Bringing you the latest comments from our team, via our CottonInfo blog.

Increasing interest in canola in the northern region as a rotation crop has highlighted an often unforeseen pest management risk for nearby establishing cotton crops posed by Rutherglen bugs (RGB). 

Rutherglen bug adults are frequently encountered in cotton when conducting beat sheet assessments, particularly during late spring, and in some years, numbers can be quite high.

High numbers of RGB or the closely related grey cluster bugs in squaring or early flowering cotton have raised questions about the potential for damage and impact on retention, and two studies were…

Many cotton growers are picking, or about to start picking, with the focus firmly on getting the crop off, moving cotton to the gin, and keeping harvest on track. At the same time, growers are dealing with ongoing fuel supply pressure and high input costs, adding extra stress during an already time‑critical part of the season. Here’s what the cotton industry is doing — and what’s practical for growers right now.

Diesel is essential during picking, ginning and freight, and any disruption can quickly affect harvest progress and logistics.

Nitrogen fertiliser uptake by ‘grown on’ cotton in CQ
15 atom nitrogen (15N) is exceedingly rare in the natural environment and urea laced with this isotope can be used as a ‘label’ to track the fate of applied fertiliser. Two experiments in grown on cotton used 15N to understand plant uptake and potentially track remnant nitrogen over future seasons.

The two key treatments of interest were:
1. Base-applied 15N-enriched urea (250 kg N/ha) at planting followed by regular urea applied in-crop at cut-out (95 kg N/ha).
2. Base-applied regular urea (250 kg N/ha) at planting…

The Dryland Cotton Research Forum was held in Narrabri at the end of June 2025.

If you couldn't make it, we've collated some of the resources and videos so you can make the most of the knowledge shared!

One of the most valuable insights from the Soil and Nutrition workshop held in Emerald in June 2025 was the importance of treating the cause of poor nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) not just the symptoms. High nitrogen rates and low efficiency often stem from reactive management. Long-term soil health and nitrogen efficiency improve when we focus on what’s really behind poor NUE.

Improving NUE requires careful investigation of the causes of the inefficiency before modifying seasonal N fertilizer tactics.  Improvement of efficiency may be…

The CRDC-funded action research project SHIFT: Delivering best practice for management of future skills was funded from 2021-2024 and supported cotton growing enterprises to identify and implement strategies, tools and resources to better attract, develop and retain their workforce.

These resources cover a wide range of non-technical skills for people management, including leadership, advising new entrants, and the importance of clear communication.

Below is an extensive list of resources developed as part of SHIFT that covers a range of different skills areas and corresponding…

24 March 2025

After a period of change and renewal, the Australian cotton industry’s extension program, CottonInfo, has welcomed five new Regional Extension Officers (REOs) to the team.

The new team members Rochelle Field (Macquarie), Bob Ford and Blake Palmer (Namoi), Greg Bramley (Gwydir) and Tami Buranda (Central Queensland) join CottonInfo’s existing REOs Annabel Twine (Darling Downs), Andrew McKay (Border Rivers, St George, Dirranbandi) and Kieran O’Keeffe (Southern NSW), bolstering CottonInfo to a full complement of REOs, ensuring industry-good extension across seven…

Better Cotton has traditionally been traded and traced under a mass balance system. However, due to feedback from brands and upcoming EU legislation that will impact on-product claims, Better Cotton has now established traceability for physical Better Cotton.

This document (access here) from Cotton Australia explains what this means for growers as at February 2025.

December 2024.

Recent molecular testing by the NSW DPIRD has confirmed etoxazole (Zeal®) resistance in two-spotted spider mites collected from northern NSW. This finding comes at a difficult time for crop managers in this region who are already facing challenges with mite management due to diafenthiuron and abamectin resistance.

The target site mutation responsible for this resistance has been found in approximately 10% of the mites tested from last season. As confronting as this sounds there is some good news in that the gene responsible for resistance is recessive. This means…

by CottonInfo Program Manager, Janelle Montgomery.

Recently there have been some issues raised about Day Degrees (DD), particularly when growers and consultants are looking at their petiole testing results. There remains some legacy where some tools and understanding still utilize the DD12 approach to accumulating day degrees. The DD12 approach still works well in seasons that have average conditions. The DD1532 approach provided by CSD (or can be calculated) is more accurate and simpler to calculate than the DD12 approach.…