Eleven regional winners turn cotton tools to their establishment advantage

These regional winners were assessed on their establishment figures, with the evenness of their young crop helping to set them up for success later in the season, as well as earning them each a $1000 gift card to the Total Tools chain of hardware outlets.

Cotton Seed Distributors (CSD) and Syngenta Australia, partners in the FastStart program, coordinate the awards to encourage attention to detail and adoption of the program's tools, which were developed to support growers in the critical first 70 days of establishment.

CSD Extension and Market Development Lead Peter White said cotton growers know better than most the value of quality tools - whether they're kept on the back of the ute or accessed on the FastStartCotton.com.au website.

"Winning is nice but what sets the cotton industry apart from some other sectors is the willingness to help others along the way, and what we're really aiming to do is showcase the help growers can access to grow great cotton," he said.

"Between CSD and Syngenta, we've pooled a lot of knowledge and created some really handy tools to assist growers with their establishment. Sometimes, the best way of learning is to see how they can best apply this to their crops."

The awards were launched in 2018 and have featured a winning dryland and irrigated cotton grower each year since. The competition rewards growers in their continuous efforts to improve production methods.

"Many growers out there are doing a great job of optimising their seedling establishment through the utilisation of Syngenta Seedcare technology applied to CSD seed and the agronomic knowledge brought to light through extensive FastStart research projects," said Syngenta Seedcare TM Technical Services Lead Dean Hancock.

"The awards are a great way of doing this and sharing best practices with other growers."

FastStart Cotton research and development is funded through the proceeds of each bag of seed sold through CSD, which comes with the added protection of Syngenta Seedcare treatments.

Regional winner Will Carrigan, from the Boomi Valley, NSW, agreed that success was in the detail.

"Bed preparation is something we really focus on, so if it needs another pass we make sure to take the time to get it done," he said.

"Then it's a matter of watching the [FastStart] traffic light system to let us know when to make a start to planting."

Two overall winners will be announced on 9 May, for the entrants with the best Irrigated and Dryland establishment results.

The regional award winners are:

Southern, NSW - Sarah Parkes, Carrathool, irrigated;

Gwydir, NSW - Tim Leyfels, Moree, dryland;

Namoi, NSW - Will Turner, Edgeroi, dryland;

Macquarie Valley, NSW - Jim Bible, Narromine, irrigated;

Balonne, NSW - Will Carrigan, Boomi, irrigated;

Central QLD - Greg Kauter, Emerald, irrigated;

Darling Downs, QLD - John 'Cowboy' Cameron, Pittsworth, dryland;

Macintyre, QLD - Shane Boardman, Goondiwindi, dryland;

South East, QLD - Michael Stewart, Wondai, irrigated;

Western Australia - Christian Bloecker, Kununurra, irrigated; and,

Northern Territory - Toney Hayne, Douglas Daly, dryland.