HARVEST of the Central Highlands cotton crop could be delayed for up to three weeks following 200mm across the region in the past week.
State Member for Gregory, Lachlan Millar, whose electorate takes in the key cotton growing area, said picking was now expected to start at the end of February, about two weeks later than expected.
“If it rains more the harvest could be delayed further,” Mr Millar said.
“Some growers had defoliated their crops just as the rain came but most farmers will now be waiting for the fields to dry out before they prepare for picking.
“Growers are now looking for some sunny, windy weather to fluff out the cotton in the bolls.”
It is unclear what impact, if any, the rain will have on yields.
“We’ll wait and see what the big green, truth machine has to say,” Mr Millar said, in a reference to the massive John Deere pickers which which harvesting also calculate the yields per hectare of the crop.
Mr Millar said despite the delay to the cotton harvest, the rain was extremely welcome.
“A lot of this rain has soaked in and is leading to an excellent winter season for both cattle producers and dryland farmers,” Mr Millar said.
“More rain would hopefully result in increased inflows into our water storages for coming seasons.”
Mr Millar said while there had been some good rain in western Queensland, the drought was far from broken.
“There have been some good falls but some areas continue to miss out on any substantial falls,” he said.
“It is still a long way back for the majority of our western graziers even where there has been some good falls.”
