The 2025/26 cotton season has begun for some growers, with the first planting starting around Emerald in the Central Highlands.
And, in an interesting twist, many have just finished picking last season’s cotton.
Emerald grower Aaron Kiely has already planted 70 hectares of an initial 95ha due to soil moisture levels and increasing temperatures after deciding to grow-on part of his cotton crop last season.
“We had to do the calculations to see if it would be viable, but we chose to harvest some and grow-on other cotton for up to 90 days and that meant we were picking last season’s crop only days before planting this season’s in another field.”
Growing cotton-on can mean additional inputs in water, fertiliser, herbicide and defoliation but Aaron is pleased he decided to go ahead, resulting in good fruit loads, strong growth and a substantially improved yield.
“I started planting last Friday (14 August) because the timing was right for us,“ he said. “The seed beds are in great condition with good moisture levels and soil health has been enhanced by the rotation of mung beans.
“In February we mulched and root cut after harvesting and that assisted with the stubble breakdown, adding to the soil condition, so we are confident, despite not having access to much water, that this crop will be worthwhile.”
Other growers are expected to begin planting cotton over the coming days as temperatures increase with higher temperatures both at night and during the day, helping seeds to germinate.
Ross Burnett is planning on planting about 840ha of cotton across two farms however with no water allocation yet, he is hopeful of some rain.
“We have some water saved and carried on from last year and we will use that for some of the cotton, but we have to take a calculated risk and hope that rainfall, inflows and a possible allocation will help the rest of the crop.”
Planting for cotton in much of New South Wales and Queensland normally takes place in October, with picking starting across most farms in late March or throughout April, but this can vary dramatically with cotton now being grown in some part of the country across the year.
Cotton Australia General Manager Michael Murray said the signs for this season were positive, with Australia’s 1500 cotton growers – 90 per cent of them family farmers – expecting to generate about 4 million bales across Australia generating $2.7 billion for the economy.
“This year we are expecting about 400,000 green hectares to be planted, predominantly in New South Wales and Queensland with crops also being planted in the Northern Territory and Western Australia.”
