Finalists have been announced for the Australian cotton industry's most prestigious awards in 2022 with entrants from New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory in the running.
Cotton Australia CEO Adam Kay said nominations were opened earlier this year and the response has been outstanding.
"Each year we have been impressed with the calibre of nominees and this year is no exception and it presented a challenge for judges in making their selections," Mr Kay said.
The judges for 2022 were the 2021 Bayer Grower of the Year winner Tony Quigley, and the AgriRisk High Achiever of the Year Ashley Geldard, along with AgriRisk's Deidre McCallum and Bayer's Mark Dawson.
Mr Quigley said despite winning the award for 2021 he found the process to be eye opening.
"I have learned a bit about growing cotton having done it for 35 years but I still learnt something new from each of the nominees, such is the quality and diversity of knowledge in our industry," Mr Quigley said.
"The farm visits have been of particular interest as it allowed us to ask questions on site and to examine their strategies, infrastructure and observe their farming practices and while there are common elements there are some innovative things happening that are very exciting for the industry."
The finalists in the Bayer Grower of the Year are: Corish Farms Yattlewondi, Glen Harney manager, Talwood, Sundown Pastoral Co Keytah, Nick Gillingham, manager Moree NSW and Graincott Farming Co, Kensington Park, Dan Hayllor, Dalby.
The finalists in the AgriRisk High Achiever Award include Tipperary Station, farm manager Bruce Connolly, Daly River, NT, Porter Farming, Attleigh, Grant Porter, Brookstead, and Dalara Pastoral Operations, Myall Park, Rob Davies, Blackville NSW,
The finalists in the ADAMA Chris Lehmann Trust Young Achiever of The Year are Lucas Wuersching, St George, Bradley Donald, Moree NSW, and Jessica Strauch, Goondiwindi .
The finalists in the Cotton Seed Distributors Researcher of the Year are: Cotton Landcare Tech Innovations project team, Stacey Vogel Narrabri, NSW, Dr. Mick Rose Wollongbar, NSW and Dr. Oliver Knox, Armidale, NSW.
The judges will now review all nominations before finalising the winners who will be announced at this year's Cotton Conference on the Gold Coast in August.