Drought Facts and Figures

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Cotton Australia Fact Sheet  /  Drought Facts and Figures

Drought
WATER AND COTTON FACT SHEET

Australian Cotton Industry
  • Employs 10,000 Australians
  • Directly supports 4,000 businesses that are reliant on cotton
  • One of the most significant employers in cotton regions of NSW and Queensland
  • Average of $1.5 billion to the national economy each year
  • The Australian cotton industry is the most efficient in the world and successfully competes against other cotton growing nations like the USA which heavily subsidises its farmers

Average Cotton Farm
  • Family owned & operated
  • Medium sized, with 362 hectares of cotton
  • Creates jobs for 8 people (4 full-time staff, 1 part-time staff and 3 casual staff)
  • Has other agricultural enterprises, including:
  • Summer crops like sorghum, sunflowers & soybean
  • Winter crops supplemented by residual soil moisture from cotton crop

Water and Efficiency
  • Our industry is three times more efficient than the global average
  • Cotton growers have improved efficiency by 238% since the 1970s – we now produce 7.84 bales/ hectare, as compared to 3.3 bales/hectare
  • The industry is investing $17 million in R&D to improve water efficiency over the next three years through the Cotton CRC
  • The industry is targeting a doubling of water use efficiency in the next 10 years

Crop Water Requirements
  Average Irrigation Requirement
(megalitres per hectare)
Rice  12.3
 Lucerne for hay 10
 Corn 8
 Asparagus 8
Watermelon  8
Tomatoes
8
Maize
7.15
Cotton
6.3
Soybeans
6
Sugar cane
5
Pasture for grazing
4
Source:  ABS Water Use on Australian Farms 2005-06 and NSW Agriculture Farm Budgets 2006