Early finish on the cotton pick at Talbragar Park yields 11 bales/ha

This efficient water usage resulted in an average of 11 bales a hectare.

Mr Frampton said about 180 millimetres of in-crop rain, along with centre pivot applied irrigation, made their crop even more successful in a district he described as marginal at best for growing the natural fibre.

Before planting the first cotton crop, the Framptons engaged in at least three years of research under the guidance of, their agronomist, Adrian Nelson, a partner of NuRural, Quirindi.

They are now hitting production targets and this year is now the fifth season they have grown the crop.

Mr Frampton said before turning to cotton, they were growers of large areas of sorghum. However, due to issues with weed resistance and chemical use, they turned to Mr Nelson for help finding a summer break crop.

Most of the crop, Sicot 746B3F, is covered by water from the pivot, with some dryland on the headlands where the pivots don't roll.

He said Dunedoo's local climate, which he regards as marginal for cotton production, favours pivot irrigations.

"It doesn't get as hot here, especially at night, unlike around Trangie and Moree, so the plant's demand for water is less," he said.

"Before we started growing cotton, Claire and I collected a lot of data, especially examining grow hours.

"We did a lot of research to prove that we could grow cotton and owe a lot to Adrian, our agronomist. He's a top fellow; without him, he's been such an excellent guiding hand."

This year, the Talbragar Park cotton pick was completed by the beginning of the ANZAC weekend. Two pickers helped hasten the process, and the cotton was trucked to Carroll for ginning.

"Normally, we'd only be beginning to defoliate around Anzac Day, so it's been a good year for our crop," he said.

"Scott Davies (of Carroll Gin) was a school friend of mine at Muswellbrook, and we went to boarding school together, so we know he looks after our crop really well," Mr Frampton said.

The seed from Frampton's cotton was reserved for use in another family enterprise: feedlots at Dunedoo and his father's property at Merriwa.

Making the most of two young English farmers from Dorset, Mr Frampton had one running a mulcher behind the pickers getting ready to plant Maximus barley in July.

"We have to plant much later because the flats on the (Talbragar) river are prone to heavy frosts," he said.

"That barley will go back through our feedlot program."

Insect aggression has been minimal this year, and Mr Frampton said the aim was to ensure they had a good population of beneficial parasites to help keep pests under control.

Cotton is part of a rotation at Talbragar Park and will not be planted back to back in the irrigation country.

"We have enough challenges growing cotton. It's so marginal here; we're on a knife edge," he said.

"When we hit the mark, we do it well, but it's not without excellent advice."

The dryland cotton is planted at nine plants per metre, while the irrigated crop is planted at 13/m.

The Framptons do all of their own sowing, spraying and crop management; only the picking is done by contractors.

Mr Frampton said the fraternity of the cotton industry has greatly supported their enterprise.

"Cotton industry members have been really helpful to us," he said.