Junee school students tour southern NSW cotton industry

A group of students in southern NSW have learned about their region’s cotton industry.

Last week, 12 senior agriculture students from Junee High School toured a cotton farm and gin at Whitton, during an event organised by Cotton Australia and Southern Cotton gin.

The students and their teacher heard a presentation from grower Tim Commins, who gave the group a tour of his farm and informed them of the biology of a cotton plant and how pickers harvest the crop.

The students saw the crop close-up when they ventured into one of Tim and Roger Commins’ fields.

To learn about the processing component of the industry, the students visited Southern Cotton, where they were informed about cotton ginning and marketing, and saw ginned bales of cotton.

Junee High School student Brooke Harris said her knowledge of the Australian cotton industry was broadened during the event.

“What surprised me was the amount of departments and categories that you can find in the cotton industry,” she said.

“I didn’t realise there was so many marketing, data analysis [roles available in the industry].”