BACKGROUND BRIEFINGBRINGING THE CROP HOME

HARVEST PREPARATION 2012

INTRODUCTIONThe Australian cotton industry is heading towards a record breaking harvest in 2012 with a national crop sizearound 4.4 million bales being predicted.

Following the previous record crop in 2010/11 this is the continued resurgence of an industry finally recoveringfrom the drought.

While expectations remain high, there is a long way to go before this massive crop is safely harvested, ginnedand exported. Everyone will have to play their part in picking, transporting and ginning for a smooth, efficient and most of all, safe harvest.

This Background Briefing is designed to provide cotton growers with a summary of all the key information you will need to pick and transport your crop in 2012, along with easy access to additional resources for more information.

For many growers the information contained in this background briefing will be a timely reminder, while also a valuable reference and guide for the many farmers who have decided to grow cotton this season after a longbreak or for the first time.

NEW WORKPLACE HEALTH & SAFETY LAWS (WHS) New national Work Health and Safety (WHS) laws have beendeveloped to replace the existing state based OccupationalHealth and Safety (OHS) laws. These new national WHS lawswill bring the same safety protection and the same penalties forsafety offences across all locations in Australia.

What are the Major Changes to WHS Laws?WHS Laws are often complex and detailed legislation so CottonAustralia recommends growers check with their work health andsafety authority for detailed information on these recent changes.

These are some of the more significant changes which applyacross the board.• Tougher penalties being imposed under the new WHS laws

for both NSW & QLD. The penalties under the WHS Act areserious and growers need to be aware of their new obligations.Serious breaches may extend to a maximum of $3 million fora corporation and up to $600,000 for an individual.

• The duties of care are not defined by the nature ofemployment relationship. This means that the term ‘employer’as currently applied in most occupational health and safetylaws has been replaced with the term ‘person conducting abusiness or undertaking’ (PCBU) and ‘employee’ is replacedwith a broadly defined term of ‘worker’.

• The term ‘worker’ includes employees, volunteers, contractors,sub-contractors, apprentices, work experience students andlabour hire personnel.

Would you like to know more about WHS Legislation?• NSW WorkCover Authority www.workcover.nsw.gov.au

• QLD Workplace Health and Safetywww.deir.qld.gov.au/workplace/index.htm

MANAGING FARM SAFETY Safety for everyone on the farm, family, workers andvisitors alike should always be considered as an integraland effective component of the farming business. With more people and more activity during harvest timeplanning ahead for safety makes sense.

The Cotton Australia website is an excellent resource onsafety information allowing growers to access and downloada range of guidance material specially prepared to helpexplain and demonstrate best practice WHS on cotton farms.

Key safety points to consider during this cotton harvest• Talk with and actively engage your workers and

contractors in identifying and assessing all knownenvironmental, mechanical, electrical and operationaltype hazards and risks around the farm.

• Then develop and implement a plan and procedures to manage safety risks.

• Conduct a pre-harvest safety induction for every crewmember and ensure your contractor has done the samefor all their contract workers.

Safety Resources• The CottonSafe Wall Chart highlights common

safety hazards on cotton farms and practical tips to avoid injury and is available free of charge to all cotton growers

• A ‘Cotton Harvest Safety’ DVD produced by CRDC with technical input from Cotton Australia is availablefrom your local Cotton Australia Regional Manager. This DVD is an informative resource to help deliver pre-harvest safety induction to the harvest crew.

• The myBMP ‘Human Resource’ module currentlycontains guidance designed to assist growers withmanaging general on farm WHS.

Cotton Safety References and WHS RiskManagement ResourcesCotton Australia ‘CottonSafe’ Programwww.cottonaustralia.com.au

MyBMP ‘Human Resource’ Module www.mybmp.com.au

Cotton Picking Guidance Notes-Farmsafe Australiawww.farmsafe.org.au

Work Near Overhead Powerlines COPwww.workcover.nsw.gov.au

Electrical Safety- Working Near Exposed Live Parts COPwww.deir.qld.gov.au

‘CottonSafe’ Wall Charts-Pro Visual Publishingwww.provisual.com.au

SAFE COTTON TRANSPORT The safe loading and transport of cotton modules along withthe movement of harvesting machinery on roads is vitallyimportant in preventing injury to transport operators, otherroad users and preventing damage to road infrastructure.

Road Transport Regulations, Compliance and Enforcement The movement of heavy vehicles, loads and machinery onroads is tightly regulated.

The vast majority of road transport regulations are similarbetween NSW and QLD, including statutory maximumdimensions for heavy vehicles and their loads transportedon roads.

Road transport laws in both States require growers to takeall ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent their actions or conductfrom causing or contributing to a breach. In addition, the lawalso prohibits growers from:• making demands that they know or should know might

cause a breach;

• coercing or encouraging breaches of others, includingtransport contractors.

Under ‘Chain of Responsibility’ provisions within roadtransport regulations all parties in the transport supply chain have legal responsibilities or a duty of care to manage compliance.

Severe penalties can be incurred by both individuals and corporations where a breach of the regulationscan be proven.

COTTON AUSTRALIA TRANSPORT GUIDECotton Australia convenes a Module and Machinery Transportworking group including growers, harvesting and transportcontractors and the Cotton Ginners’ Association and facilitatesmeetings between officers of the NSW Roads and MaritimeServices (RMS) and NSW Police Highway Patrol.

This pro-active approach has resulted in a number of importantgains including temporary concessions and/or permits allowingthe movement of cotton modules, bales and harvest machineryon roads as efficiently as possible while also managing safety forall road users.

Among the major outcomes of this strategy will be thepublication of an essential resource for industry best practicecovering cotton module, bale and machinery transport logistics.

The ‘Cotton Australia Transport Guide’ is currently in preparation.

The Cotton Australia ‘Safe Picking and Module Transport’background briefing references a range of legal, technical andpractical WHS resources as well as guide you through some ofthe key points for managing safety during harvest, includingrequirements for safe loading, restraint and transport of cottonmodules. www.cottonaustralia.com.au/library/publications/

Cotton Australia working closely with the NSW RMS has preparedand published a number of relevant documents available online:

Information for cotton transportation in NSWwww.rta.nsw.gov.au/heavyvehicles/downloads/cotton_transportation_brochure.pdfNSW Cotton Transportation FAQswww.rta.nsw.gov.au/heavyvehicles/downloads/permitnotices/cotton_transportation_faq.pdfOver-size cotton harvest machinery on NSW roadswww.rta.nsw.gov.au/heavyvehicles/downloads/info_sheet_oversize-cotton-harvest-machinery.pdfExemption Notice for transport of over-width cotton bales onNSW roadswww.rta.nsw.gov.au/heavyvehicles/downloads/permitnotices/class_3_rectangular_baled_cotton_exemption_notice_2011.pdfExemption Notice for transport of over-width cotton bales onNSW roads (Appendix 1)www.rta.nsw.gov.au/heavyvehicles/downloads/permitnotices/class_3_baled_cotton_exemption_notice_2011_appendix_1.pdfExemption Notice for transport of over-width cotton bales onNSW roads (Appendix 2)www.rta.nsw.gov.au/heavyvehicles/downloads/permitnotices/class_3_baled_cotton_exemption_notice_2011_appendix_2.pdfCotton Chain-bed exemptions notice (NSW)www.rta.nsw.gov.au/heavyvehicles/downloads/permitnotices/cotton_chain-bed_semi_trailer_exemption_notice_2010.pdfNSW Road Transport Permit Notice Sitewww.rta.nsw.gov.au/heavyvehicles/downloads/permitnotices/permit_notices_dl1.html

Would you like to know more about transport regulations?QLD Transport www.transport.qld.gov.au or call 132 390.

NSW Road and Maritime Authority www.rta.nsw.gov.au or call 132 213

HARVEST PREPARATIONBringing a cotton crop to a successful harvest requires a lot morethan just favourable seasonal conditions. Here are some of theimportant management decisions to consider.

Fibre Quality Australian cotton is often purchased for a premium as it meetsmany of the spinner’s requirements on the basis of quality andconsistency. It has the specific fibre qualities required to spinhigh-quality yarn and produce high value textile products.

Fibre quality is affected by a large number of interacting factorsincluding variety, seasonal conditions, crop and harvestmanagement along with ginning to meet the spinners requirements.

While some of these factors cannot be controlled, there aremany that can.

Some of the opportunities to minimise damage to fibre include: • Improved varieties• Better understanding of the nature of fibre and the factors

that affect its quality• Management for each region’s climate • Picking and processing to minimise fibre damage

FIBREpak is a guide to improving Australian cotton fibre quality.This comprehensive resource for all phases of the Australiancotton supply chain has key sections on end of seasonmanagement and harvest preparation.

Cotton CRC FIBREpak is available for download fromhttp://www.cottoncrc.org.au/industry/Publications/Fibre_Quality/FIBREpak

100%

90%

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40%

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% b

ales

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ach

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GRADE & PREBURNER MOISTURE %

% Preburner Moisture (seed cotton moisture)

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

42 - 3

41 - 4

41 - 3

32 - 3

31 - 4

31 - 3

This graph represents approximately 13,000 bales at one gin last season with pre-burner moisture monitoring equipment. Each column represents theproportion of bales by grade at each moisture percentage. Although moisture content is not the only determinant of colour and leaf grade it is clear that highmoisture content can have an additional negative impact on fibre quality.

Assuming no other penalties (i.e. base micronaire and staple) the average discount for bales from modules below 12% moisture was $15/bale and formodules 12% and above $33/bale. Given the industry average yield for irrigated cotton from last season (2010-11) of 9.7 bales/ha this represents an averagediscount cost of $320 per hectare for seed cotton moisture content equal or greater than 12%.

So how much can excessive seed cotton moisture actually cost?

Moisture Meter SuppliersContinental Eagle Industrial Supplies, Narrabri (02) 6792 4533

Lummus Australia, Moree (02) 6751 1088

Our-Tek Ltd, St George 0428 717 284

Vomax Instrumentation, Hindmarsh (SA) 0407 394 541

Seed cotton moistureIn Australian conditions cotton is typically too moistfor harvest at dawn but cotton can be picked well intothe night provided relative humidity remains low.Moisture monitoring needs to be more frequent ateach end of the day as the change in moisture can bequite abrupt, e.g. moisture can increase from 4% to6% within 10 minutes as night and dew pointtemperature fall rapidly.

Harvesting seed-cotton in excess of 12% moisture is not recommended, although modern harvesters will readily pick cotton in excess of 12%. Use of a well calibrated moisture meter is essential formonitoring cotton moisture if picking is to occur athigh moisture levels.

Moisture meters and dew point charts are both usefultools to reduce fibre contamination risk.

Another moisture/contamination concern is makingsure that all round modules are delivered to the ginyard without damage to the wrap.

CHANGES TO THE DIURON REGISTRATION

The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) has issued a new label for cotton defoliants products containingDiuron. Growers, consultants and spray applicators should be aware that new label conditions now exist for all Diuron products.

Defoliant Product Manufacturer

Dropp Ultramax Cotton Defoliant Bayer Cropscience Pty Ltd

Echem Thi-Ultra Cotton Defoliant Echem (Aust) Pty Limited

Farmoz Escalate Ultra Cotton Defoliant Farmoz Pty Limited

Ospray Do-away Cotton Defoliant Ospray Pty Ltd

Titan Thidiazuron + Diuron Cotton Defoliant Titan Ag Pty Ltd

The new label directions for cotton defoliants containing Diuron are outlined in APVMA PERMIT NUMBER – PER13239http://permits.apvma.gov.au/PER13239.PDF

Restraints DO NOT apply if greater than 50 mm rain fall is expected within 3days of application

DO NOT apply to fields where the slope exceeds 3%

DO NOT apply when there are aquatic and wetland areasincluding aquacultural ponds or surface streams downwind fromthe application area or non-target terrestrial vegetation downwindfrom the application area and within the mandatory no-sprayzone.

Mandatory no-spray zones now exist for both ground and aerialapplication for terrestrial vegetation protection and aquaticprotection. No-spray zones are defined for spray droplet sizeclassification (fine, medium and course) and applications must bewithin the spray zones outlined in PER13239.

Further information on the APVMA Diuron Review;http://www.apvma.gov.au/products/review/current/diuron.php

ROUND MODULESThe post-drought resurgence in cotton has seen a rapidadoption of John Deere 7760 round module pickers. These machines were responsible for picking approximately45% of the crop in 2011/12 with an expectation that figure willrise to 80% this season.

A forum at the 2011 Cotton Collective reviewed key grower and contractor experiences from the first major season with the new picking technology. They listed some of the JD 7760’s advantages as including a more manageable and safer approach to picking cotton with less casual labour requirements and greater flexibility to enhance thetimeliness of farming operations like pupae busting and ground preparation.

Soil compaction

An important consideration highlighted at the Cotton Collectiveround module forum was some concern over the potential forsoil compaction. Configurations of the new picker plus a trailer

PICK N MATCHThe task of finding a picking contractor for this season has been made a little easier thanks to Cotton Australia’s Pick NMatch online service. Growers can visit the free, online Pick N Match web site allowing them to reach out to their potentialnew harvesting contractors.

Since it was first launched last season, Pick N Match has been helping to put picking contractors in direct contact withgrowers by posting the contact and equipment details of contractors on the Cotton Australia website.

Cotton Harvesting Contractors can send their details directly to Cotton Australia at email talktous@cotton.org.au, including thetype of machinery they have, preferred areas of operation along with their contact numbers and that information will be addedon the Pick N Match web page.

The Pick N Match page can be viewed at: http://www.cottonaustralia.com.au/news/view.aspx?id=432

(with 3 module capacity) can weigh in at 47.6 tonnes fullyloaded compared to a fully loaded basket picker at 17.9 tonnes.

Some of the likely considerations towards reducing compactionrisk include the timing of final irrigation, timing of harvest afterrainfall, calibrated push probe/penetrometers, modelling soilssusceptible to compaction and effectiveness of rotations inreducing subsoil degradation.

Further research is proposed to develop guidelines for myBMPharvesting practices to minimise subsoil degradation.

Round module wrapArranging enough traditional module tarps was always a challengeprior to the JD 7760 picking technology. Round module wrap isnot reusable and requires more considered preharvest planning.While the product supply variability encountered in 2011 hasbeen resolved growers using round modules should continue tocommunicate their wrap requirements to distributors andcontractors for the 2012 harvest.

F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N

www.cottonaustralia.com.auPhone: 02 9669 5222 · Fax: 02 9669 5511E: talktous@cottonaustralia.com.au

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COME CLEAN – GO CLEANPicking, slashing and field preparation activities can allinadvertently assist the spread of pests and diseases betweenfields, farms and regions. Attention to good farm hygienepractices can reduce the risk of pests and pathogens that mayhave costly long-term impacts on your farm.

The Come Clean – Go Clean program has been designed toprevent the spread of insects, weed seeds, pests and diseasesacross the industry.

Under Come Clean –Go Clean specific protocols have beenestablished for the movement of farm machinery into and out of Queensland’s Central Highlands to minimise the spread of mealy bug and Fusarium wilt along with other weedsand diseases.

Some of the guiding principles for Come Clean – Go Clean include:

• Machinery that should be inspected: Cotton pickers, bollbuggy’s, module builders, mulchers, laser buckets,cultivators, chain beds and headers.

• Growers should also consider farm hygiene when movingequipment from farm to farm within their region.

• Growers need to clearly communicate with contractors,ensuring everybody follows appropriate farm hygiene.

• All machinery should be cleaned by the Contractor beforethey contact the machinery inspector. The Inspectors shouldbe given at least 8 hours’ notice.

• Growers should ask to see the ‘Inspection Certificate’ to ensure that the clean down has been carried out.

For specific information on the Central Highlands Come Clean – Go Clean protocols visitwww.cottonaustralia.com.au/research/biosecurity

Additional information on Come Clean Go Clean can be found in the myBMP Biosecurity module www.mybmp.com.au

Good safe picking!

Queensland

EMERALDRenee Anderson0448 125 156

DAWSONVALLEYBronwynChristensen0407 654 823

DARLINGDOWNSMarie-LouiseOffner0408 982 291

New South Wales

NARRABRI Geoff Hunter0458 142 777

FIELDPOLICYMANAGER James Houlahan

MACQUARIEVALLEYJulie Wise0447 370 043

SOUTHERNREGIONJames Hill0408 892 317

MACINTYREVALLEYRebecca Fing0427 107 234

ST GEORGE/DIRRANBANDIJane Hill0448 006 356

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT YOUR NEAREST COTTON AUSTRALIA REGIONAL MANAGER