Cotton: Prices and timing combine well for cotton

Near ideal conditions at planting and a promising outlook for prices bodes well for southern NSW cotton growers.

Seasonal conditions and prices have aligned for cotton growers, with 80,000 hectares planted on time in southern NSW.

It’s a rise of 60 per cent on last year, when 50,000ha was planted in the areas spanning from Hillston, south of the Lachlan, the Murrumbidgee and Murray valleys.

In addition, prices are tracking at lucrative rates of $680 to $730 a bale — up from $630 a bale last year.

Southern Valleys Cotton Growers Association chairman and Hillston grower Paul Cleton said there was no doubt that growers were off to a good start.

He said more than 75 per cent of cotton in the region had been planted, which boded well for yields at the end of the season.

However, he said it was too early to predict how many bales a hectare would likely be picked at the end of the season.

“I have put in 650ha this year, and we will be finished (planting) today,” he said on Friday.

With planting on time and the promise of good prices, he said this year was a big turnaround from the washout season in 2022.

He estimated that 98 per cent of the crop was planted in October last year, which was probably too late.

“Every day we sow after October 15 can result in yield penalties in the south,” he said.

A field of cotton at Griffith in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area. Picture: Andy Rogers

Mark Zanetta of Terra Ag Services at Griffith, NSW, said there was a full complement of cotton this year.

“We have been able to prepare the soil and plant on time,” he said.

“It’s early, but we can expect good yields given the drier outlook and the fact it was sown on time,” he said.

“For cotton, you want the drier, warmer conditions.”

Mr Zanetta said there had been a switch from cotton to rice by some growers looking for more returns per megalitre from their water.

Water trader Tom Wilks of Wilks Water, Wagga Wagga, NSW, said initially there was a price rally for water following the Bureau of Meteorology’s prediction of El Nino conditions.

He said the water market for prices in the Murrumbidgee got to $250 a megalitre before the rain arrived a few weeks ago and had more recently settled at $200 a megalitre.

“They (BOM) started predicting El Nino, but it kept raining,” he said.

“There is much less urgency in the (water) market now,” he said.