More than one thousand hectares of land will be dedicated to cotton growing in the Forbes district next season and local growers are urging farmers to be cautious with their herbicide activities.
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Local consultant agronomist Cameron Corke from IMAG Consulting said it was important people knew cotton was in the area.
“We are growing it and we will continue growing it.
“Several farms will be growing cotton [next season],” he said.
Mr Corke noted a combination of cold weather at the start of the season, insect pressure mainly mirids, 2,4-D drift and extreme heat had made this year very challenging.
“[Due to flooding] We put the cotton in three weeks late.
“The flowering window was a lot shorter than it was last year.
“As a result our yield is lower,” he said.
Mr Corke wants awareness as picking is now underway and preparations for next year’s crop have already begun.
“I think people need to become more aware of cotton because they need to take into consideration where these sensitive crops are,” he said.
Summer rainfall always means fallow spraying and it brings the added risk of off-target spray drift.
“It is critical for all spray applicators to exercise caution when undertaking crop protection activities and to use CottonMap online to check where the cotton crops are before spraying,” said Cotton Australia Regional Manager Honi Anderson.
