As the heavy rainfall this month drives weed growth, cotton growers are maintaining vigilance around spray drift potential. 

Cotton is particularly vulnerable to Group 4 herbicides such as 2,4-D.

"Thankfully the damage isn't significant yet, however, growers are reporting an unusually high weed issue in fields that are fallow after good winter crops and also in the emerging cotton crops," Cotton Australia (CA) Regional manager for northern NSW Bob Ford said.

Mr Ford said he already heard of cotton damage in Collarenebri, Narrabri, Rowena, and Walgett.

 Bob Ford.Cotton Australia Regional Manager for Northern NSW. Photo: Cotton Australia

So far, cotton growers from Walgett haven't noticed much spray drift but that could change soon. 

"Most people have just finished harvesting, so there hasn't been a lot of spraying. There could be a panic between now and Christmas to get everything sprayed," cotton grower Simon Long from Walgett said. 

 Last year was an excellent year for the cotton industry. 

"We had a great year," Mr Long said. "It was a very challenging year but we had many growers support the industry pretty well. This year is going to be the same I think." 

Spraying responsibly is key to keeping everyone's crops healthy, Mr Ford said.

“Potentially any farmer can create a risk for any other farmer if they are not applying herbicides correctly at this time of the year. 

"Spray drift management strategies reduce the risk of unintended impacts to neighbours and the environment and ensure more herbicide lands where it should, to maximise weed control," CA policy officer for Research and Development and Stewardship Doug McCollum said. 

"Responsible spraying strategies are part of a modern farming system, but everyone needs to follow instructions on the label, consider their neighbours, spray only when conditions are right, and use best practice techniques," Mr Ford said. 

“When developing a spray plan, checking the weather forecast and selecting the most appropriate nozzles before spraying are all vital. Conversations with your neighbours about the timing of your spray operations are also encouraged.” 

Mr Ford encouraged farmers to map their spraying activity on SataCrop which lets users know the location of sensitive crops and Weather and Networked Data (WAND) towers which can detect and predict hazardous conditions, allowing sprayers to proceed in the best conditions. 

The inversion towers have remote sensing capability and new proprietary software to provide growers and spray contractors with up to 24-hour forecasts of real-time weather data that is updated every 10 minutes. 

"This is a wake-up call to everyone in agriculture not just cotton, grain, and rice growers, everyone can be impacted in some way," Mr Collum said.