the impacts of colour discounts to the australian cotton...
TRANSCRIPT
The impacts of colour discounts to the Australian Cotton Industry
Presentation by
Matt McVeigh
2015 Nuffield Scholar
Special thanks to Investors
Family farming business•Dalby, Qld. Darling Downs
•6,000Ha of Irrigated and Dryland farming. Owned, leased and share
•Cotton, Sorghum, Mung Beans
•Chickpeas, Wheat, Barley
Many thanks to
• Parents Neil and Sonya
• Brothers Craig and Lachlan
• Fiancé Allyse
• Team at home on the farm
• India GFP group
• All of the businesses and people that allowed me to visit
My Nuffield journeyUSAChinaBrazilVietnamTurkey
Australian Cotton Industry
My Study focus• Colour downgrades to Australian Cotton fibre and the
large discounts associated
• How can we minimise this loss of income or is it fair for the growers.
511 511 511
470
480
430
LENGTH STRENGTH COLOUR
Comparison of three discount values
Base price Discount price
Potential losses for Colour
•Average farm size= 495Ha
•Losses per bale= $75/Bale
•Average irrigated yield= 11.5B/Ha
•Losses per Ha= $862/Ha
•Losses over that farm= $426,690!
Major issues
•Decreased income for growers
•Poor processing capability
•Negative impact on the reputation and the future
Visited spinning mills, fibre expo’s warehouses, textile and apparel
manufactures
Spinning Mill in Vietnam
Water resistant cotton in China
Cotton gins, farms, universities and research groups.
Arizona,UScotton
Port in Shanghai
Guangzhou, China
“Guest appearance”
Brazil- Fast improvement in quality
• Large farms 200-300,000 Ha’s of Arable land.
• Excellent management and quality control.
• No harvest rain and low moisture issues
Cotton picking at Van Guarda
Busato cotton gin
BOM Futuro visit
China• Portable sampling technology
• Esquel
• Vigoss
• Spinexpo, Shanghai
Denim factory in Guangzhou, China
Spinexpo in Shanghai.
Vigoss Denim factory, Guangzhou
USA• Cotton Incorporated
• North and South Carolina and Arkansas, weather issues. Discounts weren’t large.
• Lubbock, Texas. Centre of the cotton world.
• Arizona. Similiar quality to Australia.
Roller ginning in Arizona
Cotton Incorporated, Raleigh NC
Turkey and Vietnam
• Turkish towels. Can Australia manufacture something similar?
• New users & still using low quality and cheap cotton.
• New mills are being built to use higher quality cotton.
Spinning mill in Vietnam
Turkish towels
What did I learn?• Colour didn’t appear to be the biggest problem although discounts don’t
reflect this.
• Fibre improvement is needed
• Parts of the world are improving more rapidly than Australia
• Reduced length and strength are problems mills are worried about in weathered cotton
• Old classing base from 1909
Perhaps it’s time to update?
New technology on the horizon
• Thermal defoliation.
• Vacuum cotton picking.
• Harvest of closed bolls to avoid weathering.
• Biodegradable water repellents.
Technology being used now
Management advice
• Control cotton seed moisture below 11%.
• Inspect premium and discount values before marketing cotton
• Sample cotton with Miniature gin.
• Stage modules according to their moisture levels
• If weather is concerning consider colour downgrade insurance
• Consider changing row spacing to suit water availability to limit plant stress and provide more light and wind to weathered fibre.
Our adoption• More attention to cotton seed moisture and use of moisture meters
• Ginning cotton samples before picking and communicating to the gin
• Colour downgrade insurance research
• Trying to develop a simple hand held colour meter and scale to match.
• Have changed our row spacing to benefit overall quality and provide more light and wind to the fibre
My industry vision 2025
• Long staple, high valued upland cotton grown and a premium market will be available.
• Large discounts from mild weathering can be minimised.
• Competition from synthetic fibres plateu and cotton demand will remain stable.
• New technology becoming more accessible to help with production and lower costs.
• Colour grading scale changed to a stepped system and a better representation of Australian white cotton
Recommendations• Revision of current discount values and grading system
• Greater discussion between growers, merchants and spinning mills and their requirements
• Sampling equipment that can be mobile and affordable
• Research into new defoliation chemicals to act similar to thermal defoliation
• Growers need to be focusing on quality along with yield.
• A product that could be local to Australia and made from the downgraded cotton
