Research the key to successful cotton at Dunedoo

A first try at cotton last season on the Talbragar Park property at Dunedoo in central western New South Wales came after years of research and preparation.

James Frampton said when they purchased the property seven years ago their Quirindi agronomist flagged that it could grow cotton.

“We put in a weather station about three years ago and researched if we had enough growing hours to physically grow the crop in this new environment, Mr Frampton said.

He said the switch to cotton was made, in part, because of the good prices on offer, but also to bring another crop into the rotation.

“We've grown a lot of sorghum and grass weeds were a real issue. We were running into problems with herbicide resistance with the grasses so we had to make a real change and cotton was the obvious choice.”

Three applications of Roundup Ready® with PLANTSHIELD® were applied in-crop and did an excellent job of controlling a range of weeds including liverseed and barnyard grass.

Cotton was planted under a pivot alongside a ryegrass pivot that fed fat lambs over the summer.

Mr Frampton said, “There's been no issue fitting cotton into the very diverse operation on our farm.”

He said preparation was king along with following their agronomist’s advice closely throughout the season.