A vision shared by six farmers to make cotton a profitable alternative crop for Murrumbidgee farmers has led to Southern Cotton being named the Regional Award winner at the 2015 Telstra Australian Business Awards.
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Previously forced to transport their cotton over an 800 kilometre round trip to be ginned, directors Tim and Roger Commins, Gerard and John Toscan, Scott Hogan and Larry Walsh put everything on the line in 2011 to establish what is now considered a world class ginning facility.
The Whitton-based gin is turning over $25 million annually and has been acknowledged as the driving force behind the burgeoning Murrumbidgee cotton industry, which has grown from 11,000 hectares to more than 35,000 hectares in four years. Southern Cotton has deployed best-in-class technology from the paddock to the finished bale, state-of-the-art Radio Frequency Identification tracking systems.
One of the only gins in the world to use this technology, Southern Cotton captures, stores and retrieves information on each cotton module to help growers learn more about their crop and assist in farm management decisions.
After proactively educating Murrumbidgee farmers on the potential of converting to cotton, Southern Cotton now takes in 60 per cent of its total gin production from growers outside its founding partnership. Maximising return for local growers, the business has developed new market opportunities with 50,000 tonnes of cottonseed by-product processed for livestock feed and cotton seed oil.
Southern Cotton general manager Kate O’Callaghan said winning the national regional award provided the business with the opportunity to raise the profile of the cotton industry in Southern NSW and boost economic growth in the community. “It’s given us a platform to showcase the quality of our cotton as well as put a spotlight on our region and the many other agribusinesses that are operating successfully in Southern NSW,” Ms O’Callaghan said.
“There was a perception that the plan to build a gin wouldn't work, but failure was never an option. When a team of like-minded people work together towards a common goal in challenging circumstances – what seems impossible can be achieved.”
Will Irving, Telstra Business Group managing director and Telstra Business Awards Ambassador, said Southern Cotton was a fantastic example of the right mix of passion and a willingness to try new things paying off for a business. “Southern Cotton has shifted the agricultural focus in its region and is providing new and profitable opportunities for local growers. If you were building a business from scratch they are 10 out of 10; there is no compromise in their level of detail, innovation and perfection,” Mr Irving said.
