment management policies to be simulated and assessed at a spatially explicit scale, due to the link to Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in the biophysical model. The overall objective was to create a decision-making framework that could be used to determine the least-cost means of meeting environmental targets and resource constraints. The solutions to the analysis are directly applicable to the case study, the Mooki catchment in northern New South Wales (NSW), but with an adaptable framework that can be applied to other catchments. Specific objectives include an evaluation of the possibility of using alternative irrigation systems, as well as an evaluation of the benefits that can be realised by establishing water market, in the light of environmentally-oriented catchment policies for the case study. The economic cost of achieving environmental targets pertaining to environmental flow requirements and salinity reduction, in the form of end-of-valley salinity targets, was explicitly calculated through the economic model. While salinity targets have been set for NSW catchments, the practicality of such targets is in question, given the substantial reductions in water allocation to irrigation activities, which is one of the key contributors to deep-drainage. An additional objective in this study was therefore to investigate the value of having deep drainage targets. A further consideration is the effect of “external agents” in the form of government plans to buyback entitlements from irrigation districts, or the possibility of significant water rights purchases from mining industries. The implications of external water market entrants on the regional agricultural industry were examined. Some conclusions and recommendations drawn from the results of this thesis are as follows:

• Alternative irrigation systems, including pivot and drip irrigation, are beneficial to irrigators in the Mooki basin, improving their water use efficiency and productivity. Pivot irrigation systems were shown to be the optimal system for most of the catchment, while drip irrigation systems are less economically viable due to the high cost of investment. Significantly, the viability of these irrigation systems is reliant on the security of water supply. It has been demonstrated that where groundwater is used in conjunction with pivot or drip, profit is consistently higher compared to where surface water is used. This relates to the uncertainty of river flow in an ephemeral system, which result in irregular irrigation water availability and, consequently, lower crop yields. To encourage investment in water efficient technologies, it is important there are ample and secure water supplies. Considering the recent cuts in groundwater entitlements in the Mooki basin, and the prospect of future reductions in both surface and ground water rights, irrigators in the region may be reluctant to make the investment. This is especially the case where the capital requirement for water efficient technologies is substantial. It reiterates the importance of secure water rights and clear policy implications for future supplies.

• It was found that the initial area-based water licensing led to an inefficient distribution of water amongst irrigators, and that a fully functional water market would enhance basin profitability since water is shifted to higher value uses in the downstream-most region of the Mooki. This leads to an efficient outcome, as irrigation areas contract and leaves more land available for conservation purposes. The presence of a water market also augments the value of irrigation technologies, leading to a shift away from tradition furrow irrigation towards pivot irrigation systems. In this light, it would be more effective for government funding to be used in promoting water trade than subsidising the cost of irrigation technologies.

• The opportunity costs of meeting environmental flow and salinity reduction targets are also reduced where water efficient technologies and water trading are utilised. However, where these environmental targets are stringent, the economic burden will be substantial even if water trading or irrigation technologies are used. Where a significant reallocation of water for environmental flows or reduction in salinity is envisaged, the resulting opportunity costs should ideally be justified by the environmental benefits that are generated.

• A dual-instrument, simultaneously managing water use and deep drainage through separate instruments, is unnecessary. Surface water caps alone provide sufficient

Insects can respond to selection pressure by mobilising new defence mechanisms. In contrast to recessive resistance mechanisms based on rare target site mutations in receptor proteins, leading to extreme resistance to high B. thuringiensis (Bt) toxin concentrations, we observed a “hidden” inducible immune and metabolic tolerance in field derived laboratory populations of H. armigera to Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab toxins, with potential to cause ecological and economic problems in cotton production. Given that offspring from insects surviving in the field are tolerant of Bt but do not exhibit resistance to Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab due to target site mutations, it is likely that other mechanism(s) is assisting larvae to survive on certain parts of the plants or late in the season when toxin expression is low. Importantly for cotton bollworm management, we have the following three main outcomes:

1) Tolerance in H. armigera larvae is induced by gut-derived toxins (both Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab) and creates sub-populations of insects that show significant levels of tolerance without displaying mutational changes in a major resistance gene locus. Instead, the tolerant phenotype is caused by differential regulation of immune and metabolic activities (larval induction), and is transmitted to offspring by an epigenetic mechanism showing a maternal effect (embryonic induction). While the epigenetic contribution to incremental increases in tolerance is prominent under low to medium selection pressure, other resistance mechanisms that are transmitted genetically may predominate over time with incremental increase in toxin exposure.

2) Testing gene expression in tolerant and susceptible neonate larvae indicates that a range of genes are expressed significantly differently (both higher and lower expression) in tolerant insects compared to susceptible control. Although some of these differentially expressed genes are important key receptor, putative immune and catalytic genes, most of the differentially regulated genes (up to 190 fold) are unknown in function. By understanding these highly altered unknown genes, it is likely we will gain an understanding of the tolerance mechanism and able to develop management options to specially counter tolerance buildup. Further, significant differential regulation of key receptor genes opens up avenues for further research that may lead to establish monitoring tool to detect inducible tolerance and/or resistance in the field.

3) There appears to be significant developmental penalties under laboratory selection, as evidenced by lowered larval weights and increased developmental times. However, once the populations were kept at constant toxin levels, the developmental penalties slowly diminished over subsequent generations. This could indicate possible genotype selection of allelic combinations of multi-gene functions that reduce developmental penalties. This may in long term provide tolerant populations with the adaptive potential to acquire resistance mechanisms that are genetically transmitted and involve target site mutations in important resistance genes. Our findings have practical significance for adapting pest management protocols to counter inducible tolerance, particularly the importance of susceptible females in blocking this form of resistance.

Lastly, laboratory selected H. armigera (25 generations selected with Cry1Ac, 63 fold resistance) are able to complete their larval development on transgenic cotton expressing Cry1Ac and produced fertile adults (Akhurst et al., 2003). Therefore, whether incremental increases in tolerance can support selection for target site mutations in key receptors allowing insect larvae to survive on Bt-plants is another key issue that requires investigation.

Knowledge is fundamental to improving the competitiveness, responsiveness

and levels of innovation that we see in industries. This research project completed interviews with

90 growers of cotton and grains, consultants, extension workers, government researcher officers,

and irrigation equipment suppliers to determine how information and knowledge about water

management and water use efficiency is being used and managed in irrigated cotton and grains. Four key issues affecting water management were identified as having major impacts on water management. Information, knowledge and knowledge sharing. All groups believed that the industry was

responsive to change, willing to continually learn, and that growers, consultants and extension

officers were very willing to share information and knowledge. There was considerable

information that was available to growers and consultants. A major concern, however, among

growers and consultants, was the need for the information to have been tested and applied to

determine its relevance and applicability to specific regions.

There is currently a shortage of irrigation water available for cotton production in Australia due to recent climatic and legislative conditions. Some growers have responded to this water shortage by changing from traditional furrow irrigation to alternative irrigation systems such as centre pivots and lateral move irrigations (collectively known as large mobile irrigation machines – LMIMs). Improved efficiency of irrigation application, as well as labour savings, have been the main reasons for the increased adoption of LMIMs. The use of LMIMs also enables a higher level of control in water application in terms of irrigation volume, timing and placement. As a result, growers now have much greater control over soil moisture conditions which enables the implementation of improved irrigation management strategies that have the potential for improved crop water use efficiency (WUE).

Two irrigation strategies which have been demonstrated to achieve benefits in terms of crop WUE are partial rootzone drying (PRD) and deficit irrigation (DI). PRD and DI involve manipulating the placement of irrigation water and the moisture deficit maintained in the root zone, respectively. Neither PRD nor DI is able to be applied easily under furrow irrigation. However, both PRD and DI may be able to be implemented under LMIMs within the cotton industry. Deficit irrigation has been shown to be effective at improving WUE in cotton, although it is not widely used within the Australian cotton industry. Similarly, there has been little research conducted to identify whether cotton responds to partial rootzone drying and there is currently little understanding of the way in which DI and PRD strategies could be implemented commercially using LMIMs.

This research investigated the response of cotton to a range of PRD and deficit irrigation strategies under LMIMs. Assessment of the biochemical and physiological response of cotton to irrigation strategies were conducted under glasshouse conditions. Field trials conducted under a commercial centre pivot and lateral move assessed the crop response, soil moisture movement, yield and WUE associated with the implementation of a range of PRD and deficit treatments. Modelling of rainfall probability and soil moisture movement were also undertaken to quantify constraints to the successful commercial implementation of irrigation management strategies such as PRD within the Australian cotton industry.

Weather and climate news 10 August 2015

Weather and climate news 24 August 2015