Congratulations to the Quigley family from Quigley Farms – Bayer Cotton Grower of the Year 2021
29 March 2022, AU: Quigley Farms have been awarded the prestigious Bayer Cotton Grower of the Year Award for 2021. The Quigley family, who farm at Trangie and Nevertire in the Macquarie Valley, NSW, were awarded the title at 2022 MacIntyre Valley Cotton field day at Turkey Lagoon near Boggabilla last week.
Bayer Sales Lead Mark Dawson, congratulated the Quigley family and all other finalists on their commitment to water conservation, environmental responsibility, innovation and resilience through the cotton supply chain.
“On behalf of Bayer, I would like to congratulate the Quigley family along with the other finalists. Despite many challenges, 2021 was an extremely successful year for the Australian Cotton industry and it’s just reward for our cotton growers who have shown persistence in the sector.
Mr Dawson highlighted the value of the awards in recognising the innovation and leadership demonstrated by farmers in the cotton industry.
“The Quigley family have demonstrated fantastic farm management and innovation, not only advancing environmental outcomes in water use efficiency and soil health, but improving business profitability,” he said.
Tony Quigley is a fourth-generation farmer, and with wife Sally, sons Tom, George and Richie and staff, they run Quigley Farms, a diversified and integrated family farming operation in the Trangie/Nevertire districts.
Focusing their studies on agriculture, Tom has qualifications in agribusiness, while George and Richie have completed agricultural science degrees. Sally and Tony have stepped back from operational duties, transferring farm management to the boys who are taking Quigley Farms to the next level.
Tony has been a community leader in water use efficiency measures, helping to secure federal government funding of for modernisation in return for water savings. The funding led to the rebuilding of 108 km of delivery channel with synthetic lining, new remote-control gates, metering systems and a separate stock and domestic water pipeline as well as on-farm works.
The results have seen transmission losses reduced from 27 per cent to five per cent and crop water use efficiency has improved by 20 per cent under the overhead irrigation at Quigley Farms.
The Quigly family attribute their success to teamwork. Accepting the award, Tom Quigley said “it’s an honour to be recognised as the Bayer Cotton Grower of the Year and congratulations to each of the finalists. We couldn’t have achieved this without our incredible staff and family and without the guidance of Chris McCormack, our agronomist.”
“We’d like to thank Bayer for the ongoing contribution made to cotton research and development and to the Australian Cotton Industry and our peers for ongoing support”, said Mr Quigley.
“Bayer’s sponsorship of this award is part of our investment in the future of the Australian cotton industry and the individuals who make it so successful. We look forward to continuing our commitment to the industry over the coming years,” said Mr Dawson.
