Harvest best practice urged

Here is a quick update on the changing regulatory environment, and guidelines on how best practice can help you extract the most from the crop.

In response to reports of spray drift this season, Cotton Australia has increased its efforts to inform growers across industries on the dangers of spray drift. Our efforts to date have included working with like-minded industry bodies and media organisations to alert farmers, which comes on top of our annual campaign and doubling the frequency of our radio advertising campaign in areas where losses were reported. We have also been working with regulators - including the APVMA, the EPA in NSW and Biosecurity Queensland – which have, in turn, conducted their own awareness campaigns and successfully encouraged growers to log cotton fields on www.CottonMap.com.au, with 99 per cent of fields mapped.

Cotton Australia regional managers have also meet more than 110 re-sellers and chemical distributors to provide point-of-sale posters and spray drift reminders, supported those cotton growers impacted by spray drift, and encouraged members to report adverse incidents to regulatory authorities. Cotton Australia has also supported Mary O'Brien's creation of her Summer Weed Control Best Practice Guide to increase awareness among farmers and spray applicators about surface temperature inversions.

In addition, Cotton Australia is working with the Bureau of Meteorology to investigate methods ways to identify temperature inversions and provide alerts to growers. The spray drift checklist can be found at www.cottonaustralia.com.au

While the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) has now taken over many of the functions previously dealt with by state regulators, the landscape for the safe and efficient transport is still dynamic. The NHVR website (www.nhvr.gov.au) has information on safety, accreditation, compliance, registration and licensing that will apply to growers and transport contractors. In a bid to avoid a repeat of the confusion experienced in previous seasons, Cotton Australia negotiates annually with transport regulators and government ministers in NSW and Qld to ensure heavy vehicle movement will be guaranteed. In particular we are working hard to make sure growers can move heavy machinery over the crucial Easter period. Stay tuned for more updates. Cotton Australia’s website has bale and module restraint guides, and transport fact sheets and permits, which growers, farm managers and transport contractors should refer to before transport begins. Go to:  www.cottonaustralia.com.au/cotton-growers/transport

Even though this season’s production will be lower than the boom years, securing picking and transport contractors may still be challenging in some districts.

Cotton Australia’s ‘Pick N Match’ service helps bring growers and picking contractors together to make the harvest more efficient. We have reached out to contractors to determine their availability, areas of operation and machinery types, and the list is available on our website:  www.cottonaustralia.com.au/latest-campaigns/pick-n-match

Workplace Health & Safety (WHS)

Safety should be an effective component of every grower’s farming operation. Remember that growers are responsible not just for their own employees, but also for others who work on their land.

Key points to remember about cotton harvest safety are:

·         Actively engage with workers and contractors to identify and assess hazards

·         Develop and implement plans and procedures to minimise safety risks

·         Conduct a pre-harvest safety induction for every crew member, and ensure contractors do the same for their workers.

Cotton Australia’s CottonSafe program has great advice for growers, farm managers and contractors on how to be safe on farm. Check out the Cotton Australia CottonSafe page for more information: www.cottonaustralia.com.au/cotton-growers/resources/cottonsafe

Moisture is one of the key determinants of cotton quality, reinforcing the need to manage seed cotton moisture effectively during picking.

Tips for moisture control include:

·         Invest in a moisture meter. It's great insurance and can more than pay for itself at harvest time

·         Harvesting seed cotton at moisture levels more than 12% is not recommended

·         Cotton is typically too moist for harvest at dawn, but it can be picked well into the night provided relative humidity remains low

·         Well-calibrated moisture monitors, and dew point charts, are both useful tools to reduce fibre contamination risk

·         Monitor moisture more frequently at each end of the day, as the change in moisture can be quite abrupt

·         Ensure all round modules are delivered to the gin yard without damage to the wrap.

The ‘Come Clean – Go Clean’ program assists growers to produce higher yields by preventing the spread of pests and diseases between fields, farms and regions. The major principles of Come Glean - Go Clean include:

·         Inspect machinery including pickers, boll buggies, module builders, mulchers, laser buckets, cultivators, chain beds and headers for contamination

·         Clearly communicate the need for farm hygiene to staff, contractors and others.

Cotton Australia’s website has a great deal of information to help everyone on farm make this season’s harvest safe and efficient. For more information, contact your local Cotton Australia regional manager, or click on the ‘Be Harvest Ready’ link on the Cotton Australia website:  www.cottonaustralia.com.au

I wish all our growers the best as they bring in this season’s crop safely and efficiently.