CRDC is committed to the sustainable development of cotton in northern Australia, underpinned by research, development, extension and the adoption of best practice. Earlier this month, the CRDC Board of Directors visited northern cotton growing valleys in far north Qld, the NT and WA to discuss this.
In far north Qld, the Directors were hosted on farm by David Statham and Nick Gillingham at St Ronans, where they met with 20 current and future cotton growers to discuss key local challenges, opportunities and research, including the CRDC-supported projects underway through the Cooperative Research Centre for Developing Northern Australia (CRCNA).
In the NT, the Board took part in the NT Farmers' Food Futures roadshow at Katherine, visited the construction of the Katherine cotton gin, and met the research team at the NT Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade. They also visited Bruce and David Connolly on-farm at Tipperary Station where cotton has been grown since 2019.
In WA, Directors visited grower cooperative ORDCO at Kununurra, and met with established local growers, including cotton-supported Nuffield Australia farming scholars Luke McKay and Fritz Bolten, and cotton researchers Paul Grundy and Sharna Holman to talk about the CRDC-supported research underway in the Ord.
Pictured below: CRDC Directors on-farm at Tipperary Station, NT. LtoR: Tipperary farm manager Bruce Connolly, CRDC Directors Peta Slack-Smith, Gary Fitt, Les Copeland, Richard Haire (chair), Danielle Kennedy, Rosemary Richards (deputy-chair), and Tipperary general manager David Connolly.
