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

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VOMAx Instrumentation, the Australian manufacturer of moisture measuring instruments for the cotton industry, has released the model 760 moisture meter to measure the moisture content of the cotton as it is picked with a John Deere 7760 cotton picker. Not a newcomer to the cotton industry, Vomax has supplied the cotton ginning industry with instruments to measure moisture in cotton bales and cotton modules for the past 16 years, using microwave technology designed and manufactured in Australia. Their products can be found in just about all gins across the Australia cotton industry as well as in the US, and Europe. The Vomax 760 instrument mounts on either side of the Handler at the rear of the picker, and scans the round module from one side to the other, taking a moisture reading across the entire width of the module. The instrument works automatically, has an alarm for high moisture cotton, and displays the moisture level of the latest module picked as well as the average moisture and the peak moisture for the previous few modules on a monitor mounted in the picker cabin. The science behind this Vomax instrument is that moisture molecules have a drag effect on the microwaves, absorbing energy and slowing them up as they pass through the cotton. The instrument sends microwaves from one side of the module to the other, and measures the energy lost and the time the signal news & new products Moisture meter for JD7760 Measuring moisture on the go can give growers control of their fibre quality. takes to arrive. The higher the moisture, the more microwave signal is absorbed and the longer the time it takes for the signal to reach the other side. The power and frequency of the microwave signal used is similar to Bluetooth. Because the system does not rely on making contact with the cotton, the instrument remains completely stable and does not require expensive re-calibration, which may be the case with other technologies. More importantly, the instruments are not affected by changes in ambient temperature the way some hand held instruments are – they lose their accuracy once the temperature starts to drop at night, at the most critical time to know when to stop picking. The first instruments sold were rolled out on a small scale and installed late in the 2012 picking season. They operated in all the major production areas of Emerald, St George, Moree, Narrabri, Warren, Trangie, Griffith and Hay, with a variety of users from contract picker operators to growers and grower ginners. By far the greatest benefit was the time saved by operators who no longer had to stop their pickers to take hand samples in the field during picking. Pickers were able to start earlier and finish later in complete confidence that they were not picking wet modules. This equated to more cotton picked in less time with no penalties for quality at the gin. The cost benefits were enormous and the improvement to fibre quality will be demonstrated by those growers using these instruments in the coming seasons. 60 — The Australian Cottongrower August–September 2012
District Reports… Central Queensland The wet start to the winter certainly held up a few growers, who were already behind due to the wet pick. Yields and quality certainly didn’t improve at the tail end of the crop. While early picked cotton (before the 6 inch March rain event), generally yielded quite well in both Central Highlands and Dawson Callide, the later crops were rain and weather affected, with yields down by more than a bale per acre. This late rainfall on open cotton also affected quality with significant grade discounts being received. The bulk of the dryland cotton seemed to get through the worst of the rain and yields and quality were generally quite good. With cotton prices holding on the lower end, a reasonable area was committed to winter cropping. Chickpeas have been a bit sluggish and there is some concern yields will be reduced. At this stage, cotton planting in Central Highlands is estimated to be a bit lower than in recent years, but 17,000 hectares of irrigated cotton is still anticipated. Dawson/Callide will not have a large variation in planting area, with about 6000 hectares expected. Delays in field workings due to rain, has meant that farm hygiene, particularly control of volunteers and ratoons has been below par for a number of farms. Growers and consultants are concerned about pest issues, especially mealy bugs, causing early season issues. It is hoped a large last minute effort makes a difference. There has already been a number of incidents of spray drift damage on chickpeas in the region this winter. With the finishing winter crop, as well as a larger planting of corn, growers should be very careful with herbicides regardless of the crop and communicate with neighbours as to where sensitive crops are planted. Susan Maas August 23, 2012 St George and Dirranbandi As with other valleys, the Lower Balonne region is still madly fertilising country after a few wet weeks in May and June. The upside of this is the fact that the trash from last year’s crop is breaking down nicely and certainly doesn’t appear as though it will be the headache it was for us during last year’s planting. Another benefit from all the rain is the fact that the country has great soil tilth the larger clods left over from the centre busting operation have brocken down. District Reports are proudly supported by With the wet winter that the Darling Downs experienced, the St George and Dirran growers benefited from their allocation of Big N though the greater majority of growers had worked in a large percentage of country being applied with Urea. Unfortunately the rain has also resulted in some major discounts on quality especially for those late fields picked during May and June. Yields as mentioned previously are down considerably from the 2010–11 season and down on ‘normal’ seasons yields. Average yields have been somewhere between 3.2–3.8 bales per acre with the odd well drained fields/farms averaging 4.0 bales per acre. All going well, the greater majority of farms well be finished fertiliser within the next two weeks which on the long range forecast appears dry. Here’s looking forward to another season and a few hangovers at the Cotton Conference. Dallas King August 21, 2012 Border Rivers It took a while but picking finally wound up in mid June. The combination of people chasing late bolls, picking capacity stretched to the limit, and several rainfall events throughout picking meant it wasn’t a quick process. The irrigated yields are more variable than they have been for several years with some farms averaging around seven bales per hectare and some close to 11 bales per hectare. The district average has been estimated at 9.5 bales per hectare. The lower yields came from a range of factors including farms with limited drainage, late/poor land preparation, inadequate upfront nitrogen fertiliser, and unfortunate irrigation timings. Generally lighter soils and well drained fields performed best this year – usually the worst performing fields in the drought years. Although there were not many crops grown on fallow fields this year, the rough indication was they were one to two bales per hectare better than back-to-back cotton fields, which comprised a vast majority of the district. Dryland yields have been very good – ranging from four to seven bales per hectare, even in the western end of the district. Fibre quality of the earliest picked cotton was the best with a lot of 21s and a few 31s. As the season progressed, 31s became the norm with a reasonable amount of 41s. The staple length, strength and micronaine have all been very good. Leaf has been mostly 2 or 3 but there have been some pockets of 4. Land preparation is generally more advanced than it was this time last year but it was slowed by some good rainfall events throughout June and July. These events have been very useful for the large winter crop in the district which is looking very good. Early indications on intentions next year suggest a slight decline in irrigated areas with people taking the opportunity to August–September 2012 The Australian Cottongrower — 61
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August-September 2012 www.cottongro
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In this issue... 2012 Cotton Grower
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The trouble with buying old technol
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We’re with you from the beginning
Page 9 and 10: BE READY FOR ULTIMATE PRODUCTIVITY
Page 11 and 12: Roger Tomkins: 0409 100 036 Louise
Page 13 and 14: Field proven irrigation power John
Page 15 and 16: 16th Cotton Conference roundup AFTE
Page 17 and 18: Delegates may have found out more t
Page 19 and 20: You’re in control of your future.
Page 21 and 22: 2013 FARM STUDY TOURS For More Info
Page 23 and 24: Water Matters… Series supported b
Page 25 and 26: Valley ® Strongest in the industry
Page 27 and 28: Nutrition feature… Impact of nitr
Page 29 and 30: (ADVERTORIAL) Local Trials Show Bio
Page 31 and 32: SOIL organic carbon (SOC) is an imp
Page 33 and 34: and minimise the loss of stubble-C.
Page 35 and 36: WORLD COMMODITY WATCH India Specula
Page 37 and 38: documented, the Chinese state reser
Page 39 and 40: 3100% Australian Cotton 3100% Austr
Page 41 and 42: for the position between the gin st
Page 43 and 44: The trial crop has yielded around s
Page 45 and 46: FIGuRE: 3 Relationship between EM34
Page 47 and 48: Temik, is in short supply and is sc
Page 49 and 50: The joys (or otherwise) of tractor
Page 51 and 52: in Australia), when it finally erup
Page 53 and 54: Germinating ideas By CSD Extension
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Page 59: Students visit cotton districts CAL
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growers@sgcotton.com.au Roger Tomkins - Greenmount Press

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