The cotton industry is experiencing a changing of the guard with young, energetic growers banding together in support of a sustainable and profitable farming future.
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Managing the family cotton enterprise at Badminton, Theodore, Simon Green also heads the Dawson Valley Cotton Growers Association and said he envisioned broadening the region's horizons as part of his role.
“We can’t just do our own little thing here. We don’t get many researchers doing trials suited to our area so my goal is to encourage growers to keep up with the times and be a little proactive,” he said.
“Every year Cotton Australia runs a leadership program for those they believe to be future cotton leaders and this year I was nominated and selected to be a leader in the course.
“It teaches you self awareness, how you tick and how to relate that to other people. There are many different personalities in all industries but for cotton farming specifically, it’s about being able to facilitate interaction between different people- a little like succession planning for the cotton industry.”
Mr Green said he had two separate goals as a young leader, both of which he hoped would combine for a more certain future.
“My project is to encourage more grower networking between different cotton grower associations (CGAs) because in many ways we’re in our own little bubble in Central Queensland,” he said.
“We’re a bit isolated from the southern valleys where they’re exposed to the latest technologies so if we can improve our networking hopefully we can expose ourselves to more of that.
“My vision for this area specifically is to close the divide that has developed among growers in our own region- I’ve started social nights out and we’re holding sticky beak tours of others’ farms to rebuild a united group of farmers.”
Mr Green said there was currently 220ha of wheat and 80ha of chickpeas planted at Badminton following last summer’s cotton crop, both of which would be sown back to cotton after harvest in mid to late November.
Mr Green’s innovative and forward thinking traits were evident in his use of feedlot manure as a slow release fertiliser which he said aimed to promote a healthy soil profile.
“We’re going down more of an organic fertiliser track and feedlot manure is a cheaper slow release option that also stimulates micro organisms in the soil,” he said.
“We have a record keeping system called a nutrient bank where we can look back over the years to see what our yield was, how much of what fertiliser we applied and where the level of each particular nutrient was in the soil.
“The main focus is to improve our soil health which in turn should improve yields and we’re starting to see positive results.”
Mr Green said a number of farming families in the Theodore region were beginning to hand over the reins to the next generation to encourage innovative management decisions- a group clearly ready and raring to make cotton in Central Queensland the best it can be.
