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Cotton Map goes online ahead of bumper cotton season
27 Aug '10
2 min read
Rain, good international prices and still more rain has seen Cotton Australia again upgrade upwards the Australian Cotton production forecast, now predicting 2.7million bales will be grown this year.
Cotton Australia CEO Adam Kay says he is still getting late mail on grower intentions which could push the crop past the 3 million bale mark.
“It looks like 232,000 hectares of irrigated cotton will go in, while the big shift is in the number of dryland hectares being sown. Our estimates show more than 100,000 hectares of rain grown cotton will be planted, making this easily the biggest cotton harvest since we emerged from the drought.”
Mr Kay says with so much cotton being planted this year, cotton will be found in new locations and areas which haven't seen cotton for some time.
“The big concern we have is that many users of Phenoxy herbicides may not be aware that cotton has been planted nearby, which could expose sensitive cotton to the risk of Phenoxy herbicide drift. Because 2,4D chemicals can drift for more than 10km's under the wrong kind of weather conditions everyone needs to be sure they know what is being grown around the district.”
During the 2008-09 season almost 16,000 hectares of cotton was damaged by phenoxy herbicide drift, that figure fell to around 1,000 hectares last year, due to a Cotton Australia campaign targeting inappropriate spraying.
Mr Kay says the CottonMap location system is now back online, allowing cotton growers to plot all fields they intend to plant to cotton.
“Because this stuff can drift a long way, a quick glance over the fence before spraying won't do the job. The only responsible way to use herbicide this season is after checking CottonMap online,” he said.
Cotton Australia CEO Adam Kay says he is still getting late mail on grower intentions which could push the crop past the 3 million bale mark.
“It looks like 232,000 hectares of irrigated cotton will go in, while the big shift is in the number of dryland hectares being sown. Our estimates show more than 100,000 hectares of rain grown cotton will be planted, making this easily the biggest cotton harvest since we emerged from the drought.”
Mr Kay says with so much cotton being planted this year, cotton will be found in new locations and areas which haven't seen cotton for some time.
“The big concern we have is that many users of Phenoxy herbicides may not be aware that cotton has been planted nearby, which could expose sensitive cotton to the risk of Phenoxy herbicide drift. Because 2,4D chemicals can drift for more than 10km's under the wrong kind of weather conditions everyone needs to be sure they know what is being grown around the district.”
During the 2008-09 season almost 16,000 hectares of cotton was damaged by phenoxy herbicide drift, that figure fell to around 1,000 hectares last year, due to a Cotton Australia campaign targeting inappropriate spraying.
Mr Kay says the CottonMap location system is now back online, allowing cotton growers to plot all fields they intend to plant to cotton.
“Because this stuff can drift a long way, a quick glance over the fence before spraying won't do the job. The only responsible way to use herbicide this season is after checking CottonMap online,” he said.
Cotton Australia
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