Cotton Australia, Media Release, 6 March 2024

One of the most topical but arguably most misunderstood developments in sustainable agriculture, carbon baseline setting will be a focus in two weeks at the largest cotton field-day to be staged in Southeast Queensland this year.

The 2023 Bayer Cotton Growers of the year, Johannes and Scarlett Roellgen from Tyunga Farms, Brookstead on the Darling Downs are hosting the Bayer Cotton Grower of the Year Field Day on March 20 from 8am till 2pm.

Each year Cotton Australia, with the support of sponsors, stages the Australian Cotton Industry Awards with the winner hosting a Field Day in the next calendar year.

The theme of the day is ‘Nature and Numbers’ and the speakers include the winner of the AgriRisk High Achiever of the Year Skerman Farming. Dan Skerman will speak about the importance of data but also his experiences with carbon baseline assessments.

“Working with Nutrien, we went through a process over 12 months ago to look at our carbon and greenhouse gas emissions to provide a level of knowledge about how carbon impacts our farm.

“We have a basic understanding of where we are now and with a raw baseline established, they want to do it again because the models are changing. If you don’t plough your fields, it means one thing and how you manage your farm can alter the carbon outcomes.

“The goal posts aren’t even set yet and while we know that farm inputs like fertiliser and fuel have an impact, I think it’s better to get on the front foot and educate ourselves about it. I’m looking forward to briefly talking about our journey and if that helps someone that’s great.”

Dr Majella Mumford who has a PhD in environmental science will be a key speaker at the field day addressing carbon friendly opportunities, how to set a baseline, how to meet mandatory requirements, and how to best benefit from understanding your GHG emissions.

The day will comprise of a full farm tour of Tyunga, where Johannes and his team will showcase the tools and processes they use to make decisions around soil nutrition, Integrated Pest Management and crop rotations to ensure the most efficient use of inputs to maintain yields.

Other speaker sessions include:

• Skerman Farming – AgriRisk High Achievers of the Year. How Data Driven Decisions allow them to make the most of their resources in a mostly rain-fed cropping system.
• Brooke Summers – Cotton Australia insights into current global market trends affecting our brand and retail customers, what’s driving demand for myBMP and Better Cotton – and what Australian cotton farmers can do to meet changing demands.
• Kim Bowman – Agripath High profits from cotton – Agripath collects and analyses data from 80 cotton farms per year & they highlight the key factors/attributes of top performing farms.

For tickets to the Bayer Cotton Grower of the Year Field Day click here.