Last week, NT Farmers and Cotton Australia had the great pleasure of hosting National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) CEO Tony Mahar and David Jochinke on their visit to the Northern Territory. Before departing for the NTCA Conference in Alice Springs, we had a couple of days touring around the Top End, Douglas Daly and Katherine regions, meeting with various businesses and showcasing the diverse range of agricultural industries in the NT.
We met with Chris Howie from Bindaroo Pastures in the Douglas Daly, which produces high-quality hay, seeds and livestock. The mungbean and soybean crops are looking fantastic!
Picture: Smoko at Bindaroo Pastures. Pictured Simone Cameron, Cotton Australia, Hannah Leu, NT Farmers, Chris Howie, Bindaroo Pastures, and Tony Mahar and David Jochinke, NFF.
David Jochinke checking out the soybean crop at Bindaroo Pastures
We visited the Katherine Cotton Gin, anticipated to be fully operational soon, which will process up to 150,000 and 200,000 bales annually.
Inspecting the new equipment at the Katherine Cotton Gin.
Pictured here: David Jochinke, NFF, Simone Cameron, Cotton Australia, Hannah Leu and Greg Troughton, NT Farmers, and Tony Mahar, NFF.
We headed out to Razor Rock Farm in Katherine to visit Nick Ormsby and Whitney Dollemore who are Honey Gold mango growers, where we took the opportunity to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing the northern mango industry, and agribusiness developments in the Northern Territory.
David Jochinke, President of NFF, Whitney Dollemore and Nick Ormsby of Razor Rock Farms and Tony Mahar, CEO of NFF pictured here inspecting mango trees.
Our final visit of the tour was to Tony Hayne’s Douglas Station in the Douglas Daly region where they grow rain fed cotton. We met with Tony Hayne and agronomist Greg Nicol and discussed the cotton trials planted at Douglas Station this season.
Just over 100 days since being planted, the cotton crop at Douglas Station is looking great. Pictured here is Tony Hayne, Douglas Station, DJ, NFF, Greg Nicol, Douglas Station, Simone Cameron, Cotton Australia and Tony Mahar, NFF.
A big thank you to those who took time out of their busy schedules to show us around, and showcase some of the incredible work being done in the NT.