Irrigated cotton growers across north-west NSW will get new tools to tackle soilborne diseases such as Verticillium wilt, under a partnership between rural services company McGregor Gourlay and soil health company Metagen.
The agency agreement will strengthen biological services for irrigated cotton growers across key regions of New South Wales and Queensland.
Privately owned McGregor Gourlay, established some 130 years ago, has a footprint across some 50,000 hectares of irrigated cotton, stretching from north-west NSW to the southern Queensland Border Rivers and the Darling Downs.
With 16 branches across NSW and southern Queensland, the company specialises in a wide variety of winter and summer crops for broadacre, irrigated, and tropical programs, with dedicated agronomy services.
McGregor Gourlay group senior agronomist Scott Rogers said the agreement would initially focus on providing Metagen’s biological management programs to its irrigated cotton network.
That includes product distribution, soil health services, and agronomic advice, progressively extending to its dryland cotton, broadacre, tree crop, sugarcane, and pastoral branches.
“Our vision is for the close collaboration of two well-respected 100 per cent Australian-owned companies providing tangible solutions to Australian farmers,” Mr Rogers said.
“Together we’ll provide growers with quality information to give them a good indication of what solutions work best for their disease or soil health challenges throughout their crop cycles, from planning to picking.”
“Specifically, we’re looking forward to providing solutions to some of the harder-to-deal-with soilborne diseases in cotton such as Verticillium wilt.”
Metagen territory manager for the northern Murray Darling Basin, David McGrath, said the company had made significant advances in irrigated cotton in recent years.
“Over the past few years, Metagen has built its irrigated cotton capability by combining soil biology testing with practical crop inputs and on-farm evaluation,” Mr McGrath said.
“The work began with a focus on soilborne disease challenges on the Darling Downs and has since expanded into other cotton-growing districts as growers and advisers seek a better understanding of their soils and practical cost-effective ways to improve them.”
“Soilborne disease, including Verticillium wilt, is a serious concern in long-term irrigated cotton systems and can materially affect a grower’s productive capacity.”
Mr McGrath said McGregor Gourlay was being proactive in connecting its clients with solutions through Metagen’s laboratory services and products such as Digestor NP and Lipoguard.
“This agreement gives Metagen a strong, technically engaged network across key cotton regions,” Mr McGrath said.
“It will help us bring laboratory insight, practical soil-health programs and local on-farm learning to more growers, while supporting McGregor Gourlay agronomists to develop solutions tailored to their clients’ systems.”
Mr Rogers said the disease was a challenge across every growing area.
“Metagen biostimulant Digestor is one of very few products available to growers that lessen the severity of Verticillium wilt,” Mr Rogers said.
“The disease is prevalent in all regions to varying degrees.”
“The agreement takes our services to a new level as we are able to offer growers a practical solution that works and gives us access to Metagen’s lab services so we can focus our efforts on tackling diseases and providing local data that backs up trials conducted in our regions.”
Metagen general manager Liam Riedy said the agreement also strengthened Metagen’s distribution network on the northern NSW coast, building on results it was achieving in tree crops, pasture, and sugarcane.
More information is available at metagen.com.au.
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