Auscott’s Jake Cutcliffe has this week been named as one of three finalists for the ADAMA Chris Lehmann Trust Young Cotton Achiever of the Year.

A recipient of the 2017 Gwydir Valley Cotton Growers Association Young Achiever Award, Jake graduated from the University of New England with a Bachelor of Agribusiness (Marketing) and a post-graduate degree in Agriculture (Cotton Production).

Currently working for Auscott Ltd Moree, Jake plays an integral role in steering the company’s agronomic decisions and implementation in the Gwydir Valley.

He looks after 4,000 hectares of irrigated cotton and 10,000 hectares of dryland wheat and chickpeas in winter, as well as carrying out trial work.

Although Jake knew he had been nominated for the award by Gwydir Valley Cotton Growers Association, after taking out their Young Achiever gong last year, he said being named a finalist still came as a shock.

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“I was a bit surprised to be honest,” he said.

Jake said this sort of recognition is a real honour.

“I think it’s huge – I didn’t grow up on a cotton farm, I grew up in Orange in town, so to be recognised for my impact in the industry, it’s huge,” he said.

With a passion for broadacre farming, Jake ended up in Moree after graduating university, an opportunity which saw him get a foot in the door of the cotton industry.

“There’s a lot of big corporates and big families that make the opportunity available for someone like me to be a part of the industry,” he said.

Jake has been working in the industry for six years now – five at Auscott – during which time he’s developed a passion to strive towards delivering a profitable annual cropping program.

“I’m passionate about getting the results – trying to better the results each year,” he said.

“When you can see the progression in your results from year to year, it’s rewarding.”

He said the biggest challenge is the environment and lack of control.

“There’s a lot of influences that’s out of our control like the weather or insects or water availability,” he said.

Although it has it’s struggles, Jake said he loves how far the cotton industry is progressing and being a part of the conversation.

“There’s lots of opportunities to network and share information – the ability to compare results and increase your knowledge from networking,” he said.

Jake is one of two Auscott employees up for the Young Achiever award, the other being Narrabri’s William Back. The third finalist is Agromax Consulting’s Sam Simons from Gunnedah.

Cotton Australia CEO Adam Kay said the finalists were selected based on their contributions to the cotton industry across a wide range of areas, including farming best practice, research and development, innovation, leadership and industry advocacy.

Mr Kay says each of the finalists had made outstanding contributions to the industry, and deserved recognition.

“The nominees for this year’s Awards program was of a very high standard,” he said.

“This group of people represent the strengths of our industry - innovation, dedication, the sharing of ideas and the drive to figure out a way to do things better. Without people such as these, the cotton industry would not be where it is today.”

“The annual Awards program is important to our industry because it allows us to recognise excellence and hard work, foster future growth and improvement across the industry.”

The Awards judging panel has travelled to the finalists’ originating regions to meet and assess each of the candidates.

Cash prizes are on offer for the winners across all categories, with an additional research bursary for Researcher of the Year.

The recipients for the 2018 Australian Cotton Industry Awards will be announced at a gala event to be held on the Gold Coast on August 9. It is held in conjunction with the 2018 Australian Cotton Conference.

For more information on the Awards, go to: http://www.australiancottonawards.com/