Australia
August 8, 2007
Last night the cotton industry
recognised five of its best performers at an inspiring ceremony
held in the heart of cotton country.
Held as part of an industry gathering for over 300 at Narrabri’s
Crossing Theatre and hosted by bush poet Murray Hartin, the
event showcased the incredible talents and dedication of one of
Australia’s leading agricultural industries.
The 2007 Australian Cotton Industry Awards were announced by
five committed corporate sponsors - Elders, Cotton Seed
Distributors, AgriRisk Services, Twynam and Monsanto.
Chairman of the Australian Cotton Industry Awards Taskforce, Mr
Hamish Millar, said these Awards aim to improve the overall
standard of cotton production in Australia as well as helping to
recognise the industry’s high achievers.
“Even in times of drought, the cotton industry is always trying
to find ways to improve and looks to its leaders for guidance
and new innovations,” Mr Millar said.
“The winners of these awards have provided our industry with the
foundations for our future in research and technology, cotton
production and education,” Mr Millar said.
The 2007 Australian Cotton Industry Award Winners were:
2007 Cotton Industry Elders
Young Achiever of the Year
Dr Paul Grundy
Biloela, QLD
Dr Grundy has worked for
over seven years as an entomologist based in Biloela in
central Queensland. His roles at the Queensland Department
of Primary Industries and Cotton Catchment Communities
Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) have focussed on the field
application of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) tools that
has included predator releases, biopesticides, attractants
and other Novel insecticides for the management of Heliothis
and silver leaf whitefly.
In recent seasons, Dr Grundy’s efforts and expertise have
been central in the management of silver leaf whitefly
outbreak situations on the Darling Downs and St George.
2007 ACGRA Researcher of the
Year, sponsored by CSD
Dr Stephen Allen
Australian Cotton Research Institute
Dr Stephen Allen has
provided over 24 years service to the cotton industry and is
still developing innovative research programs to combat
cotton disease. He is a world-leading scientist and a key
researcher in the Australian cotton industry’s battle
against the Fusarium Wilt.
Dr Allen is well-known for his research into bacterial
blight, verticillium, black root rot, and most recently,
Fusarium Wilt.
Dr Allen’s research papers have appeared in international
journals, and he has also presented his research findings at
national and international conferences.
2007 Cotton Industry Twynam
Service to Industry Award
John Watson
Grower
“Kilmarnock”
Boggabri, NSW
John Watson began growing
cotton at Boggabri in 1979, the first cotton to be grown
south of Narrabri along the upper Namoi River. As part of
the industry’s expansion John was a member of the committee
behind the acquisition of a gin for Boggabri.
John’s farm, “Kilmarnock”, was involved in early seed
development with Cotton Seed Distributors Ltd (CSD). He has
been a member of the Australian Cotton Growers Research
Association (ACGRA) since the early 1990s, including being
Chair of the Environmental Committee and helping co-ordinate
weeds research whilst on its Weeds and Diseases Committee.
“Kilmarnock” was one of the first farms to take up the Best
Management Practices (BMP) Program, with John chairing the
Australian Cotton Industry Council’s BMP Committee for three
years. He also played an active role in the implementation
of BMP in the Boggabri area, encouraging other local growers
to get on board with the program and has been an active
member o his local Landcare group.
2007 Cotton Industry Monsanto
Grower of the Year Award
Jono and David Phelps
“Havana”, Havana Farming
Wee Waa, NSW
Havana Farming is a family
based agricultural enterprise that has been producing cotton
and grain since 1980. The principals, Thelma, David and Jono
Phelps, together with their families, live and work on the
properties that make up the business. Last year the five
properties that make up Havana Farming produced 19,700 bales
from 2,200 hectares of irrigated cotton.
Havana Farming has adopted an integrated approach to cotton
crop development. Broadly, the six components within this
approach are crop rotation; increasing nitrogen use
efficiency; adopting biotechnology; communication in
management decisions; growing for yield and quality; and
focusing on water use efficiency.
Best Management Practices (BMP) has been embraced to self
regulate environmental impacts and address legal obligations
associated with cotton production and is used to improve
record keeping and identify opportunities for business
improvement.
2007 Cotton Industry AgriRisk
Innovative Grower of the Year
Barb and Ralph Grey
“Bindaree”
Garrawilla Partnership
Mungindi, NSW
Like many cotton growers,
Barb and Ralph Grey from Mungindi were faced with the
problem of filling vacancies on farm, and won their award
for their innovative approach to this challenge.
In an effort to develop an effective and efficient team,
with low turnover, Barb and Ralph
decided to base their recruitment on personality and
attitude not skills and knowledge as they perceived it was
easier to teach a person cotton-growing skills than
undertake to change a resolute attitude.
Faced with the worsening labour shortage crisis, Barb and
Ralph decided to recruit farm labour from South Africa. So
successful was the placement of their first migrant couple,
the Grey’s subsequently recruited more South Africans and a
Zimbabwean.
Although the team of South Africans and Zimbabweans, prior
to working with the Grey’s, had never grown a cotton plant,
their agricultural and a positive ’can-do’ attitude, have
now embraced all things cotton. Over the past three years,
Barb and Ralph have managed to grow consistently higher
yielding crops than previously achieved, improving the whole
farm physically, and advancing water-use efficiency and
yields with the introduction of technological improvements.
Following the success of their employment programme, Barb
and Ralph are in the process of developing a recruitment
company focussed specifically on helping farmers and
businesses in regional NSW and QLD to resolve their skill
shortages, by recruiting South Africans and Zimbabweans who
are looking to migrate to the rural sector in Australia,
based on the principle that good people are the best asset
of any business.
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