Cotton Crops

Ceres Farm has grown cotton in the Ord since 2017, when it was among the first farms in the valley to trial the new CSIRO-bred varieties with Bollgard 3 technology, which brought resistance to the pests that had defeated earlier cotton crops in the Kimberley. Those early crops proved that the Ord can grow cotton of a quality to rival any in Australia.

Since those trials, cotton has become one of our commercial crops. In 2025 our harvest was delivered to the newly opened, grower-owned Kimberley Cotton Company gin in Kununurra. It is the first cotton gin in Western Australia's north, and Ord Valley cotton is now processed right here in the valley. It marks the start of an exciting new chapter for cotton at Ceres Farm.

Cotton sometimes gets a bad rap for its thirst, so it is worth saying how it works here. Every crop on Ceres Farm is irrigated from Lake Argyle through the Ord River Irrigation Scheme, which was built for exactly this purpose and gives us one of the most secure water supplies in Australian farming. On our farm, cotton is one of the most water-efficient crops we grow, and Australian growers have almost halved the water needed to produce a bale since the early 1990s, making ours the most water-efficient cotton industry in the world. Cotton is a natural, biodegradable fibre, and nothing is wasted: the seed left after ginning becomes stock feed and cooking oil. Want more facts about Australian cotton? Visit the Cotton Australia website.

Cotton also earns its place in our crop rotation. Rotating cotton with our grain and vegetable crops helps break pest and disease cycles, builds soil structure and makes better use of water and nutrients, which is good for the land and for every crop that follows.

Ceres Farm is proud to be a myBMP certified cotton grower. myBMP (my Best Management Practices) is the Australian cotton industry's farm management program, covering soil and water, pest and pesticide management, biosecurity, people and the environment, and it underpins Australia's reputation for responsibly grown cotton.

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