It’s an interesting time of year in my world. Coming from a dyed in the wool generational grazing family and with a partner who is a cotton grower means a clashing of two worlds in some minds. In the past – BC (before cotton entered my life ) – there were numerous discussions in the main homestead about water usage, aerial chemical application (before cotton farm plans and notifications were treated seriously by everyone), buffer zones and the endless complaints about changes to the topography of the countryside through irrigation dams, channels and levee banks.  At one stage my family had a cattle run sandwiched between two cotton growers which made for interesting times. Later on of course there were the well documented nasty chemical residue issues which affected cattle fed on cotton trash (endosulfron). In the last decade things have changed substantially. On many properties these days livestock are run in conjunction with the growing of cotton. Indeed this year with the wet start there are some excellent dryland cotton crops around on mixed agricultural properties. These are being grown on fields that would normally be utilsed for winter cropping. So times have changed-regulations, new technology and responsibile management systems have helped to raise cotton’s profile, although the irrigation debate continues.  Cotton picking should start here this week, and some of the crew have already arrived. David expects a frenzied month of action,  both on-farm and contracting for other growers in the area, while he waits for all of his crop to come in. As I was touring last year during cotton picking I hope to have a few interesting pics to post on my site when things get underway. Meanwhile, with my normal work days over at the main homestead I’ll probably miss most of the action. And a quick dog update: Toto managed to pull half her stitches out from the bottom of her jaw so it was another run to the vet this morning. Love my dog, however at six months of age she’s proving to be ‘higher maintenance’ than some of the cast of Sex and the City!