Macquarie and Southern Valleys Dates added of the Grower’s Voice and Carbon Chat Tour
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Cotton Matters
International cotton market specialist Joe Nicosia has joined the speaker line-up for the 2025 Cotton Collective, bringing a global trade perspective to the event in Toowoomba from 5–7 August.
Joe is Executive Vice President and Trading Operations Officer of Louis Dreyfus Company LLC and Head of the company’s global Cotton Platform. Based in the US, he is widely respected for his insights into market trends, trade flows and tariff impacts.
Latest News
Dates have now been added for the Macquarie and Southern Valleys legs of the Grower’s Voice and Carbon Chat Tour, giving growers and industry members the chance to have their say on key topics shaping the industry’s future.
Emerald cotton grower Aaron Kiely will demonstrate drone spraying in action as part of Practical Tech on the Farm at Day 3 of Cotton Collective in Toowoomba. Aaron, who is also the current QFF President, will share how drones are helping improve accuracy and target specific areas of the farm more effectively—particularly where soil types vary or neighbouring crops make aerial spraying more difficult.
A recent visit to Northern Australia included grower meetings, myBMP visits and community engagement at the Kununurra and Katherine shows. Highlights included delivering myBMP signage to Norwood Agriculture’s Manbijim property, visiting the new cotton classing facility at OrdCo, and checking out NT Broadacre’s brand new cotton stripper – a first for the region.
Cotton Australia General Manager had an opportunity to join Darling Downs growers at Cecil Plains this week to meet with Murray–Darling Basin Authority CEO Andrew McConville in the lead-up to the Authority’s release of the Basin Plan Evaluation and the Sustainable Rivers Audit.
Luke Kenniff is the founder of Harvest Agents and Advisory. At the Cotton Collective 2025, Luke will join a panel discussion on Growing a Successful Family Farm Business. Drawing on years of experience he’ll delve into the 10 key fundamentals that set the most successful farming businesses apart. Here's a sneak peek.
St George grower Craig Saunders shares how working with the Department of Primary Industries and developing a Farm Business Resilience Plan enabled him to implement bankless irrigation on farm. The rollout of this new system has increased water efficiency by more than 20%, boosted yields, reduced labour and played a pivotal role in securing the sustainable future of the farm.
Cotton Australia met with Queensland Minister Andrew Powell in Brisbane this week to discuss the role of the myBMP program and opportunities for agricultural development in North Queensland as part of the state’s Prosper 2050 plan.
This year’s National Farm Safety Week campaign, Second Chances – Who Knows How Many You’ll Get?, shines a light on the near misses that happen every day on Australian farms. One of the farmer stories shared in the Safer Farms 2025 report is that of NSW cotton grower Rob and his near miss.
Cotton Australia and the Queensland Farmers’ Federation (QFF) have welcomed the Queensland Government’s decision to extend the 15 per cent rural irrigation price discount for another two years, aligning with the Queensland Competition Authority’s recommendation and benefiting primary producers across all 35 irrigation schemes in the state.
News in brief
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The Regional Tech Hub has launched a new Connect Grants program, offering up to $3000 for grassroots projects that help rural, regional and remote communities better understand and access phone and internet services. The grants aim to provide support to help people navigate their connectivity options, make informed choices, and share tools to improve digital access. |
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Karin Stark and Rocky Elder are transforming their family’s Narromine farm. Faced with $300,000 in annual water pumping costs for cotton, she installed a solar-diesel hybrid pump—cutting emissions by 500 tonnes and saving $180,000 on diesel in the first year, though challenges remained due to the scale of the operation and lack of battery storage. |
Grower’s Voice and Carbon Chat Tour
The Grower’s Voice and Carbon Chat Tour will include short updates from industry leaders followed by open discussions where growers can provide feedback and help guide future decisions. Hear directly from the speakers about why these topics matter to growers and industry.
