18 IREC Farmers' Newsletter No. 199 — Autumn 2018 QUICK TAKE A database of crop production practices in the southern growing region will help identify the key attributes for successful cotton farming in the south. SHARED DATA WILL BENEFIT SOUTHERN COTTON GROWERS l  Information collected to build a database on cotton production in the Murrumbidgee and Murray valleys will help identify and understand key drivers of yield, and assist management decisions in the future. l  While the 2016–17 season was not the greatest the region has seen, due to challenging field preparation and growing conditions, the data collected showed cotton can still be viable in a bad season. l  For the 2016–17 season, it appears that the optimum cotton crop was grown on spaced hills, after a summer fallow, planted with the variety Sicot 74-6B3F around the second week of October, nitrogen was monitored through the season, and rates of nitrogen around 250 kg were applied. Cotton growers in the southern growing regions of Australia have contributed to a database to help build knowledge about successful production systems for future industry success. Steve Buster Cotton Research Officer NSW Department of Primary Industries Yanco Agricultural Institute WHILE cotton production is well established in northern NSW and southern Queensland, for a range of reasons best practices are not necessarily completely transferable to the southern growing regions. The cotton industry in the south has some attributes unique to its northern cousins. New growers — while some growers in the south have been producing cotton for a decade, most growers have been producing cotton for less than five years. Agronomists — the southern industry appears to use agronomists/ consultants for most of its information, due to the specialist knowledge that is required to grow a successful crop. The opinions of agronomists on key aspects of successful cotton production are varied, as would be expected. Many agronomists have only been involved with cotton for as long as their clients have.