The Sicala 340BRF fibre grown commercially over the last three seasons generally produced a fibre with variable quality. The average fibre length of 1.24 inch was shorter than required and achieved a good average strength, although slightly below the minimum of 33 cN/tex, needed to attaract a genuine premium. The average Micronaire was within the required range for the production of fine count yarns in the 50-70 Ne count range. The fibre was generally immature, which is not unusual for mechanically picked defoliated cotton and coarse with the average nep content above 200 neps/gram and varied significantly, mainly due to aggressive saw ginning and immature cotton and possibly also due to differences between seasons, location and management. Roller ginning produced fibre which was 0.07 inches longer, with better length uniformity and less nep and short fibre content.

The ELS cotton produced over the last four seasons achieved good average fibre length, length uniformity and strength. The average Micronaire was within the required range, with the fibre being generally immature, fine with the average nep content above 180 neps/gram with large variations.

The fibre properties of commercially grown Sicala 340BRF is variable and does not achieve the length and strength required to be considered a genuine premium fibre. This is attruted to seasonal, management and ginning factors and may be the reason why the adoption by growers has been poor because of lack of confidence in achieving price premiums.

A commercial spinning trial was carried out in Vietnam, with Sicala 350B, showed that it is possible to produce a fine count combed yarns for knitting or weaving, in the range of 40 -70 Ne with Australian Long Staple cotton, although the quality of the yarns produced varied considerably. This was mainly due to the fact that the fibre provided for spinning did not meet the specifications for maturity which led to high nep content and short fibre content. This has once again highlighted that the quality of the fibre needs to be within the proposed specifications in order to produce acceptable 40-70 Ne yarns, without any subsequent processing performance issues in fabric formation.

This means that the Australian cotton industry still does not really know what this fibre is really capable. Further work in this area over the following year will involve conducting another commercial trial with Long Staple Upland cotton (both saw and roller ginned) which meets all the specifications required for a genuine premium fibre. It is hoped that this work will provide the Australian industry with information on the capability of the Long Staple Upland cotton which will assist in promoting the fibre to mills and encourage growers to grow this type of cotton.