Jason Morton, P&J Harris & Sons, Brewarrina, with Andrew Webber, Carrathool, Troy Smith of Real Skills Ag Training, south-east Qld, and Neil Chessor of Field Maintenance Services, Griffith.
THE COTTON industry has descended on the Gold Coast for the biennial Australian Cotton Conference for three days of learning, networking and fun.
The event has attracted more than 2500 delegates from across Australia and beyond for the three-day event which kicked off today.
Under the theme Cultivating Excellence, the program includes 160 speakers and panellists and 26 moderators during 29 individual sessions.
In addition, the largest ever cotton industry trade display in Australia will feature more than 120 exhibitors.
The program covers topics as varied as soil health, cover cropping, renewables, carbon farming, climate forecasting, water surveillance, the performance of new cotton varieties, mental health and artificial intelligence applications for cotton.
Delegates will also gain insights into the sustainability credentials of Australian cotton, as well as a worldwide supply and demand overview and how that impacts on Australian cotton and on the global fibre trade.
With the conference coinciding with the Summer Olympics in Paris, there will be a session on Going for Gold, focussing on future farming tech along with an Olympic Lounge so that delegates can catch a piece of Olympic action.
The conference’s closing event is the Cotton Industry Awards dinner where the recipients of Bayer Cotton Grower of the Year and AgriRisk High Achiever of the Year will be announced.
The Cotton Research and Development Corporation Chris Lehmann Young Cotton Achiever of the Year Award, the Cotton Seed Distributors Researcher of the Year Award, and the Incitec Pivot Fertiliser Services to Industry Award will also be announced.
John Deere Australia’s production systems manager Ben Kelly (right) and manager production systems specialist Max Cusack discuss the CP770 with McVeigh Partnership’s crop production manager Alexander Stephens, Dalby. The picker can be ordered now for delivery in early 2025, and features the manufacturer’s units which provide yield-per-row data.
Baby Liana Rogan with parents Matthew, Syngenta Toowoomba field biologist, and Tara, and Nufarm Brisbane business development manager Reannan Schultz.
Incitec Pivot Limited’s Jan Edwards presents to a packed room in the Dirt on Fert session at the 2024 Australian Cotton Conference.
Broughton and Natalie Boydell, JB Boydell & Co, Moree, with Royce Bell from John Deere’s Australian head office in Crestmead, Qld, and Prof. Alex McBratney, University of Sydney.
Darling Downs consultant Matthew Holding, Meteora, Elle Storrier, Ron Potter Farms, Hillston, and Matt Roseby, Delta Ag,
Delegates from Warren include Jeremy and Audrey Weston, Weston Farms, with Cotton Research and Development Corporation board member Sally Morgan (centre).
Among CSD Wee Waa delegates are research manager Hannah Hartnett and laboratory supervisor Olivia Garden-Thorn with CottonInfo regional extension officer Emma Chorley.
Delegates from Moree include Australian Food & Fibre water manager Bernie George and Crown Analytical Services technical officer Susan Long.
Weng Fu Australia fertiliser regional sales managers Lee Jones, Toowoomba, and David Markham, Young, with Orange delegates Michele Schiller from farm-management software company Conservis, and Hugh Gardiner, general manager of ag inputs company EmergeAg.
Syngenta Tamworth-based technical lead Ant Mitchell with Tristram Hertslet, Reardon Operations, Talwood, and Alan Bessell of White Cotton, St George.
Westpac delegates John Bourke, Brisbane, Paul Smith and Roley Wilson, Toowoomba, and Ian Skene, Melbourne, with the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation communications and marketing manager Carolyn Martin.
WeedSmart northern extension agronomist Paul McIntosh with NSW DPIRD weeds research agronomist Eric Koetz, Wagga Wagga.
Undergraduates Judith Palmer, University of Sydney, Wee Waa’s Emma Holmes, University of New England, Emma Kevric, University of Sydney, and Springhurst, Victoria’s James White, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, who is also an Agrifutures Horizon scholar.
B&W Rural Goondiwindi agronomist Harry Page with Imtrade Cropscience’s Jack Tate, Brisbane.
Louis Dreyfus Company delegates Peter Wilson, Wyreema, and South and South-east Asia CEO Rubeus Marques, Singapore.
Delegates from southern NSW included Leeton grower Pat Napoli, Yenda Producers, and Nigel Barlow, Sales Australia Enterprises, Griffith.
TJO Investments, Pilliga, delegates Brian Patterson and Tim O’Brien with Hutcheon and Pearce Dubbo precision ag specialist James Niemeyer.
Trangie growers and brothers George and Tom Quigley, with Paraway Pastoral’s Jack Brennan, Old Bundemar, and NBS Agriculture farm manager Ben Sandell, Corinella.
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