— 18 IREC Farmers' Newsletter No. 200 — Spring 2018 Above average yields in 2018 The survey covered more than 40,000 ha, with the highest yielding field at 16.2 bales/ha. A lot of growers had at least one field that went over 12 bales/ha. The true indication of the season performance, however, was shown by overall farm average yields (Figure 3), which ranged from 10 to 14 bales/ha with most in the 11–12 bales/ha range. The survey average was 11.76 bales/ha, with the final southern NSW average likely to be around 11.2 bales/ha. This is above the long-term average of 10.8 bales/ha. At the time of writing, ginning was still underway and this average is only an estimate of overall yield taken from the survey sample of 25 crops. In comparison, 2017 was a lower yielding season with farm averages at 9.25 bales/ha, while 2016 was an exceptional year for yield with farm averages of 12 bales/ha. The 2017–18 season was an above average year for yields and prices. The good to average yields combined with exceptional lint and cotton seed prices saw average gross margin per hectare (GM/ha) returns of $2460 (Table 1). The average gross margin per megalitre (GM/ML) return reported in 2018 was $322 [not in Table 1] but there was a big range of $477 to $220 due to different contracted prices and actual water use. Figure 3. Average farm yield (bales/ha) for 24 survey respondents from southern NSW, in the 2017–18 cotton survey. Average farm yield (bales/ha) 1 7 13 19 2 8 14 20 3 9 15 21 4 10 16 22 5 11 17 23 6 12 18 24 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 Table 1. Averaged income, costs and gross margin for three growing seasons Income/ha Variable costs/ha GM/ha GM/ML 2016 $7200 $3895 $3305 $330 2017 $5458 $3404 $2058 $205 2018 $6310 $3850 $2460 $246 — 18 IREC Farmers' Newsletter No. 200 — Spring 2018 Cotton survey results