Irrigated cotton growers in the Macintyre Valley look set to finish off the season in a strong position despite some lacking water and the current heatwave conditions.
CottonInfo regional extension officer Sally Dickinson said crops in the valley were looking really good, sitting at around four nodes above white flower.
“There are some growers who may be one watering short, and certainly the extreme heat this week will put a lot of pressure on with crop water use being high,” she said.
“From an insect management point of view, there's been a bit of a whitefly, but the area-wide approach has seen everyone look to try to communicate with neighbours and apply that Admiral within a window that started on the January 20.”
Brett Corish, Mundine, Goondiwindi, planted just over 900 hectares this year and said it had been a relatively good growing season, allowing his crop to perform well.
“The weather's been warm but not ridiculously hot, so really water management's been a big thing this year and if you've been on time with that, all in all, it's looking pretty good,” Mr Corish said.
“We've got enough water to get us home, but due to the year we've had we're starting to chew into next year's allocation.
“A number of people in the valley are under the same circumstances; without any rain we haven't had any relief.”
For dryland cotton though, it’s a whole different story.
A lack of in-crop rain has made things difficult for all growers, but dryland crops are particularly struggling.
Ms Dickinson said irrigated crops had high yield prospects, but dryland crops would be anyone’s guess.