It’s all about cotton…….Every thread counts
There are more than 1200 cotton farms in Australia, roughly half NSW and half in QLD.
The cotton industry employs 15 times as many people as grazing and five times as many people as Dry land cropping. (source: Stubbs report, 2012).
In an average year, Australia’s cotton growers produce enough cotton to clothe 500 million people.
Australian cotton is exported through ports in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
On the farm, mechanically harvested cotton is pressed into large round modules or large rectangular, truck-sized blocks.
A cotton gin can produce 60-100 cotton bales an hour.
An Australian cotton bale weights 227kg (500 pounds).
When the cotton bales arrive at the spinning mills, they are first opened and checked for contamination.
Bales of cotton are put into a blower to separate all the fibres, and are then combed, carded and spun into yarn.
Cotton and its by-products are used in the production of a huge range of products including bank notes, margarine, rubber and medical supplies.
Australia and Egypt produce the highest quality cottons in the world.
The fibre from one 227kg cotton bale can produce 215 pairs of jeans, 250 single bed sheets, 1,200 t-shirts, 2,100 pairs of boxer shorts, 3,000 nappies, 4,300 pairs of socks or 680,000 cotton balls.
Cotton can absorb up to 27 times its own weight in water.
The cotton plant requires about 180-200 days from planting to full maturity, ready for harvest.
Australia produced 1.9 million bales of cotton in 2014-2015.
Cotton is the lifeblood of many regional communities, employing 10,000 Australians in Queensland and NSW in a non-drought year.
MYBMP assists cotton growers to keeps pesticide use to a minimum, control weeds and diseases, maximise water use efficiency, improve soil health, protect and retain native animals and vegetation.
Each cotton boll usually contains 27-45 seeds, attached to each seed is between 10,000-20,000 tiny fibre’s, about 28mm in length.
www.cottonaustralia.com.au
By Ruby Smith
The students gathered together and each wrote something that they had learnt or something they had found out interesting about cotton:
Seth:
Australia is the third largest exporter of cotton in the world (behind the US and India).
Australian cotton is in high demand and can attract a price premium due to its high quality characteristics, reliability and a proven track record in meeting manufacturer and consumer needs.
Connor:
Australian cotton growers have reduced their insecticide use by 89% over the last decade, with some crops not sprayed for insects at all.
Mackenzie:
Each cotton ball usually contains 27-45 seeds.
Generally, the growing season from planting to picking lasts approximately six months.
Jaymee:
In 2010 organic cotton produced worldwide amounted to a little over 1% of total cotton grown.
Alesha:
Cotton is the lifeblood of many regional communities employing 10,000 Australians in Queensland and New South Wales in a non-drought year.
Ben:
In an average year, Australia’s cotton growers produce enough cotton to clothe 500 million people.
Jess:
In the last decade, Asia has become the number one destination for cotton imports.
Chance:
The first fleet brought cotton seed to Australia in 1788.
Demi:
Today, more than 99% of planted cotton in Australia uses biotechnology.
Remi:
Cotton is only planted when sufficient water is made available from rivers and ground water sources.
Cotton’s average irrigation requirement is 7.8 mega litres per hectare.
Maddie:
World textile supply chain is now demanding more and more cotton from responsibly produced sources.