With a general 30 millimetres of soaking rain in the Moree district last week adding to previous falls, almost full moisture profiles have allowed the seeders to move on in and the cotton crops to start. Farmers wasted no time planting before conditions deteriorated for seed germination.

Cotton Seed Distributors agronomist Alice Curkpatrick said the rain had given dryland cotton a chance and growers were not holding back after most wheat crops had failed in winter.

“Anything up to 10,000ha broadacre has been planted,” she said.

“It was nice gentle rain, but soil moisture is pretty varied. They are getting into sowing pretty quickly. It’s a good time to plant, those planted a little bit later do a little bit better.”

The area planted ran from Gurley, Bellata up to Boomi and Mungindi. Most were planting 748 variety. There was no problem with seed availability, but growers had to get their orders in early for seed to be treated.

At Gurley, south of Moree, fourth generation farmers Lachie and Angus Smith have just finished planting 370ha of dryland cotton on their property Coffin Hill.

This is the first time the Smiths have planted dryland cotton. They decided to give it a go off the back of having no winter harvest this year. They've also got sorghum and corn summer crops. The dryland cotton has been planted in 1.5 metre rows.

"[We decided to try dryland cotton] because this year was so dry, we didn't have a winter crop; we saved a lot of overhead costs by having a seeder ready to go,” Angus Smith said. The Smiths had a pretty full profile for planting and had “spare acres and needed something to fill it". 

"Dryland cotton is also a good marketing choice at the moment with the high prices, so we thought we better get on board. We've got three quarters of a profile, so we just need continued rain now. If we could get five inches (125mm) throughout summer we could get a decent crop."

AMPS agronomist Tony Lockrey, Moree, said the gamble on more rain was worth it considering cotton was sitting at about $600 a bale. He applauded the Smiths return to the family farm – a new phenomenon of young people taking on farming throughout the district when many were asking who would be running farms in 10 years.

The Smiths already had a Norseman twin disc planter with seed sensors down the seed slots they could use for the cotton.

They’d also picked up a contract in the district to seed a cotton crop.

“They are planting into a full profile. They have enough moisture to give them a bale a hectare. They need 1.6 bales to break even, so if they pick up some rain in January and February, say a couple of 50mm drops, that could take them over the two bales a hectare, possibly 2.5, which would be a very good return compared to other commodities at the moment,” Mr Lockrey said.

At Gunnedah, the good rain of over 70mm in some areas, has done little to help summer cropping. Pursehouse agronomist Matt Roseby said only 30 per cent of the normal sorghum area around Mullaley was in. There were no sunflowers. The rain would only give existing crops some secondary roots.

A deluge hit the Illawarra and the north of the South Coast on Wednesday.