THE Australian cotton industry has recognised its outstanding achievers at a special dinner on the Gold Coast last night attended by more than 1000 cotton growers and industry representatives as part of the 2018 Australian Cotton Conference.

Monsanto Australia/New Zealand managing director, Tony May, Monsanto cotton grower of the year, Brett Corish, Mundine, Goondiwindi, Federal Minister for Agriculture, David Littleproud, and Cotton Australia chair, Hamish McIntyre and the 2018 Australian Cotton Industry Awards.

The awards program recognises excellence and achievement in Australia’s cotton industry throughout the supply chain, from growers and ginners to product suppliers, consultants, agronomists and researchers.

Cotton Australia CEO Adam Kay said the one thing all the recipients had in common was they were constantly testing the boundaries of what could be achieved in their respective fields.

“Whether it’s making improvements to sustainability and water efficiency on farm, delivering crucial new research to farmers, making outstanding contributions to industry or leading the next generation of cotton growers – they’re all making significant advancements,” he said.

The 2018 Australian Cotton Industry Awards recipients are:

• Monsanto Grower of the Year: Brett Corish, Corish Management Pty Ltd, ‘Mundine’, Goondiwindi, Qld
• AgriRisk High Achiever of the Year: Bernie Bierhoff, Farm Manager at Avondale Ag, Rowena, NSW
• ADAMA Chris Lehmann Trust Young Cotton Achiever of the Year: Bill Back, Auscott Ltd, Narrabri, NSW
• Cotton Seed Distributors Researcher of the Year: Dr Joseph Foley, Dr Malcolm Gillies and Dr Alison McCarthy, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Qld
• IPF Service to Industry Award: David Montgomery, Moree, NSW

AgriRisk High Achiever of the Year: Bernie Bierhoff, Farm Manager at Avondale Ag, Rowena, NSW

ADAMA Chris Lehmann Trust Young Cotton Achiever of the Year: Bill Back, Auscott Ltd, Narrabri, NSW

IPF Service to Industry Award: David Montgomery, Moree, NSW

CSD Researcher of the Year: Dr Joseph Foley, Dr Alison McCarthy and Dr Malcolm Gillies, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Qld.

Source: Cotton Australia

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