growers@sgcotton.com.au Roger Tomkins - Greenmount Press

of Sicot 71BRF and Sicot 74BRF. Both these varieties have shown
strong performance in most regions in dryland.
Comparisons of the two varieties show they are of very similar
yield but vary slightly on regional fit. The quality of both varieties
over 43 trials has been good with grades for length of 38 and
39 and premium micronaire and strength. For further regional
results visit the CSD website and use the Variety Performance
Comparison tool.
When assessing cotton’s competitive advantage over other
crops we find that it doesn’t take much, in terms of a price
increase, to change the total dynamics of the gross margin. For
example; a change from $400 per bale to $450 per bale in a 3
bale/ha double skip crop has an effect of a 35 per cent increase in
profitability as seen in Table 3.
When comparing the performance of cotton up against
sorghum over six years it is hard to go past cotton in terms of
its consistency to deliver on the basis of yield, fibre quality and
overall gross margin.
FIGuRE 2: Comparison of Sicot 74BRF and
Sicot71BRF in CSD dryland trials, all regions (43
CSD trials over three years and six regions)
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In years where the cotton price is low, growers need to ask
themselves a number of important questions:
■ What has been my most consistent dryland crop in terms of
gross margin?
■ What does the cotton price futures say for the next 12 months?
■ What soil moisture profile have I got? (cotton will require ¾ to
full)
■ Have I put down any herbicides that may affect cotton? and,
■ What are my long term goals for dryland farming and does
this involve cotton?
For further information in relation to any of the topics mentioned in this
article please contact your local CSD Extension and Development
Agronomist or visit the web site www.csd.net.au
TABLE 2: Candidates for the Alan Brimblecombe
Shield for outstanding result in a CSD dryland
variety trial
Grower Variety Bales/ Bales/ Row
ha acre configuration
Rob Blatchford Sicot 6.85 2.77 Double
Gurley, NSW 74BRF
John Cameron Sicot 7.11 2.88 Single
Bongeen, Qld 74BRF
Angus McClymont Sicot 6.22 2.52 Double
Goondiwindi, Qld 71BRF
David Ronald
Spring Ridge, NSW
Siokra
V18BRF
TABLE 3: Dryland cotton gross margin (GM per
ha) sensitivity analysis
Single skip Bale and post ginning seed price
combined
Yield (B/ha) $400 $450 $500
2.75 $265 $402 $540
3.25 $433 $596 $758
3.75 $602 $789 $977
Double skip Bale and post ginning seed price
combined
Yield (B/ha) $400 $450 $500
2.5 $259 $384 $509
3.0 $427 $577 $727
3.5 $595 $771 $946
Super skip Bale and post ginning seed price
combined
Yield (B/Ha) $400 $450 $500
2.0 $173 $273 $373
2.5 $341 $467 $592
3.0 $510 $660 $810
TABLE 4: Dryland cotton versus sorghum gross
margin
6 year average Cotton Sorghum
Yield 3.1 b/ha 3.9 t/ha
Price $469 bale $210 tonne
Variable costs/ha $876 $448
Gross margin/ha $584 $354
Note: Cotton on double skip. Sorghum on solid row configuration.
6.85 2.77 Solid
54 — The Australian Cottongrower August–September 2012