Cotton harvest a struggle as flooding hits

Farmers in the birthplace of Australia’s cotton industry could struggle to harvest their winter crops for the second year in a row.

Floodwaters from the Namoi River inundated Gunnedah on the weekend. Picture: NSW SES

Farmers in the birthplace of Australia’s cotton industry could struggle to harvest their winter crops for the second consecutive year after the Namoi River spilled out into the floodplain.

Floodwater cut off the small northwestern NSW town of Wee Waa on the weekend. It followed a major flood around the town of Gunnedah, further upstream along the Namoi.

More rain in the region is ­expected on Wednesday and Thursday, and authorities warned more flooding was likely along the courses of the Namoi and Macquarie rivers.

Cotton grower Rob Eveleigh said the excess rain made working in the paddock virtually ­impossible and could affect the upcoming winter crop harvest, but was better than being in drought.

“It’s far better looking at a waterlogged crop than a bare paddock,” he said. “It creates different challenges for different people. The challenge here is getting things in and out.”

The Namoi River, which has flooded several times this year, peaked on Sunday morning at 6.86m but was expected to rise to 6.9m on Wednesday night.

“Further moderate to heavy rain is forecast on Wednesday and Thursday, which is likely to bring renewed river level rises and flooding to the Peel and Namoi rivers and their tributaries,” a Bureau of Meteorology flood warning said.

While the floodwater was not expected to breach the town’s levee bank, some areas around Wee Waa could be isolated for up to a week before the water ­recedes.

It is likely to take many more weeks before farmers can return to their paddocks.

Mr Eveleigh, who is the president of the Lower Namoi Cotton Growers Association, has used the downtime to organise aerial spraying and carry out administrative tasks.

“We’ve had our challenges with too much rain more than not enough, but you have to say for the majority of people it’s been excellent,” he said.

“[We’ve had] fairly regular falls really for a few years now and there’s been plenty of water in the rivers.

“It’s been good, but perhaps just a little bit too wet at the wrong time.”

The rain that hampered the harvest of grain and legume winter crops at the end of last year also made the planting of the cotton cop difficult.

Rain also delayed the cotton harvest in autumn and winter.

“The rain came bang-on when people were trying to harvest, so there were crops that were lost because of the fact that they couldn’t be harvested and there was a lot of downgrading because of the rain,” Mr Eveleigh said.

“I guess people are fearful now that we’re going to get more of the same.

“We probably don’t want too much rain between now and harvest and we certainly need a dry November.”