Some of this season’s cotton is already enroute to spinning mills with an estimated 90 per cent of the crop already picked.
Despite wet weather drawing out the harvest, Cotton Australia’s Chief Executive Officer, Adam Kay, said the industry was on its way to producing its largest crop on record.
“The crop is definitely moving with ginning well under way. We are expecting ginning to continue possibly late into August/September given the drawn-out season and size of the crop,” Adam said.
“The wet weather has extended the picking process, but we believe it is a record crop with more than 5.5 million bales.”
The 2021-22 crop is valued at more than $4 billion.
With 5.5 million bales to be ginned, about 1.2 million tonnes of fibre will be separated from cotton seed, which is enough to clothe half a billion people in a t-shirt, pair of jeans, jocks and socks.
“Our farmers are very excited to potentially have two very good seasons in a row, given it was only two years ago we had the smallest crop in 40 years,” Adam said.
Australia’s cotton is considered some of the most sustainably produced cotton in the world, with farmers growing three times more cotton per hectare than the global average thanks to technology advances and sustainable growing practices.
Want to see how cotton is ginned? Watch the video below.