Why do farmers choose to grow cotton?
Cotton growers are really farmers with a license to access water under a strict set of rules. At the beginning of each season, they choose to grow particular crops based on a number of factors: water availability, commodity price, ability to sell and overall cost of production.
Farmers are business people and so they choose to grow the crop that gives them the best financial return on their water. While this can change from year to year, over 800 farmers in NSW and Queensland choose to grow cotton, along with other crops such as wheat, barley, corn, sunflowers, sorghum and chickpeas.
The most appropriate crops to grow with Australia’s water are:
- Crops that are only grown when there is water available. Cotton is planted and harvested once a year. In low water years (like in times of drought), cotton is simply not planted, unlike permanent crops such as grapes and citrus that need water every year
- Crops of the highest value. Water should be ‘spent’ on the crops that deliver the best return to the farmer, the community and the national economy. Cotton generally returns more per megalitre than any other crop, contributes $1.5 billion a year in export earnings and employs 10,000 Australians
- Crops that are in demand. Cotton is the world’s favourite natural fibre, with the global fibre market set to double in the next decade. Australian cotton is highly valued on the world market and gets a premium over most competitors. In 2007, the world demand for cotton outstripped supply, with much of Australia’s crop already sold three years in advance
