Farm team has no beef with cotton
PEOPLE said it couldn’t be done but Ken Fry and his son Brendan are proving that cotton and sorghum can be grown on the Gilbert River floodplain west of Georgetown.
The dryland farmers have access to 7000 megalitres of water for irrigation, but so far are only using a fraction of the allocation.
Mr Fry Sr was a dairy farmer on the Atherton Tableland, but became disenchanted with the industry after deregulation in 2000.
He bought Forest Home Station in 2007 on the Gilbert River 40km west of Georgetown in the Gulf Country.
It is a beef cattle property, but in recent years the Frys have branched out into farming.
They have 1400ha of land available for farming, but are realistic and are moving slowly, learning as they go in order to avoid costly mistakes.
In total they have a little over 700ha under plough. They knew cotton could be grown in the area.
Ron Greentree from New South Wales is one of Australia’s biggest wheat growers.
He is already growing cotton on Strathmore Station, next door to Forest Home and has already expressed optimism in the future for the crop in the region.
Strathmore is a large- scale cotton and sorghum venture that is the tip of the spear as far as the trail blazing aspect of opening new lands to farming in northern Australia is concerned.
Strathmore owner Scott Harris has cleared 55,000ha and already has well over 1500ha under the plough.
His investment so far, including the cost of Strathmore, is over $ 45 million.
The Frys are operating on a much smaller scale, but at the same time they are smashing the glass ceiling as far as proving that the traditional beef lands in the Gulf Country can be used for other purposes.
Their start- up 130ha cotton crop has drawn praise from cotton industry officials who have carried out inspections.
The cotton will be sent to the Emerald gin, 1100km away in July.
The Frys, like Mr Greentree and Mr Harris are confident that once cotton production in the Gulf Country reaches “critical mass” a gin will be built.
“This would avoid the costs involved in getting it to Emerald,” Brendan Fry said.
“At this stage, especially if prices remain strong, we will be growing another cotton crop next year.”
It is not easy to make the quantum leap from beef production to tractor and plough farming.
Mr Fry Sr was raised in a livestock environment.
He readily admits he knows and understands cattle, but farming is a new language.
They are aware of how easy it is to make a mistake.
They are treading carefully and trying to understand why some crop areas look exceptionally good and why other parts in the same paddock are not faring as well. Brendan Fry says tried and proven management practices have to be in place.
“If you can get the management side, you’ll get the yields,” he said.
They have 600ha under sorghum and there is a large block of country under hay.
The sorghum is sold on the Atherton Tableland for poultry production.
They are hoping to see a
AT THIS STAGE, ESPECIALLY IF PRICES REMAIN STRONG, WE WILL BE GROWING ANOTHER COTTON CROP NEXT YEAR. BRENDAN FRY
dam built on the Gilbert River upstream from Forest Home.
The CSIRO has already done research into the dam.
“Having more water would open the area up to more farmers,” Mr Fry Snr said.
Birds, pigs and wallabies are major pests.
“Birds like cockatoos, galahs and parrots are the worst on the sorghum. They take a big share,” Mr Fry Snr said.
Father and son have plenty of confidence in the potential of the Gilbert River district to become a major agricultural hub. They caution that without a dam to provide irrigation water for a more intensive industry, agriculture in the area will continue to develop on a piecemeal basis.
“The future is good. I’m confident we will go above the cost of production of both our sorghum and cotton this year,” Brendan Fry said.