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Media Release
16/03/15
National Cotton Grower of the Year Field Day
attracts 300 growers and industry
representatives to Hillston
The National Cotton Grower of the Year Field Day attracted more than 300 cotton growers
and industry representatives from across NSW and Queensland to Hillston last week.
The Field Day was held on March 12, 2015, and hosted by Tim and Sally Watson (Sunland
Agriculture), recipients of the 2014 Monsanto Cotton Grower of the Year Award.
Cotton Australia CEO, Adam Kay, says the Watsons have been growing cotton in the
Riverina for 14 years, and have been recognised for their innovative cotton growing
techniques.
“Tim and Sally Watson continue to achieve industry-leading results – and they are not
confined by conventional thinking,” Mr Kay says.
“In the average season, the Watsons grow more than 1100 hectares of irrigated cotton.
2013/14 crop yields of 12.8 bales per hectare were recorded at Sunland Agriculture, 25%
higher than Australia’s already world-leading cotton yield averages.”
“The cotton industry has a proud history of collaboration, and the field day is a testament to
the industry’s ongoing commitment to share the latest research and innovative practices.”
“Attendees participated in two practical workshops showcasing current models of best
practice,” Mr Kay says.
Presentations were given by a range of industry experts. The event provided growers with a
great deal of knowledge back to their own farm relating to a range of topics including:
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Sprinkler irrigation systems and water use efficiencies
Precision agriculture, including the use of drones
Crop rotation systems
Agronomy
Traits and the latest technology available to assist with crop and soil management
Mr Kay thanked the organising committee for their tireless work.
The annual National Cotton Grower of the Year Field Day is an initiative of Cotton Australia
with support from the Australian cotton industry’s joint extension program – CottonInfo, and
is sponsored by Monsanto Australia, AgriRisk, Cotton Seed Distributors, Incitec Pivot
Fertilisers and Bayer CropScience.
Nominations have now opened for the 2015 Australian Cotton Industry Awards. The Awards,
recognise excellence and high achievement in Australia’s cotton industry throughout the
supply chain, from growers and ginners to product suppliers, consultants, agronomists,
researchers and extension.
Individuals can nominate others or themselves, and are encouraged to use the online
nomination form at: www.australiancottonawards.com
Entries for the Awards close on 31st March, 2015.
High resolution images available on request. Case study on Tim and Sally Watson (Sunland
Agriculture) attached.
Cotton Australia is the peak representative body for Australia’s cotton growing industry.
Cotton Australia media contacts:
Adam Kay
CEO, Cotton Australia
0437 695 222
Chris Larsen
Communications Manager, Cotton Australia
0488 189 502 or [email protected]
SUNLAND AG
HOME PROPERTY
“Lane’s Bridge”, Hillston, NSW
PTY LTD
OWNERS
Monsanto Grower of the Year
GENERAL MANAGER
Tim and Sally Watson
David Winter, Ben Turner and Lyndon Orpwood
CONSULTANT AGRONOMIST
Allan Jones
RIVERINA PIONEER
FARMING METHODS IN AN OUTDOOR FACTORY
Sunland Ag Pty Ltd, spearheaded by the innovative
thinking of Tim Watson has been growing cotton in the
Riverina region for 14 years. Located just outside Hillston,
the enterprise is highly impressive. It is not confined
by conventional thinking and as a result it is achieving
outstanding results.
The farm is fully developed with a secure water source
primarily from underground water and has fairly low risk
climatic conditions. Far from breeding complacency,
this has allowed the team to concentrate on generating
efficiencies to drive profitability. Tim views the farm
clinically, considering it an “outdoor factory”.
HIGH YIELDS AND HIGH RETURNS
Sunland Ag is a varied enterprise consisting of cotton,
watermelons, beetroot and wheat, based on a highly
secure water supply of excellent quality. The cotton has
consistently yielded very well with an 8 year average of
12.2 bales/Ha. This season’s yield was up to 12.8 bales/Ha.
This yield is even more impressive given the gross margin
calculations of the operation. Agripath benchmarking
ranks the enterprises’ Gross Margin per Ha at better than
the top 20% of farms participating. Tim’s philosophy is to
always be the least cost producer of the highest quality
fibre.
FARM FACTS...
TOTAL ENTERPRISE SIZE
730 Ha plus 400 Ha leased
AREA TO COTTON 2013/2014
700 Ha
PEOPLE REACHING THEIR POTENTIAL
Tim has gathered a highly effective team including Farm
Managers David Winter, Ben Turner and Lyndon Orpwood
and consulting Agronomist Allan Jones of ABS Agronomy.
The farm motto is to empower good people to reach their
full potential and achieve excellent results. In this vein,
there is a continuous drive to encourage every member of
the team to come up with solutions to problems. A recent
example is the use of “bubblers” over the wheels of the
centre pivots to reduce the depth of the wheel tracks. Tim
provides a fair amount of latitude to staff with only one
proviso “try not to make the same mistake twice”.
AVERAGE YIELD 2013/2014
12.8 bales/Ha
WATER ALLOCATION/S
3,300ML river
4,200 ML bore
TYPE/S OF IRRIGATION
400 Ha of drip
14 centre pivots
600 Ha flood irrigation infrastructure
www.australiancottonawards.com
The cotton rotation used by Sunland Ag consists simply of
cotton. They have been growing back to back cotton on
some fields for up to seven years and seen a continual
increase in yields. Tim admits their greatest production
challenge is getting young seedlings established, up and out
of the ground. Growing cotton in southern regions often
involves pushing the boundaries with soil temperature.
A range of irrigation types are used. Tim believes different
soil types benefit from different types of irrigation
application. Deliberate consideration is given to the wheel
tracks of the pivot irrigation systems to reduce damage,
make picking smoother and ensuring decent yields from
these spots. Tim prefers pivots as opposed to laterals
because “you always know where one end is”!
Due to the variety of crops grown on farm they have to
be particularly conscious of residual herbicides that may
impact on their other crops and of potential toxicity to bee
populations.
NO CHALLENGE TOO GREAT
In recent times, energy consumption has been identified as
a major and growing expense to the enterprise. A number
of procedures and infrastructure have been put in place to
minimise the risk of these costs blowing out. Initially Sunland
Ag converted bores to electricity. However, over the last few
years they have been faced with the ever increasing nonnegotiable access charges which are incurred with electric
pumps. In an attempt to mitigate these costs Sunland Ag
has modified usage, including physically locking bores on a
planned monthly basis and concentrating use to a specific
pump or bore, installing strategic tanks around the farm
for spray contractors and educating staff regarding the
impacts of unplanned usage of pumps. Sunland Ag has
also recently installed 2 100 KW Solar systems linked to one
of their bores to help mitigate electricity costs.
A proactive approach is taken to nutrition application.
One example is reduced rate nitrogen (N) strips in fields
of flood irrigated cotton. These “low N strips” indicate a
lack of nitrogen ahead of time, allowing prompt addition of
fertiliser across the whole field.
Tim continues to be highly innovative, open to new
challenges and has a blank refusal to accept the status
quo on any aspect of the enterprise. Having been asked
to grow beetroot 4 years ago he had to google how to
grow it. In their first year of production they matched the
Australian average yield for beetroot of 37 t/Ha. Not entirely
happy with this outcome, Tim and his team undertook
some research overseas and analysed the conventional
production methods. In their second year of production
they almost tripled their yield at 90T/Ha.
Sunland Ag is a highly impressive enterprise, capable of
bold decisions based on in-depth research and analysis.
Their persistence and careful management over the years
has ensured that they have had outstanding results and
continue to be on the cutting edge of the cotton industry.
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT
WWW.AUSTRALIANCOTTONAWARDS.COM
www.australiancottonawards.com