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MONSANTO Grower of the Year Award

(scroll down for previous recipients)

2007  Jono and David Phelps, “Havana”, Havana Farming,  Wee Waa NSW Havana Farming is a family based agricultural enterprise that has been producing cotton and grain since 1980. The principals, Thelma, David and Jono Phelps, together with their families, live and work on the properties that make up the business. Last year the five properties that make up Havana Farming produced 19,700 bales from 2,200 hectares of irrigated cotton. Havana Farming has adopted an integrated approach to cotton crop development. Broadly, the six components within this approach are crop rotation; increasing nitrogen use efficiency; adopting GM technologies; communication in management decisions; growing for yield and quality; and focusing on water use efficiency. Cotton is generally grown in rotation with vetch, followed by a summer fallow. This rotation is contributing significantly to the business achieving its goals for irrigated crop production. Havana Farming utilises continuous accounting on the regulated Namoi River system with the aim to maintain cotton production at a sustainable level. Allocated water is stored in Keepit Dam and only transferred on farm when needed to minimise seepage and evaporative losses. Havana Farming also considers it a priority to assist employees to increase their skills including encouraging employees to attend trade shows and field days and training in basic computer skills. Best Management Practices (BMP) has been embraced to self regulate environmental impacts and address legal obligations associated with cotton production and is used to improve record keeping and identify opportunities for business improvement. Havana Farming is also positive about the future of Australian cotton, as the industry is made up of growers who embrace change and rapidly uptake new technology. Much like Havana Farming itself!

2006 “Auscott – Namoi Valley Operations”, Narrabri, New South Wales Auscott’s Namoi Valley Operations is an 11,637 hectare enterprise located 20km west of Narrabri. Employing 21 permanent staff, the farm is managed by Ben Stephens under the guidance of General Manager Bernie George. Auscott has almost 9,000 hectares under development, with its main rotation crops being cotton and wheat, all sown with minimum tillage. Auscott grows a combination of conventional and Bollgard varieties, using the best yielding and highest quality varieties for the valley. 580 hectares of the farm is managed native vegetation, mostly in flood ways to slow water flow during storm events. Cotton growing at Auscott is an exact science, every field is monitored closely throughout the year and the data is collected and recorded in order to make good management decisions for soil, water and pests based on the field’s individual characteristics. The farm uses cutting edge technology and techniques such as: • Extensive soil tests every three years to determine ongoing changes in soils • Regular soil pits to assess compaction • Capacitance probes, mace meters and “irrimate” equipment placed across the farm to measure water requirements, determine actual water used and improve efficiency • Electronic monitoring of water levels in storages and linear move irrigators • Extensive record keeping for each irrigation including recording number of syphons and sets run in field and start and finish time for each field • Petiole tests on selected fields throughout the season and ongoing nutrition trials to identify the highest return for farm inputs Water use efficiency is also a major focus with water-holding on farm minimised to reduce evaporation, weeds removed quickly to prevent them taking up soil moisture and a commitment to continually monitoring and looking for ways to improve efficiencies. Total water use for the 2005/06 season was 6.35 megalitres per hectare. Auscott has achieved full BMP certification and was a pilot BMP grower. These strategies have resulted in consistently high yields, topping 10.41 bales per hectare in 2004/05 and with an average of 8.8 bales/ha over the last five seasons. The vision for the team at Auscott is to work towards a sound environmental, economic and socially responsible farming system by participating in BMP, producing a high yielding, high quality product and providing a safe working environment for its staff.

2005 - “Argoon” - Neek and Robyn Morawitz, Emerald, Queensland Bayer Crop-Science Grower of the Year Award Located 40 km east of Emerald near Comet, 'Argoon' is a 2671 hectare mixed grazing and cropping property including a 652 hectare compact irrigated cotton cropping enterprise run by Carl (Neek) and Robyn Morawitz. The Morawitz family moved to the Emerald area in 1974 and established themselves among the leading cotton growers in the area. Neek utilised water use efficiency funding from the Queensland State Government by installing water meters that showed he was losing more water than previously thought. He installed system upgrades, including water meters on all internal pumps, to monitor and understand on farm water use efficiency. The funding also helped purchase a diviner for soil moisture monitoring and a use gauging rod in the sump and ring tank. In 2003/04, a system analysis (water applied v water returned) was undertaken and led to further improvements in erosion control and the planting of drain zones with Pigeon Pea, Sorghum and Corn to enhance refuge areas and make better use of return water. Neek used this data to improve his water distribution system. Drainage water is fully contained on the farm with one large central sump making for efficient irrigation and an important local wetland area, home to many forms of birdlife. Neek left a substantial riparian zone in its natural state adjacent to the Comet River where his water extraction facility is located. This is a buffer zone between the river and the cotton farm, limiting the effects of spray drift and protecting an important water supply for the Comet community. Neek's strong commitment to the industry and Robyn's commitment to the local community are shown through their participation in local cotton organisations and Robyn's commitment to the town of Comet. Robyn was recently awarded Emerald Shire Council's Citizen of the Year Award for 2005. She has been deeply committed to the revitalisation, renovation and beautification of the small Comet Township. Robyn is a Past President and present Secretary of the Comet State School P & C association and past Secretary and present Treasurer of the Comet School of Arts Inc. She had tremendous success attracting funding for many town projects including the Comet Community Hall, the Comet State School and a new Community Playground. Robyn was also an enthusiastic co-organiser of the inaugural Comet 4WD Car Rally and Fundraising Auction.

2004 -“Buddah Pty Ltd” Narromine, NSW Bayer CropScience Grower of the Year Award “Buddah Pty Ltd” is located 22km out of Narromine in the Macquarie Valley NSW, and operates three properties:  Buddah Station, Riverpoint and Kansas Plains, with a total area of 5,474 ha. A General Manager and Assistant Manager/Agronomist are responsible for the overall planning and management of the farms, as well as financial analysis and reporting to a Board of Directors. Very difficult to manage soils has meant the team at Buddah has had to show great innovation to turn historically poor production around. The operation has substantially improved its farming systems and financial performance in recent years, consistently showing yields above the Macquarie Valley average. Improving soil health has been a major challenge at “Buddah”. This has been achieved in a variety of ways including a comprehensive trial to identify areas of poor water holding capacity and infiltration problems, cotton sown directly into standing wheat stubble, reduced tillage through the use of Roundup Ready Cotton and improving organic matter. This soil program has been complimented with a rigorous nutrition program that started in 2000 and aims to build soil nutrient levels and allow the plant to access the nutrient rather than try to predict the yearly requirements of the soil. A comprehensive leaf analysis program, sampling in every field every week from mid November to mid March, hopes to identify new base nutrient levels that contribute to high yielding crops. The Best Management Practices Program has been fully embraced, with certification achieved in 2001 and management heavily involved in the program in the Macquarie Valley.