Print This Page2009 Australian Cotton Trade Show & Gwydir Valley Cotton Growers Association Charity Dinner
Monsanto at the 2009 Australian Cotton Trade Show
Monsanto’s Bob Ford and Tom Breen at the Australian Cotton Tradeshow
On Tuesday the 27th and Wednesday the 28th of May, we were one of the many exhibitors at the biannual Australian Cotton Trade Show.
The tradeshow was an impressive gathering of growers and suppliers in the cotton industry.
The Monsanto Grower of the Year finalists were announced by our Cotton Product Manager, Dom Bolton, at a lunch time session focusing on the 2009 Cotton Industry Awards.
The finalists in the running to win the 2009 Monsanto Grower of the Year are:
- Andrew Pursehouse from Breeza Station: Andrew considers cotton the most exciting and profitable crop to grow on his property and he believes that the high risk and high reward crop is well worth the challenge. Andrew believes that Australian cotton is some of the highest quality cotton in the world, and through research, investment and the work of committed growers, the industry will continue to improve in the years to come.
- Gary Coulton from Federation Farm: Gary manages the Narrabri Community Education Trust’s “Federation Farm” – an agricultural enterprise owned by the Narrabri Shire Council that has been producing cotton since 2000. The aim of the enterprise is to achieve maximum profits from the water available, ensure the operation is sustainable, and to identify opportunities to increase productivity by evaluating new technologies on the farm.
- John Norman from Toobeah: John’s objective is to establish every crop on rain moisture and take steps to enhance the field’s ability to capture the moisture, both in crop and fallow. John has invested his entire working life to growing cotton and has helped his family increase the farm’s production area from 250 hectares to over 3000 hectares. John chose cotton farming over all other possible investments as he believes in the industry and its potential.
The 2009 Monsanto Grower of the Year will be announced at the Cotton Industry Awards held in August. We wish all finalists the best!
Our stand included a guessing competition, where participants had to guess how many worms (of the confectionary variety) were in the jar. We would like to congratulate Peter Birch from B&W Rural for entering the closest guess!
For his efforts Peter took home a 60L Bollgard II® with Roundup Ready Flex® ice box and the giant jar of sour worms!
The trade show was a great success and we were happy to see cotton and broad-acre growers with confidence after recent rains and the conclusion of a good cotton season!
Community Focus: Gwydir Valley Cotton Growers Association Charity Dinner
On the Wednesday evening at the Australian Cotton Trade Show, 260 people attended the Gwydir Valley Cotton Growers Association Charity Dinner. The dinner was a celebration of the Gwydir Valley Cotton Growers Association Rural Doctors Medical Scholarship Fund of which we are platinum sponsors.
2009 receipent Sam Fogarty, Monsanto’s Bec Diprose and 2008 receipent Kate Sullivan
Bec Diprose, Monsanto’s Cotton Traits Account Manager presented the scholarships to the 2008 and 2009 recipients of the Rural Doctors Medical Scholarship.
The 2008 Recipient, Kate Sullivan, is a 5th year medical student. Originally a Sydney girl, she transferred to study in a regional hospital at Coffs Harbour. Kate recently completed two weeks in Moree with a local doctor and experienced many firsts, including witnessing her first labour! She is returning to Moree in August to complete her rural placement.
Fifty eight young hopefuls applied for the 2009 Rural Doctors Medical Scholarship and of the 12 finalists interviewed, Sam Fogarty was announced as the 2009 recipient.
Sam grew up in Toowoomba, but has close ties to the Gwydir Valley. His Grandfather, Robbo Long was one of Croppa Creek's original dryland cotton growers. Sam is a 2nd year medical student at the University of Queensland. Formerly a Brisbane Pharmacist, he was practicing for 4 years prior to returning to study.
Before his interview, Sam had taken the time to learn about Monsanto, our products and what we represent. During his interview Sam said, "I can see the significant contribution Monsanto has made to the cotton industry. Their products have helped to reduce the level of pesticides in the environment and this has a positive flow on effect to health care".
$18,800 was also raised during the evening through a charity auction in aid of the Westpac Rescue Helicopter which services Moree.
