NEWS

Macintyre Downs is a well established, large scale cotton farm in the Macintyre Valley near Goondiwindi, Qld. It has been an irrigated cotton farm for 30 years with a history of corporate ownership. Global Ag Properties took over in August 2013. Michael Castor and his team from MCA Ag Management put forward an innovative proposal to run the enterprise providing management services, staffing, consulting agronomy services and the machinery needed to run the farm. The enterprise is largely black cracking clay soils with some lighter soils growing 1,234 Ha of cotton last season. The farms are managed with an aim for a three year rotation in cotton of cotton>cotton>fallow, however there is presently not enough water allocation or storage to achieve this. The enterprise presently operates on a one in, one out, flood irrigation system from the medium priority river allocation and when available, a significant high flow allocation. Whilst fields are prepared to take advantage of the maximum water available, the actual availability may vary considerably, making planning and guaranteeing returns to investors very difficult.  The 2013/14 season saw some fields yielding in excess of 14 bales/Ha and a whole of farm average of 13.5 bales/Ha. This was extremely pleasing for consultant agronomist Frank Valentine. The structure now in place is one that has the potential to change the face of the cotton industry, facilitating international ownership of land with local management, and Michael is the ideal person to demonstrate this model's effectiveness.