John Deere cotton boss praises Australian growers as ‘leaders in traceability’

John Deere global cotton business manager Roger Zey says the Australian industry is one of the most “future-focused” in the world, with the nation’s growers leading the pack in traceability. Speaking at the Australian Cotton Conference on the Gold Coast last month, Mr Zey, who is based in the US state of Iowa, said Australian growers were among the most proactive in integrating new technology into their on-farm operations. “Myself and several of us in the cotton harvesting team try to come to a lot of these events globally, but I would say this one is always the most impressive because it’s so much on the cutting edge,” he said. “We get a lot of touchpoints with the producers and other people in the industry, and we love this event in terms of getting to know customers and understanding what their expectations are.” Mr Zey, a regular visitor to key cotton-producing nations including Australia, said traceability and sustainability continued to be the most relevant issues on the global cotton stage. He said traceability, particularly, had become more of a focus than ever for the “tight-knit” global cotton industry. “Traceability-wise, we want to make sure the consumer knows more about cotton, the benefits of cotton and where cotton comes from,” Mr Zey said. NEW ROW-UNITS UNVEILED At the conference, John Deere showcased its MY25 CP770 Cotton Picker with new MP16 row-units. The company boasts that the latest version of the CP770 will deliver a “new level in picking productivity”. “The CP770 came out two years ago; it’s the third generation of our round module cotton harvesters, but on this machine a lot of customers will recognise the row-units on the front of the machine are new,” Mr Zey said. “This is the foundation of our ability to move the needle when we work with our customers to not only improve productivity but also reduce losses, because we know that is one of the most important things for them.” John Deere marketing director Ben Kelly said speaking to customers from across Australia’s key cotton production zones was an event highlight. “It was great to have a number of customers come to the stand and tell us what they are looking forward to in the future, particularly with technology,” he said. “To hear directly from our customers about what they are doing and what their challenges are is so valuable, and we’re really looking forward to seeing them take new technology home and leverage it on-farm.”