Southern Valley Cotton Growers Association (SVCGA) has named Ron Harris from Ravensworth Agricultural Company its Grower of the Year at the annual awards dinner.
Top cotton growers, Ron and Suzanne Harris of Ravensworth Agricultural Company with Southern Valley Cotton Growers Association president, Paul Cleton.
SVCGA President Paul Cleton said Mr Harris took out the honours for his excellent outcomes and integrated approach to agriculture.
“Ron and his wife Suzanne and son Adam run two properties at Ramps Ridge and Lake Marimley where they specialise in beef, lamb and cotton production,” Mr Cleton said.
“Cotton is complementary to their feedlot because it produces cottonseed for the ration mix and utilises 20t/ha of manure annually for their fields.
“The Harris’s have plenty of strengths in their cotton strategies including their flexibility and ability to scale up their cotton crop, their diversification with feedlot, cotton and cereals, their innovation, their high yields, can-do attitude, and their attention to detail.”
Ramps Ridge is situated 50 kilometres west of Hay and Lake Marimley is located near Balranald.
Ramps Ridge features a state-of-the-art feedlot which can handle up to 60,000 head of cattle.
Cotton is an opportunistic crop for them with large variation in area planted each year according to water availability. From 2020/21 to 2021/22 season, cotton increased from 330 to 3200ha planted.
Runners-up are John and Cath Merrylees who own and operate their mixed farm enterprise near Carrathool where they grow around 400ha of cotton crop annually.
They also run 4500 merino ewes and are now in the process of scaling up their cotton cropping with development occurring to enable the planting of 600-700ha cotton annually. Mr Cleton congratulated all the nominees in the SVCGA region for their commitment to cotton and the agricultural sector.
“The Southern Valley is relatively young in its cotton growing experience, yet our awards program shows how far growers in the region have come in such a short time. I know that our growers in the region will continue to go from strength to strength, and I look forward to following their progress,” Mr Cleton said.
Mr Cleton said the two finalists were of a very high standard, showing that cotton growing in the region is among the highest standards anywhere in Australia.
