Cotton Australia names grower of the year
Industry body Cotton Australia has named Quigley Farms from the Macquarie Valley in New South Wales as its cotton grower of the year for 2021.
Tony Quigley, a fourth-generation cotton producer, runs the farm with his wife, Sally, and sons, Tom, George and Richie.
Cotton Australia described Mr Quigley as a pioneer in water efficiency measures. He served as a director of an irrigation scheme in the area that campaigned successfully for government funding of more than $100 million.
This funding allowed farmers to rebuild a delivery channel that runs for more than 100 kilometres. They fitted it with a synthetic lining, new remote-control gates and metering systems. At Quigley Farms, this has resulted in an efficiency improvement of 20%.
Chemicals group Bayer, which sponsors the award, said Quigley Farms was “an outstanding example of a family cotton farm”.
