Narrabri farmers Brendon, Jack and Jacqui Warnock have been judged the high achievers of the Australian cotton industry.
The Warnocks won the 2014 High Achiever of the Year Award at a presentation dinner attended by more than 1000 people at the biggest ever Australian Cotton Conference on the Gold Coast on Thursday night.
The family was recognised among five recipients of the 2014 Australian Cotton Industry Awards.
The Awards recognise excellence and achievement in Australia’s cotton industry throughout the supply chain, from growers and ginners to product suppliers, consultants, agronomists and researchers.
The bi-ennial cotton conference this year attracted a record attendance, with 1,800 delegates from Australia’s cotton growing areas and associated industries.
The Warnocks are long established Narrabri district growers and have been farming at “Warilea” for 31 years.
Warnock Agronomics was started by Jack and Jacqui Warnock and is now run by their son Brendon.
Cotton plays an integral role in the Warnock’s intensive operation with a farm average of 9.95 bales/ha from 958ha of irrigated cotton.
“Every hectare is expected to bear a crop every year, 70% from cotton-cotton and 30% from a rotation” the awards judges said.
“They have seen a 10-15% increase in yield from a wheat rotation, however this year corn will be introduced.
“The Warnocks keep a close eye on timing, with quick turn-around times on key activities.
“Their irrigation times are based on staff needs, keeping to a 12-hour run time.
“The farm is lined with attractive nature strips, which assist in natural predator levels.
“The enterprise attempts to do much of the work in-house, justifying the employment of five staff members and the purchase of good quality equipment.
‘It bought one of the last new square basket pickers in Australia after assessing the cost benefit of changing over to a round picker.”
Cotton Australia CEO Adam Kay said the finalists in this year’s awards ‘were of an extremely high calibre’, making the judges’ task very challenging.
“All the finalists in this year’s program have contributed enormously to Australia’s cotton industry, which made the task of judging this year’s Awards only more difficult,” Mr Kay says.
“The Australian Cotton Industry Awards celebrate not just the great work and personal commitment of these fine individuals, but also the commitment of everyone throughout the cotton supply chain.”
“Sadly, there can be only one recipient in each category.
“All of the successful candidates this year have achieved great things within Australian cotton – they are magnificent ambassadors for our industry and I congratulate them all.”
The audience of industry personnel from Australia and overseas applauded the achievements of the winners.
The 2014 Australian Cotton Industry Awards recipients are:
Monsanto Grower of the Year Tim and Sally Watson (Hillston, Qld)
AgriRisk High Achiever of the Year Brendon, Jack and Jacqui Warnock (Narrabri), Chris Lehmann Trust Young Achiever of the Year, sponsored by Bayer CropScience Zara Lowien (Moree), Cotton Seed Distributors Researcher of the Year Dr Stuart Gordon (Geelong, Victoria)
Incitec Pivot Fertilisers Service to Industry Award Andrew Parkes (Moree.)