Moree broke a number of heat records throughout January and February, with more than 50 days of maximum temperatures above 35 degrees.

The excessive heat caused a great deal of stress to local cotton plants, especially dryland crops.

On top of the heatwave, local cotton crops have been hit with above-average rainfall throughout March which has sparked concern for crop downgrades.

A lot of dryland crops in the district have been defoliated and B and W agronomist Peter Birch, Moree, said growers would have trouble with regrowth in crops after the rain. 

High rainfall and overcast weather have also caused discolouration in crops, which could result in downgrades come picking time. 

“The humid conditions allow fungi to live on the lint of the plant and can cause discolouration,” he said. 

“If it had kept raining this week it could have caused some trouble.”

Because of the heat, boll sizes in dryland crops are significantly smaller than usual, meaning more growers would have to use strippers instead of pickers this year. 

With a lot of regrowth in crops after the rain, it is a concern that too much green leaf could be baled, again causing dowgnrades. 

Only five per cent of irrigated crops in the district have been defoliated so far, with picking expected to begin on irrigation in mid April. 

NG Agronomies agronomist Duncan Hill, who works at local cotton farm, “Keytah”, said crops at “Keytah” were expected to yield roughly five bales an acre, which is below average. 

Mr Hill said the season started reasonably but high insect pressure and hot weather over January and February affected the cotton significantly. Rain has impacted earlier-planted crops which had a lot of open bolls, but the later-planted crops hadn’t been affected. 

In the next few weeks, Mr Birch said the region would need some sunny, dry weather to bleach the cotton and dry out soil profiles ready for picking.