In this episode we sit down for an update on René’s recent overseas visit to present to the National Cotton Council of America, his learnings on what RD&E priorities American and Australian cotton growers share, as well as his message to industry ahead of the pick and post-harvest processes for the 25/26 season.…

Welcome to Season 4 of CottonInfo’s ‘Crop to Top’ podcast! We’re back with our first podcast for 2025 and it’s a cracker of a conversation. As late season disease sampling gets underway, we extend a conversation had a recent Area Wide Management meeting with Dr Karen Kirby from NSW DPI and Warwick Stiller from CSIRO about verticillium and fusarium, plus the considerations growers should make now for next season.…

The WAND system first went live in the Summer of 2022 - now two years on we catch up with Goanna Ag’s CEO Jay Jalota for an update on uptake of the system that’s using CRDC & GRDC backed science to help growers detect and predict hazardous inversions to help reduce spray drift. Listen to this 10-minute overview of why WAND is a smart choice this summer. More information: Empowering growers with real-time weather insights for safe spray application — Goanna Ag Wand - Log in 24 forecast feature now live on WAND! | CRDC…

CottonInfo is very pleased to announce its new Technical Lead for Disease - our very own Sharna Holman. Sharna has led industry in the Tech Lead role for Biosecurity and the addition of the Disease portfolio makes perfect sense. Sharna joins the podcast to talk about the role and what she's looking forward to working on with growers in the disease space, including assisting growers with a new change to the disease survey model. The podcast also features CRDC Innovation Broker and ACDC Program Lead Elsie Hudson who provides an update on the Australian Cotton Disease Collaboration, or the ACDC. The ACDC was officially launched at the Australian Cotton Conference in early August with the announcement of strategic partners, University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ) and Qld DPI (previously QDAF), along with CRDC. For more information: Disease management | CottonInfo Updated diagnostics form Dec 2024_.pdf Australian Cotton Disease Collaboration | CRDC Australian Cotton Disease Collaboration | UniSQ…

In this episode we're talking IPM – or Integrated Pest Management – and taking a walk down memory lane when things were not as bright for the industry as they are currently. This discussion will form part on an ongoing, broader discussion about reduction in insecticide use, R&D taking a broader focus on IPM and alternate pest control measures, and our industry’s sustainability goals. Megan is joined by two respected and experienced cotton consultants who have had a front row seat to the history of cotton production pre the Bollgard/Ingard era and all that’s evolved since ... including the more widespread adoption of IPM systems. Brian Baird services the Lower Namoi and is the Managing Director or BR and AM Baird Pty Ltd, and Hugo Weissen is the Director of AgVista Pty Ltd based in Narrabri, covering areas in the Namoi, Gwydir and Walgett. Brian and Hugo have plenty of firsthand experience of previous poor practice when old chemistry was relied upon. That’s long behind us now though and the Australian cotton industry is setting the standard in best practice. In this conversation, we reflect on the bad old days and take a look at the lessons we can take from them and continue to better the industry in the modern era of cotton production.…

We take a deep dive into one of the Australian cotton industry’s high priority exotic pests - Cotton Leaf Curl Virus - with Qld DPI Plant Pathologist, Murray Sharman, and hear from CQ consultant Damien Erbacher who has seen the impact of the virus overseas firsthand.

With Version 4 of the Biosecurity Plan for the Australian Cotton Industry recently released, the CottonInfo team is on a mission to get a better understanding of pests that have been identified as Cotton Industry High Priority Pests; the ones we know are already doing damage in other parts of the world and have the potential to impact our crop should it arrive on our doorstep. The first pest we're looking at is Lygus (plant bugs) that's causing ongoing issues to cotton crops across the United States of America. Listen to our in-depth chat with IPM specialist, Professor Peter Ellsworth from the University of Arizona for an overview of Lygus, the impact it's having on cotton growers in America, how they're attempting to manage it - and how Australia's cotton industry can best prepare.…

CottonInfo REO for Southern NSW Kieran O’Keeffe & CottonInfo Tech Lead for Climate & Energy Jon Welsh offer a wrap-up of their recent climate workshops in Coleambally & Griffith.

With planting and/or planting prep underway in all cotton growing valleys, the industry may be wondering what returns could be expected from the 2024-25 cotton crop. Ag Econ has run a few gross margin (GM) projections of their own, considering the current and forecast prices of three key drivers of the cotton gross margin: cotton lint, diesel and fertiliser prices. In this podcast we chat to Ag Econ's Janine Powell for an overview of those projections, as well as a refresher on how best to utilise the Gross Margin Budgets on the CottonInfo website ( which can be accessed here ).…

As season 24/25 gets underway, now is the time to make sure every new hire in your farming business is given the best support to succeed and thrive in the cotton industry. Hear from Dr Nicole McDonald on the new induction guide focused on non-technical skills, backed by industry research and on-farm experiences. You can access The Australian Cotton Enterprise Non-Technical Guide for New Entrants via the CottonInfo website.…

CRDC Senior Innovation Broker Susan Maas drops by the 'Crop to Top' podcast studio to talk about how things are changing when it comes to the challenges of biosecurity and how research can & is helping the cotton industry to understand, & prepare for, the potential risks. Susan also talks about which of the high priority pests identified in the review of the cotton industry's Biosecurity Plan keep her up at night.…

In this special pod recording live from the 2024 Australian Cotton Conference hear from CottonInfo’s Technical Lead for Energy & Climate Jon Welsh about his recent analysis of costings & economics associated with irrigation conversion projects at two very different cotton farming operations in NSW, as well as the farm managers who oversaw the changes - Ben Kirkby and Darren Eather. CottonInfo Resources: "Norwood" Grower Case Study : find out more about the farm team at "Norwood" near Moree, that undertook siphon to bay and rollover bankless irrigation conversion. "Bellevue" Grower Case Study : find out more about the farm team at "Bellevue" near Narrabri, that undertook siphon to small-pipe-through-the-bank irrigation conversion.…

In this episode of the Crop to Top 'Biosecurity Excellence Series' we find out more about the National Biosecurity Hub - a centralised platform for biosecurity training to support biosecurity preparedness, response and recovery. Kirsten Phillips from Biosecurity Queensland was instrumental in the development of the Hub and joins us to explain exactly how it came about and how members of the Australian Cotton industry can make the most of the platform. Find out more here National Biosecurity Training Hub (biotraininghub.com.au)…

In the last podcast in the Biosecurity Excellence Series, we were joined by Doug McCollum from Cotton Australia and Stuart Kearns from Plant Health Australia to talk about the soon to be released revised cotton industry biosecurity plan and discussed how high priority pests are reviewed and allocated. In this episode, we’re going one step further and doing a deep dive into one of the high priority pests identified – boll weevil. Someone who has seen boll weevil in full flight and experienced firsthand what its impact on production on various levels looks like is CottonInfo IPM Technical Lead Paul Grundy who spent some time last year in Brazil where the pest is a huge problem – to put it lightly.…

There’s a new industry biosecurity plan for the cotton industry due for release shortly - but what exactly IS a biosecurity plan, and how is the pest status of particular pests actually determined? Find out the answers to these questions and more with two of Australia’s most knowledgeable professionals when it comes to cotton biosecurity - Cotton Australia's Doug McCollum and Plant Health Australia's Stuart Kearns.…