THE regions dry summer conditions have seen irrigated cotton crops perform admirably for Breeza’s David Tudgey.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Despite the lack of summer rainfall over the Breeza Plains, the ‘Newhaven’ cotton producer believes the 200 hectares exceeded expectations.
“In terms of getting the cotton off the weather has been fantastic,” Mr Tudgey said.
“Our irrigated cotton went alright, I think it probably went above what we were expecting it considering how dry it’s been.”
While the irrigated cotton performed well, Mr Tudgey told Fairfax Media his dry-land cotton did not fare as well.
“We planted about 500 hectares in total,” he said.
“They were split between 200 hectares of irrigated cotton and 300 hectares of dry-land cotton.
“I think its fair to say that our dry-land didn’t perform that well and I’d say that is probably the case for most dry-land crops.”
The Breeza farmer said the region’s recent dry spell played a major factor in the success of this year’s cotton crops. “We encountered plenty of challenges throughout the season,” he said.
“But it’s about working with the land and the conditions and trying to find a soloution.
“I’d say this year in terms of water we used what we had budgeted for but usually we would at least get one decent rain during the summer, so I guess we may have used more water than in years past.”
Gunnedah agronomist Jim Hunt agreed that plenty of the region’s irrigated cotton crops had exceeded expectations.
“The yields of most crops around the region have been surprisingly good,” Mr Hunt said.
“It’s a very surprising result given how dry it is and the fact most producers would have gone close to using their full allocation of water.
“Overall I’d say yields and turnouts have been quite good.”
The HuntAg Solutions agronomist said while irrigated cotton was above average it was a forgettable year for dry-land cotton.
“Given there was very little rain around to help out, it was a below-average year for cotton,” he said.
“However for those who did manage to have a good dry-land year the current price should probably compensate them.”
Mr Tudgey said he will now turn his focus to the winter cropping season.
“We will now look to our wheat and chickpea crops,” he said.
“Hopefully we can get a bit more rain to help us along as the soil profile at the minute is quite low.”