6 November 2026
As you are likely aware following significant rainfall across a large proportion of the cotton growing regions, we have received new orders exceeding 1100 metric tons of seed. CSD stores and treats seed on demand to ensure that we can provide growers with both their variety of choice and their seed treatment of choice.
Our entire production team has been and continues to work hard to support the large amount of orders we received in the last fortnight. CSD appreciates the eagerness of growers to get seed in the ground as soon as possible, and we are doing everything we can to support the objectives of growers.
Our actions to ensure seed supply
On Monday 2 November, we advised agents that our main varieties and seed treatments on offer have been temporarily consolidated, to ensure we process, treat and quality assure cotton seed as quickly as possible. These varieties include Sicot 619B3XF, Siokra 253B3XF, Sicot 606B3F, Sicot 748B3F and Sicot 724XF refuge; with both V2C and VC seed treatments, as these form the bulk of varieties that growers usually request for planting dryland cotton.
This doesn’t mean that growers are unable to order alternative varieties, you are. It means that we are prioritising the large runs that typically constitute orders as it takes approximately 6 to 8 hours to stop a line and clean down effectively between varieties and treatments.
Following this production run, we will have some small amounts of seed of these varieties and treatments ready on the floor for future orders.
We also shared that, at the moment, all seed is being released via early quality assurance (QA), which means that data will become available as seed is being delivered to farms to ensure we get seed to you as soon as possible. Early QA is based on black seed being within CSD specifications prior to treatment and completing purity and trait purity tests. However, seed treatments may affect some of the seed quality parameters, which is why we typically retest following seed treatment.
Other cottonseed varieties are still available – if you require other varieties, we encourage CSD Agents to call our Customer Service team or Commercial team to place an order.
CSD has sufficient seed supply
CSD has more than enough seed to meet demand. Agents and growers need to be aware though that once an order is placed, the turnaround time to be able to pick up seed is approximately 2-7 days.
Prior to that, CSD is continually talking with growers and CSD Agents, and following long-range weather forecasting to gauge what the demand for cottonseed is going to be. The recent wet weather events over the past fortnight however, meant planting intentions and rainfall changed dramatically from what anyone expected.
How seed is produced and dispatched
Inventory management of cottonseed is a little different to other agricultural products. With cottonseed being a biological product, at CSD we do not keep a huge amount produced and treated on the floor, purely because it does not have a long shelf life.
To counter this, we keep the product as black seed (not yet treated), which is more stable in storage. We aim to have two-years worth of cottonseed stored and ready to treat at any stage. Extensive quality assurance is conducted throughout the life of the product to ensure the seed remains at high-quality levels.
For our order rounds, we produce the seed as needed, which takes 2-7 days. This includes applying specific seed treatments to the relevant variety, and conducting the quality assurance assessments required to provide you the seed analysis statement accessible via the QR code on the bag.
If you’d like to understand more about how CSD produces seed, and the work we do to ensure a high-quality product, watch:
Queries
In the meantime, if you have any queries about timing of dispatch, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
- Growers: contact your local CSD Commercial Agronomist or your CSD Agent
- Agents: contact the CSD Customer Service team on 02 6795 0001, or your local CSD Commercial Agronomist.