Australian Cotton Industry

Cotton is a natural fibre and makes up just under half of all the fibre sold in the world.
The cotton plant arrived in Australia with the First Fleet in 1788, but significant
production did not occur until the early 1960s. Cotton is now the 4th largest rural export
in Australia and gross annual income is approximately $1.8 billion a year. Australian
producers achieve not only world record yields, but do so working in one of the harshest
natural climates on Earth. Australia's cotton farmers employ sophisticated technology
and constantly seek new innovations to ensure their cotton remains in high demand the
world over.

Approximately two-thirds of Australias cotton is grown in NSW with the remainder

produced in Queensland. The major production area in NSW stretches south from the
Macintyre River on the Queensland border and covers the Gwydir, Namoi and
Macquarie valleys. In NSW cotton is also grown along the Barwon and Darling rivers in
the west and the Lachlan and Murrumbidgee rivers in the south. In Queensland, cotton
is grown mostly in the south in the Darling Downs, St George, Dirranbandi and
Macintyre Valley regions.

The average Australian cotton farm is medium-sized, family-owned, with 362 hectares
of cotton and creates jobs for eight people. Over the past decade, the Australian cotton
industry has achieved a 126 per cent increase in production, while the area devoted to
cotton has increased by only 50 per cent. The Australian cotton industry offers countless
jobs for mechanics, distributors of farm machinery, consultants, crop processors and
other support services workers.