Happy New Year! All the best to South-East Qld from Rachel Russell and Chris Barry.

We hope you enjoyed a safe holiday period and managed to snag some downtime. As we move into January, our focus turns to the flowering and boll-filling stages of crop development, key periods for establishing yield potential in your crop, with 90% of crop yield being determined during the flowering to cutout period.

Crop update

In the Burnett Region, early crops are now flowering or reaching first flower, while later plantings are expected to flower toward the end of January. Throughout the month, expect peak flowering and irrigation in full swing for early crops.

In the Lockyer Valley, early crops have progressed to boll fill, with some fields showing counts of 150–180 bolls/m, while other crops remain in full flower. Dryland crops will likely be chasing rainfall by late January.

Why are boll counts important? Boll counting is a more reliable indicator of yield potential in a cotton crop than retention percentages, because it directly measures the number of bolls, which is the primary determinant of yield. Retention percentages, while useful, only provide information about the proportion of fruiting sites that remain on the plant at a given time and don’t reflect the absolute number of developing bolls. It is conceivable that crops can have low retention and high numbers of bolls, resulting in excellent yields.  

Insect pressure

As crops move into peak flowering and peak boll fill, continued vigilance is essential, especially given the heavy mirid pressure the region experienced early in the season. While some have reported the insects have quietened down, there continues to be reports of their movements.

In other news, over-the-top glyphosate applications are underway, along with top-dressing of fertiliser. Irrigations are well underway and some reports show these are being closely followed by rainfall.

CottonTracka^®

A graph from CottonTracka below demonstrates several factors impacting crop growth, with consistent rainfall throughout the season so far in the Byee region.

Further into the season, CottonTracka can be used to track NAWF,bolls/m and height and node production. For now, something to keep an eye on...

Upcoming events

Mark your calendars! A field walk in Byee to look at variety performance is planned between late February and early March, so keep your eyes peeled for more information in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, we’re happy to arrange visits to showcase current trial varieties across the region, including the ThryvOn™ technology trial on the Darling Downs. If you’re interested, please reach out.

If you feel like either you or your staff would benefit from a little bit of extra cotton knowledge in 2026, then it is worth remembering that the new CRDC Cotton Course will be run by the University of Sydney 10-12th March this year. Currently there is a discount available and there are still places.

CSD Extension and Development Agronomist’s Chris Barry and Rachel Russell (Burnett, Fraser Coast and Lockyer Valley) 

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