The CIE undertook the modelling analysis of the implications of changes in barriers for US production and imports offibre specific yarns, fabrics and apparel, US consumer expenditure on textiles and clothing, and Australian wool production and income.

Australian cotton production is in the process of adopting new trarisgenic

(INGARD) technology for managing heliothis and other caterpillars. INGARD

technology has no effect on sucking insects such as green mirids, and under the low

insecticide use patterns envisaged using INGARD cotton, the status of sucking pests

in general will increase. In the past, most insecticides applied to control heliothis,

inadvertently controlled sucking pests. As these are removed from operations,

sucking pests will survive in the crop.

Conventional cotton producers also have an awareness of the need to adopt a more

selective approach to early season pest management. Both these approaches

highlight the need to develop sound management practices for sucking pests in

general, and green mirids in particular, as current insecticide treatments against

these pests are invariably disruptive to beneficial fauna. Some of the new, more

selective insecticides for green mirids (e. g. fipronil, imiacloprid) will be more

expensive than organophosphates and pyrethroids, further highlighting the need for

careful consideration about when and how to control green mirids.

Since the early 1960s, global agricultural output has increased at rates and to levels that are unprecedented in human history Much of the productivity increase is attributed to the breeding of high-yielding crop varieties, intensive use of inorganic fertilisers and pesticides, expansion of irrigation and capital-intensive farm management. However, over the last few decades the euphoria surrounding this 'Green Revolution' has subsided, due to a growing community awareness of the long-term environmental consequences of these practices. Since then, agricultural research has expanded its scope to include sustainable and resource-efficient cropping systems and farm management practices.

A major issue facing the cotton industry in Australia is the potential for surface and groundwater contamination from the inefficient application of nitrogenous fertilisers. This dissertation appraises the merits of applying site-specific nitrogen management to irrigated cotton in Australia, as this system has been hypothesised as being economically and environmentally more sustainable than the traditional 'blanket' approach to the application of crop production inputs. Site-specific crop management (SSCM) utilises new technologies such as Global Positioning System (GPS), yield monitors, orbital-satellites and variable-rate crop applicators to identify within-field crop and soil variability as well as their causes. The rational behind SSCM is 'by identifying within-field variability in crop and soil attributes and their origin', it then becomes possible to optimise crop production inputs such as pesticides and fertilisers on a point- by-point basis. Implicitly, this lowers the potential for their over- and under-application.

The 2nd Australian Cotton Research Conference was held in Toowoomba at University of Southern Queensland, from 8-10 September 2015. CCA’s participant attended over 24 research presentations/sessions as outlined in the conference report Knowledge and information was gained on an extensive range of topics, delivered by many researchers that the agronomist/crop consultancy network has not previously been exposed to. The report prepared by the CCA delegate has been distributed to members and the CCA Board to share insights and relevant information as well as guide the CCA Seminar Organising Team in selecting new and relevant speakers and presentations for the CCA Cropping Solutions Seminar program for 2016.

Through the CCA Expression of Interest process to select its representatives to attend the Conference, awareness of cotton research programs was increased. 44 CCA members downloaded the event program and another 11 people went to the Research Conference website.

The Conference Report prepared by Matt Holding was distributed to 220 CCA Members and other key stakeholders via the CCA Consultants Catchup e-newsletter. Matt’s Conference report is tracking as the most clicked item in at edition of the e-newsletter which highlights the value that consultants place on the opinions and perspectives of their peers and how it is important to encourage members to share information with each other.

The integrated responses of Australian cotton varieties to warmer temperatures, elevated atmospheric [CO2], and altered VPD were assessed in this thesis. Cotton responds strongly to changes in VPD, and hence the VPD environment should be characterised in future climate change studies. Elevated [CO2] impacts cotton growth, physiology and water use, although the magnitude is largely dependent on air temperature and water availability. With elevated [CO2], there are benefits of increased leaf and plant level WUE; however, glasshouse experiments indicate that warmer temperatures may negate the positive impact of increased WUEP with elevated [CO2]. Glasshouse experiments indicate that warmer growing temperatures may increase plant water use and reduce tolerance of water deficits, potentially leading to increased demand for water in Australian cotton production systems; however, this is yet to be determined for plants grown in the field. Therefore, modern cultivars with smaller, more compact growth habits and higher photosynthetic capacity may have an advantage over older cultivars in terms of water use, but there is currently no evidence to suggest that older cultivars are more responsive to elevated [CO2] and warmer temperatures than modern cultivars. These studies also have explored the utility of CETA chambers to assess the integrated effect of projected climate change for cotton grown in the field. Despite limitations of these chambers in terms of meaningful comparisons between chamber and non-chamber treatments, CETA chambers proved a successful method of elevating atmospheric [CO2] and applying conditions of a projected climate to field-grown cotton.

Overall reasons for travel to the USA include: Participate in a visit to the Valent Company to investigate growth regulators for future cotton research; visit with Cotton Inc. to maintain and enhance cotton research collaborations; meet with Gaylon Morgan (Texas cotton specialist) to discuss opportunities for collaborative research; and undertake collaborative research (data analysis) with USDA crop stress laboratory colleagues in Lubbock. Collaborative funding is being used to cover expenses associated with the visit of three Australian Scientistsvisit to Lubbock and North Carolina. Valent are covering costs to Chicago to visit with researchers and their research farm.

This specific travel funding request is to assist with a small trip to College Station Texas to visit with researchers at Texas A&M University. This support is not covered by the USDA support previously outlined above. This investment will enablen Dr Bange to meet with Gaylon Morgan (Texas cotton specialist). Dr Bange is also very keen to collaborate more. Stronger collaborations will be developed by meeting with new researchers in cotton at Texas A&M to understand their current research foci. This is especially important since Dr Tom Cothren passed away last year. Dr cothren was our main research collaborator in physiology in Texas. Dr Cothren was previously one of Nicola Cottee’s PhD Supervisor and has hosted a number of Australian researchers at College Station undertaking research.

Overall outcomes to be achieved:1. Identify new research collaboration opportunities with Cotton Inc. in conjunction with CRDC.

2. Identify growth regulators needed for future cotton research in Australia.

3. Continue analysis of research data with USDA colleagues in the area of environmental stress on fibre quality.

Specific outcome relating to this project request is:

1. Identify new research collaboration opportunities with Texas A&M cotton research efforts.

Health and safety are key issues for all agricultural businesses. In managing risks to health and safety, there are well acknowledged systems and processes that can enhance a business’s capacity to not only meet legislative requirements, but also to enhance productivity. This is also important given the recent national harmonisation of the Work Health and Safety (WHS) legislation. The cotton industry has been a leader in relation to the adoption of health and safety processes in Australian agriculture. Notwithstanding this position as an industry leader, further work is required to strengthen on-farm systems and processes for health and safety.

This project aimed to build on existing gains by refining health and safety resource materials that are already available and widely accepted by cotton growers. Since the development of the Managing Cotton Farm Safety program and related resources in 2000, these materials have been incorporated into the myBMP program. However, since 2000 there have been considerable developments in cotton farming technologies, resulting in changed practices that have an impact on health and safety. In light of these changes, these resource materials required updating to ensure they meet current best practice.

The incorporation of the updated resources into the myBMP program ensures growers are able to utilise the best available information to support their health and safety systems and practices. Continued improvements in health and safety performance by the cotton industry will have a positive impact on restricting increments in workers compensation claims and also maximizing productivity.

The first exposure the cotton industry had to linking industry developed training programs to the vocational education sector occurred between 2002‐2005, with the funding of an extension project called the IPM Training Coordinator (project AC 4.2.04). The experience was extremely positive and well received by industry. Subsequently, the Cotton Training Coordinator project (5.1.01) was established. It was a strategic position within the Cotton Catchment Communities CRC extension team. The project had three foci. Firstly, to assist in the development and implementation of industry funded training across all research areas. Secondly, to identify training opportunities within cotton that had potential alignment to the vocational education system. Finally, the third was to build networks and relationships within the vocational educational and training sector. Achieving these objectives would advance the development of a training culture and increase the influence of the cotton industry within the national training agenda.

Establishing and resourcing a Cotton Training Coordinator for the industry provided a contact point for the vocational education and training sector to engage with the cotton industry. A good working relationship with various vocational organisations such as Agrifood Industry Skills Council, Department of Education Employment and Work Relations and the Queensland’s Department of Education, Training and the Arts (DETA) was created generating various invitations to joint numerous project steering and advisory committees. This strategic involvement has ensured the cotton industry skills needs are tabled for consideration at the federal and state training agenda. Active participation in the development of the 2007 and 2008 Queensland Rural Skills plan is one example of this beneficial interaction. This plan has been prepared by the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries to help advise DETA in Queensland on the required agricultural skill needs .

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The project has proven the viability of linking field extension activities with units of competencies from the Australian Qualification Training Framework. The Cotton and Grains Irrigation Workshop series is a good example of how this practical link can occur. The workshops are short three hour in‐field events that have been developed to assist the adoption of industry research in water management. The development of the workshop contents addressed the key research / extension messages in addition to the requirements of selected water and environmental units of competency from the Rural Production training package. The vocational alignment provides greater rigour to the final product and provides a clear pathway for producers to obtain a formal qualification in the future if they wish to do so by using this training experience. Potentially, a more effective use of their time.

This project’s development and industry endorsement by Australian Cotton Industry Council (ACIC‐ peak industry body) for a new industry award known as the Certified BMP Farm Manager (aka Diploma of Agriculture – specialising in cotton production) is another significant milestone. The training coordinator was able to demonstrate how a unique skill set developed by an individual via the implementing and achieving BMP accreditation for their farm, can be assessed and recognised by the vocational sector as achieving a Diploma of Agriculture ‐ Specialising in Cotton Production. The process of achieving a certified BMP Farm Manager award is not an automatic granting upon a farm achieving accreditation. Rather the applicant undertakes an assessment via the recognition of prior learning pathway to demonstrate their new skill sets. This assessment is substantial and rigourous with an independent registered training organisation (RTO) conducting the process. Successful applicants receive both the Diploma from the RTO and an award from industry. This new industry award provides the eligible individual with a marketable skill both within and outside the irrigated farming system. A legacy this project has been generated for years to come.

One aspect of the desire to improve the quality of the Australian cotton crop is to introduce new fibre quality instrumentation to supplement the current Mircronaire measurement. In previous CRDC funded projects, CSIRO has developed the Cottonscan instrumentation to directly measure the average fibre fineness or linear density of a cotton sample. Recently BSC Electronics have been licensed to commercialise the Cottonscan technology by intergrating both the Cottonscan and SiroMat technologies into an updated version of their commercailly available Cottonscope instrument, i.e Cottonscope Mark 2.

This one year small project was designed to enable CSIRO to provide, as required, technical and technical-marketing support to BSC Electronics during the technology transfer phase and early commercialisation of the Cottonscan/Cottonscope technology.

The project has been succcessful. Trials comparing Cottonscope test results with reference cross-section test data show good, clear relationships. Importantly the project has successfully resolved an important technical issue with the precision of the Cottonscope data which had potential, if not resolved, to significantly impact negatively on the future of the technology.

Strategically a number of scientific papers, technical reports and trade presentations have been prepared and presented as technical marketing support for the technology.

Finally, Cottonscope instruments are now located and operating at CSIRO in Belmont and Narrabri; the USDA in New Orleans, USA; Texas Tech University in Lubbock TX, USA; and Dai Chung Textiles Ltd., Guangdong, China.

The updated National Water Use in Agriculture RDE Strategy 2015 and the successful “Smarter Irrigation for Profit” Rural R&D For Profit project. CRDC committed to continued involved in the implementation of this important strategy for the agricultural sector.

Water scarcity is the major limiting factor to Australia’s agricultural productivity. Droughts, water reforms such

as the Murray Darling Basin Plan, competing water uses from mining and urban growth, and Australia’s highly

variable climate patterns are placing growing pressure on water use in agriculture.

Food security and production is now a key part of the national policy agenda and there is renewed interest in

agricultural expansion (e.g. Northern Australia) and transformation of existing rainfed systems with irrigation

(e.g. Tasmania).

There are complex interactions between water, energy costs, labour needs, nutrient use, crop agronomy, soils,

salinity and the water balance that need to be better understood.

Infrastructure, technology and engineering solutions alone will not provide the outcomes required. New

knowledge, farmer led learning sites, adaptation and adoption of current knowledge; and improvement in

the skills and capabilities of water suppliers, farmers, advisors and students are crucial to achieving long-term

continuing improvement.

Australia achieves world-leading farm water productivity whilst enhancing environmental

and social sustainability through all stakeholders working together to maximise benefits from

research, development and extension.

Aim

The aim of this Water Use in Agriculture RD&E strategy is to facilitate a RD&E model that will result in:

• more effective delivery of RD&E outcomes for agricultural industries (irrigated and rainfed) seeking to

maximise water productivity and adapt to decreasing availability of water

• better utilisation of available RD&E funds, facilities and capabilities relevant to water use in agriculture,

especially through enhanced collaboration between RD&E providers

• increased capability of water managers and users to help deliver transformations in the way that water is

used in agriculture

• effective networks of RD&E provider groups which can retain and build capability and deliver leading-edge

RD&E relevant to industry and community needs

• an effective organising framework for RD&E in water use in agriculture that provides greater national and

regional coordination of investment and service delivery, enhanced cross-commodity coordination, and

improved linkages to other water-using sectors.