BETWEEN August 6 and 8th at the Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre, the 2024 Australian Cotton Conference was attended by members of One Basin CRC and our partners, offering a fruitful and positive outlook on the current water industry proceedings across the nation. 

The event brings together growers, agronomists, researchers, marketers, brands, students, supply chain partners and industry groups to address the challenges and opportunities facing the cotton industry, while accessing the most current information from the world’s leading cotton experts – and the water aspect certainly drew a positive and empowered response. 

With a number of partners in attendance, One Basin’s appearance at the 2024 Australian Cotton Conference helped industry leaders to gain an understanding of who we are, what we are trying to achieve in the Northern Basin, and create relationships with potential future partners. 

Regional Hub Manager for Goondiwindi, Marti Beeston, said the representation for the water industry at the conference was strong. 

“Water was really positively represented at the conference. The MDBA, DCCEEW and IGWC all had delegates attend, and the CEO of the MDBA was there to speak during a session, which was well received. Along with this, there was good talk in the sessions about water use efficiency and the need for further work to be done in this space,” Marti said. 

In terms of the relationship between the water space and the cotton industry, the general consensus remains positive. While there is always room for improvement to the essential relationship, it continues to grow and be represented by industry leaders, with the MDBA speaking at the conference, and having One Basin attend.

“It was great to see so many of the water world represented at the conference, with it being a first time attending for many. It’s important that representatives of the water industry continue to ‘show face’ at these events and promote transparency of what we are doing and how we can help each other,” Marti said. 

The partners that attended were CRDC, MDBA, Sensand, University of Sydney, NSW DPIE, National Farmers Federation, National Irrigators Council, and a graduate from one of the Peter Cullen Trust programs.