End of Season Considerations
At this point in the season, many growers have cut-out their crops or are looking to do so in preparation for the end of season. It has been a mixed season with only some regions receiving beneficial rain in storms, with the uncertain weather likely to continue into autumn as La Niña begins to weaken. The unknown weather outlook has the potential to impact defoliation, picking, and subsequent yield and quality. It is essential that appropriate management decisions be made in relation to the following end of season factors for a grower to achieve the best outcome.
DEFOLIATION
Defoliation is where chemicals such as DROPP® (Thidiazuron) are sprayed over the top of cotton crops to induce an abscission layer forming between the plant stem and leaf, resulting in the plant shedding its leaves. A successful defoliation is most likely achieved when weather conditions are clear and temperatures (particularly night time temperatures) are relatively high. Hormonal defoliants work best when minimum temperatures are above 18°C. Defoliant rates should be adjusted accordingly.
The outcome of a good defoliation will see the removal of the majority of leaves (the main source of stain and trash), thus leading to better quality results. Furthermore, the removal of the leaves reduces the moisture present around the crop. Reducing moisture will aid in preventing boll rot and allowing the lint to dry more quickly, allowing for picking to begin earlier. Ideally, when defoliation begins, available nitrogen and soil moisture should be at a minimum to prevent regrowth.
PICKING
Picking should commence when all bolls are mature so lint can be easily extracted from the cotton burr. As much leaf as possible should be removed, in order to prevent staining and higher levels of moisture. The ground should also be managed prior to defoliation to dry the profile back, preventing compaction for next season. Furthermore, cotton lint moisture levels are the main concern at picking.
Ideally, cotton should not be harvested if moisture content of the boll is over 12% as the high moisture can lead to degradation of fibre quality, primarily through spotting or yellowing of the fibre’s colour. This is caused by microorganism activity, which is promoted by moisture and temperature. In the worst case scenario, microorganism activity can also lead to combustion of baled cotton via their breakdown of cellulose and release of heat as a by-product. Moisture levels should always be monitored and if a round bale is produced with high moisture, the gin should be notified to have the bale ginned immediately.
GINNING
The cotton ginning process involves separating the cotton fibres from the seed as well as removing burrs, bracts, excess leaf litter and any foreign material. A brief overview of this process starts with drying the lint before it is run through equipment to remove the trash, and then run through circular saws which separates the lint from seed. The now separated fibre is transported into a flue before it is compressed into a bale. As mentioned above, to ensure cotton arrives in best condition for ginning a good defoliation and harvest is key. This requires a clean defoliation to reduce immature fibres that will impact micronaire and possibly cause neps, trash content and leaf; and timing the harvest to reduce moisture.
SELLING COTTON (FROM PETE JOHNSON, LEFT FIELD SOLUTIONS)
With 2021 crop prices holding at historically high levels, there aren’t too many reasons to complicate your end of season marketing with exotic marketing strategies.
In terms of late season forward marketing, most merchants will look at a ‘balance of crop’ type arrangement at a discount to their fixed bale pricing to compensate for the production risk that will be transferred to them. Obviously, the more certainty you can provide around the number of bales you are likely to deliver will give the merchant greater confidence to provide a more competitive price. Normally, the best way to do this is to provide a minimum and a maximum range on the number of bales you are willing to commit. Post picking, contracts for an estimated number of bales (with a tight minimum and maximum range based on the number of modules created and estimated turnout, less bales already committed) can yield values very close to fixed bale pricing.
Alternatively, growers can elect to market the tail end of the crop via a competitive tender process – whereby any excess cotton is classed and then put out to the market as a known quantity and quality. The benefit of this is that the grower can sometimes (but not always) mitigate the risk of being adversely impacted by steep discounts on the P&D sheet. This season, Australian cotton is only trading at a small premium to alternate origins (e.g. Brazilian/West African/US) so, in theory, our discounts on out of spec cotton may not need to be too severe. That said, if we have unusually high volumes of certain grades (e.g. low micronaire on immature cotton, or poor colour in the event of a wet harvest), then local supply side could have an impact on price relativities.
The key benefit of a forward balance of crop type sale is that you have more time in the market to find a ‘base grade’ price that you like, but on the flip side, you still hold the quality and P&D risk. The key benefit of the tender process is that you achieve fair value for the quality of the cotton you produce on the day that you sell it – but unless you go to the added expense of third party warehousing, you will have less time and choice as to when you market, as you typically will only have a few days get your cotton moved once ginned.
© Cotton Seed Distributors Ltd 2022. General guide only; not comprehensive or specific technical advice. Circumstances vary from farm to farm. To the fullest extent permitted by law, CSD expressly disclaims all liability for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information, statement or opinion in this document or from any errors or omissions in this document. Roundup Ready Flex®, Roundup Ready®, Bollgard II® and Bollgard® 3 are registered trademarks of Monsanto Technologies LLC, used under licence by Monsanto Australia Ltd. Insect control technology incorporated into these seeds is commercialised under a licence from Syngenta Crop Protection AG. Sicot, Sicala, Siokra and Sipima cotton varieties are a result of a joint venture research program, Cotton Breeding Australia, conducted by CSIRO and Cotton Seed Distributors Ltd (CSD). CSD is a partner in the CottonInfo joint venture, in partnership with Cotton Research Development Corporation and Cotton Australia.