Cotton harvest gathers pace in Australia
Picking has now begun in most of Australia’s cotton growing regions, industry body Cotton Australia has confirmed.
It said there were signs emerging that flooding and farm damage late in 2022 “may not have been as devastating as first feared”, aided by drier and warmer conditions since Christmas.
The cotton season in Australia starts with planting in September and October and finishes with picking, usually in March and April.
While the impact of floods on the 2022-2023 cotton crop varied from state to state and region to region, some farmers were forced to scale back planting, particularly in the Southern Valleys and Macquarie.
Cotton Australia chief executive, Adam Kay, said that, with favourable conditions now across most of the 65-plus local government areas growing cotton this year, growers are reassessing yield and quality.
“To appreciate where we are now you first have to acknowledge where we were. Last November every inland river catchment was full or flooded from the Queensland border to Victoria and around 100 active warnings were in place.”
Cotton Australia is forecasting a crop around 5.2 million bales for 2023. This is below the record 2021-2022 crop, which was 5.5 million bales, but will still result in around 1.2 million tonnes of fibre and 1.4 million tonnes of cottonseed.
“Every bale of cotton and every tonne of seed will be sold, given the demand for the Australian grown product,” Mr Kay said.
