Large areas of irrigation country opened up for cotton

Another 5400 hectares (13,344 acres) is being leased to cotton growers at Kununurra in Western Australia's Kimberley to tap into the vast Ord River scheme.

A new gin is scheduled to become operational at Kununurra in 2025 to further boost the cotton boom which has already seen a big lift in plantings across the border in the Northern Territory.

The opening of a cotton gin near the NT's Katherine in December has also boosted the cotton expansion with 90 growers planting about 10,000ha of cotton this wet season.

The WA government has granted a development lease for the Knox farmlands near Kununurra for cotton planting.

The 5400ha lease agreement is with Kimberley Agricultural Investment Pty Ltd which is partnering with Keep Farming Pty Ltd to develop the Knox farmland.

KAI is a private Australian company owned by Chinese property developer Shanghai Zhingfu who has had long involvement in development of Ord projects.

KAI already leases around 7400ha at Goomig and has been growing various irrigated crops including sorghum, maize and chia.

Keep Farming is owned by northern NSW grain grower Ron Greentree who already has cotton interests in the Ord irrigation area.

Mr Greentree was once Australia's largest private grower of wheat and a former Grain Growers Association chairman.

Mr Greentree is one of the Ord farmers and Indigenous landholder investors partnering with Namoi Cotton to build the Kununurra cotton gin.

The Knox Plain has been identified to help double the size of the Ord irrigation scheme to 29,000ha.

In late 2022, the WA government allocated $77.1 million for water infrastructure upgrades in the Ord, to support required water volumes to Knox and drive agricultural expansion in the area.

The WA government has also spent close to $4 million to install electricity supply infrastructure to provide renewable power to the cotton gin.

The Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility has loaned $32 million for the construction of the cotton gin.

WA Regional Development Minister Don Punch said Lake Argyle's main water supply (M1) channel was being widened to support water supply requirements to the Knox area from Lake Argyle.

While the NT cotton expansion is based on wet season rains, water from Lake Argyle to the Knox Plains is aiming to reach 570 megalitres per day by 2027.

"Our government has walked alongside industry for many years to help establish a new era of cotton production, diversifying the local economy and creating new job opportunities for the East Kimberley," he said this week.

WA Lands Minister John Carey said the lease deal paves the way for the leaseholders to sustainably develop Knox's fertile black-soil plains, create jobs and provide social and economic benefits for the region and the Miriuwung Gajerrong people.

Growers in the NT and WA identified several years ago the gins were a necessary part of cotton's expansion so they could avoid the transport cost to gins in Queensland and NSW.