A brief outline of the Trial Method is detailed with results presented graphically in Final Report

- Treatments applied using a hand held 2 metre wide flat boom fitted with 3 TX2 hollow cone

nozzles per row and operating at 300 kPA

- A total spray volume of 83 litres per hectare was used.

- Leaves assessed were mostly around the 5th main stem leaf. At later counts, in the 2 treatments containing DROPP leaves collected were 7-8 MsL.

- At the first assessment leaves were counted for sub-adults on a random halfofeach leaf. At

all subsequent assessments 2 x I dollar microscope fields (10X) were used. 10 randomly selected leaves per plot were used for leaf turn adult counts and for sub-adult microscope counts.

- Data has been analysed by 2 way ANOVAR. Means have been separated with the LSD

technique and means in columns accompanied by the same letter are not significantlv different at 95% level of P.

CRDC document 'Triple Bottom Line Highlights' indicates the following successes pertaining to insect management, especially the adoption of IPM and AWM:

- Reduction in endosulfan use in past 4 years

- Reduction in cotton-related complaints to the NSW Environmental protection Agency in past 4

years'

- Reduction in overall insecticide use across the industry in the past 4 years

Cotton is one of many agricultural industries heavily reliant on nitrogenous fertilizers and water storages to maintain high levels of production. Cotton-based farming systems are therefore labelled as potentially high-risk agricultural systems with respect to gases losses of nitrogen to the atmosphere, nitrate leaching which contribute to environmental pollution. The inefficient use of fertiliser applied nitrogen also reduces profitability. Concern has mounted in recent decades regarding the emission of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere through human activities. Modern agriculture has contributed to these emissions with the release of CO2 from soils during land clearing and annual tillage operations. Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions are reportedly on the increase with the elevated use of nitrogenous fertilizers and irrigation in crop production systems. Reducing the potentially large N emissions from these cropping systems has therefore been widely identified as a high priority for increasing profitability and reducing environmental pollution and is directly related to improved water and nitrogen use efficiency. Our research has confirmed that management practices currently being promoted across the cotton industry are making a positive contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from Australia soils. Experimental data has confirmed that typical seasonal on-farm emissions of the greenhouse gas, N2O, which is over 300 times more potent as CO2, from irrigated cotton systems in Australia and using split applications of nitrogen, are less than 1% of the total nitrogen applied. This figure is well below the default global average for emissions used by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) in developing greenhouse gas inventories. The total loss of gaseous nitrogen using a typical split application (excluding ammonia) is estimated to be about 16%. The following Best Management Practices have been identified for reducing nitrogen losses and associated greenhouse gas emissions: • A reduction in the time between initial fertiliser application and planting is critical. • Increasing the amount of fertiliser N applied later in the season (relative to upfront applications), will potentially increase yields and increase the overall nitrogen use efficiency for the season. • Urea should be used in preference to NH3 in water run applications. • Green manures may substitute for mineral sources of nitrogen, however more work is required to confirm its utility as an alternative N source. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions requires an estimate of your on-farm emissions. 

The Cotton Pest Management Guide 2014-15 is the industry’s premium resource for insect, mite and weed control, disease prevention, biosecurity and spray application information. The Guide builds on the wealth of knowledge from research the cotton industry has undertaken since the publication first began in the 1980s and is an important tool for growers, agronomists and consultants alike. Importantly, when it comes to protecting the crop, growers are not alone - insects, weeds and diseases do not respect farm boundaries, so it’s important that the industry works together to manage pests. The Cotton Pest Management Guide is published by the industry’s joint CottonInfo team and is updated each year to incorporate consistent improvements in industry best practice. Importantly, the 2014-15 edition contains the Australian cotton industry's first Herbicide Resistance Management Strategy.

The Objective: To compare the deposition and drift profiles of the Spectrum electrostatic system at 10 L/ ha with Micronair AU 5000 units at 30 LAia fitted to a fixed wing aircraft using fluorometric techniques.Results obtained in this experiment indicate that the electrostatics system does warrant further investigation, particularly considering that in this experiment the electrostatic system was able to deliver equivalent levels of deposition, with lower CV's and similar or less drift at application rates of 10 L/ha when compared with the micronair au5000 at 30 L/ha.

The ability of the electrostatic system to demonstrate equivalent deposition at 10 L/ha in this trial indicates that in using such a system there may be potential cost savings to growers through reduced costs of application, increased productivity and improved timeliness of application. The ability of the system to deliver equivalent deposition with similar or lower CV's and levels of drift should be investigated further.

The 2019 Australian Cotton Production Manual is a critical reference tool for cotton growers: a one-stop-shop of on-farm cotton production information.

Western Flower Thrips (WFT - Frankliniella occidentalis) was first recorded in Australia in the mid 1990’s. In the late 2001 they were found in cotton crops in the St George region (also on grapes), and in early 2002, also in the Namoi, Darling Downs (Dr Melina Miles) and in Emerald (Dave Kelly). WFT are found in cotton in the USA. In California, they are a pest but rarely cause concern and so are regarded more as a beneficial as they eat mite eggs. In the southeastern USA where the cotton season is shorter, they are regarded primarily as a pest. Across the USA WFT in cotton is generally quite susceptible to insecticides. The populations found in Australian cotton, however, have come from horticultural crops where there has been intense insecticide selection and hence they are highly resistant to many insecticides. Dr Grant Herron has a major project to evaluate the insecticide resistance of this pest in horticultural crops and glasshouses. Ironically, WFT is also a predator of mite eggs, as are the local thrips species is important as WFT is visually very similar in appearance to the two other local pest thrips species Thrips tabaci and Frankliniella schultzei, so resistance may also make them a pesticide resistant predator.

Given the potential for WFT to become a pest in cotton we approached CRDC for funding to bring Dr Laurence Mound to Narrabri to provide training on the identification of this species. Identification is important as WFT is visually very similar in appearance to the two other local pest thrips species T. tabaci and F. schultzei as well as a number of other species that sporadically occur in cotton. Dr Mound is internationally recognized for his work with thrips taxonomy, biology and ecology.

A project was funded by the Cotton Research and Development Corporation and conducted by the National Centre for Engineering in Agriculture to support the industry in the continuing successful uptake of Centre Pivots and Lateral Moves (CP&LMs) across the Australian cotton industry.

In particular, the cotton industry required assistance in developing their understanding of the way irrigation water from CP&LMs moves through the soil profile in some of Australia's most difficult and challenging soil types. These soils with their naturally low infiltration rates, and in some cases an additional propensity for surface crust and seal development, present sprinkler package designers with particular challenges not encountered elsewhere, especially in terms of uniformity, application efficiency and droplet impact energy levels. The high system capacity, large machine size and extreme weather conditions encountered in combination in the Australian cotton industry exacerbate these issues and require particular design considerations for these sprinkler packages.

To assist the cotton irrigation community understand where CP&LM irrigation water has moved to in the soil profile, over 300 images of soil moisture have been developed from a set of 25 capacitance sensors sited under seven different machines, on different soil types, sprinkler types and growing conditions. A set of video images of the different sprinkler types and their interaction with crop and soil under typical field operating conditions have been produced to assist growers in their understanding of the sprinkler options available.

In addition, a simple software package was developed to assist new CP&LM irrigation managers visualise alternate irrigation strategies, and their influence on the resultant soil moisture levels across the irrigated field.

A series of guidelines have been produced for sprinkler package design and soil moisture probe placement on CP&LMs. The sprinkler guidelines will assist the CP&LM irrigation community to understand the importance of sprinkler design and methods to reduce droplet impact energy levels to below that of natural rainfall to reduce surface crusting and sealing. The probe placement guidelines will aid growers and agronomists to work through the important factors in deciding the type and placement of soil moisture monitoring equipment in CP&LM irrigated fields.

To obtain further information on this work or related matters please contact the Director, National Centre for Engineering in Agriculture, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba on ph 07 46 311 871 or email on schmidte@usq.edu.au .

The Soil-Water Laboratory has been set up with a $45,000 grant from the Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC) and funding from the University’s own Sesqui major equipment grant program.

Some of the latest instruments for determining the hydraulic properties of soil have been made available in the laboratory to Professor Alex McBratney and his research group in the Faculty of Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources.

While the Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources has traditionally focused on production, the new equipment fits hand in glove with the new emphasis on natural resources management, and is expected to yield a host of useful data, applicable to a growing number of collaborative projects.

Bill Gordon Consulting, with assistance from Graham Betts (ASK GB) have collected information on the current level of skill and some details on equipment setups from 110 ground rig operators in cotton from areas Emerald through to Hillston about the current level of skill and knowledge.

The main objectives of the project team included:

To promote greater awareness of the importance of calibration, appropriate equipment setups and spray controller usage for improved application and to minimise the incidence of spray drift (through extension activities, and one-of ‘novel’ events such as the ‘calibration competition’).

To produce, and release through various formats, a series of publications (at least five) identifying key spray activities and issues during the season, working towards the development of a ‘spray planner’ for the cotton season. Outcomes included: SPRAYpak Calculator, articles on Shielded Spraying, Band Application and the‘Shields ain’t Shields” booklet, which were developed for distribution at a number of field and information days.

Additionally, the project team produced & distributed 1000 units of each of two stickers detailing suitable conditions for spraying (a stop-go chart based on SprayPak, and a Delta T chart) for use in spraying rigs.

The project team also produced 1000 units of each of two ‘user friendly tip cards’ The first outlines a pre-spray checklist, the second details tips for improving the use of automatic rate controller and appropriate settings. Further details are incuded in the Final Report.