Researchers and agtech innovators across the New England have claimed five of just 11 grants awarded nationally to tackle the cotton industry’s toughest future challenges, from pest-eating mites dropped over Wee Waa paddocks to satellite dashboards built at the University of New England in Armidale.
The five projects secured funding through the Cotton Research and Development Corporation’s (CRDC) Innovation Call, a national search for bold ideas across three priority areas: preparing for a low-pesticide future, optimising nitrogen use, and improving weed management. Teams will present their findings at the Australian Cotton Conference on the Gold Coast this August, with a second funding round of up to $500,000 available to advance the most promising projects to proof-of-concept.
Wee Waa: mite capsules dropped from the air
Wee Waa-based Crop Capsules is testing whether predatory mites can be released at scale to naturally suppress two-spotted spider mites, a growing problem in cotton as resistance to chemical sprays increases.
The project, Releasing beneficial mites to naturally manage spider mites, will trial three release methods: a dry granular system, a liquid-phase spray, and Crop Capsules’ own biodegradable capsule technology, which packages live beneficial mites into protective, plant-based capsules dropped from the air directly into the crop.
Field trials will track predator survival, how well the mites suppress spider mites, and the resulting cut to crop damage, in what is described as the first field-scale evaluation of biological mite management in broadacre cotton. The feasibility study began in March.
Goondiwindi: turning farm waste into fertiliser
Goondiwindi-based Growth Agriculture is developing a circular-economy fertiliser that turns local organic waste, including treated sewage known as biosolids, animal bones and dried blood from meat processing, into a safe, high-quality fertiliser for cotton.
Instead of going to landfill, the waste is recycled into small pellets that slowly release nutrients into the soil, helping crops use nitrogen more efficiently while cutting fertiliser costs and emissions, and locking carbon into the soil.
The project, From waste to fertiliser: feeding cotton and cutting carbon, will test the product in the lab and on farms against common fertilisers such as urea, and design portable production units so it can be made locally. A community education campaign will run alongside the trials through the Dollars for Dung program.
Tamworth: drones and AI on weed patrol
Tamworth-linked Landcare Australia is developing WildSeek Weeds, a system using drones and an AI platform called WeedRemeed™ to detect hard-to-spot weeds before they spread through cotton country.
The technology is aimed at riparian zones, where manual weed surveys are difficult or unsafe to carry out on foot. Drone imagery is processed using colour picking and machine learning to detect and map weeds, with detection models expected to reach better than 80 per cent accuracy.
The project, delivered with the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions and the Tamworth Regional Landcare Association, will draw on advice from ecological specialists and local landholders to identify target weed species before drone surveys and AI training begin, ahead of deployment through Landcare Australia’s WildSeek hubs.
Goondiwindi again: beans doing the fertiliser’s job
A second Goondiwindi team, MCA Agronomy, is examining whether faba beans and other pulses can naturally feed the soil between cotton crops, pulling nitrogen from the air and improving soil health while cutting emissions.
The project, Pulses as green manure: feeding cotton crops, will weigh the agronomic, environmental and economic case for growing faba beans as a green manure crop within irrigated cotton rotations, starting with a desktop assessment and a grower survey on attitudes to green manuring. The findings will help shape a possible on-farm trial.
Armidale: satellites turned into farming dashboards
At the University of New England in Armidale, researchers are building real-time dashboards that turn satellite imagery and weather data into practical decisions for cotton growers.
The project, Real-time dashboards turning data into decisions, builds on technology already used in the rice industry, combining satellite images with local weather and field-level data such as paddock maps, soil information, fertiliser rates and past yields to track crop growth and nitrogen status against regional benchmarks.
The aim is to give farmers clear, live information so they can make fertiliser decisions that lift efficiency, profitability and environmental performance.
All five projects began work in March, with results to be shared with growers at the Australian Cotton Conference on the Gold Coast in August.
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