Cotton industry perspectives were part of the conversation when the first cohort of the Murray-Darling Basin Leadership Program gathered in Moree this week, bringing people from across the Basin together to build understanding, strengthen relationships and work through the complex challenges surrounding the Murray-Darling Basin.

Delivered by the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation in partnership with the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, the program is designed for established and emerging leaders from across regions, sectors and backgrounds who care about the future of the Basin and the communities, industries and ecosystems it supports. Participants take part in two in-person sessions, supported by online learning, over a six-month period.

Four members of the first cohort have links to the cotton industry, including Narrabri’s Jacob Booby, senior account manager with Louis Dreyfus Company, and Alice Davis an agronomist with B&W Rural, who both said the week had challenged their assumptions and broadened their understanding of the Basin.

Jacob said the diversity of participants and the range of views represented across the room had been one of the most valuable parts of the program so far.

“There’s so many different perspectives and people from different areas,” he said. 

“To understand some of the issues further down the Basin, not only from a location perspective, but also environmental, cultural and community perspectives, has been really good.”

While his background isn’t in water, Jacob said water literacy is becoming increasingly important for his career and the broader Narrabri community, and this program provided a practical way to better understand the system and the people involved in it.

“To be part of it and understand more about it can only have benefits,” he said.

For Alice, the program has highlighted the value of bringing different perspectives together, even when those conversations were challenging.

“It’s been really confronting listening to different perspectives and seeing other people’s reactions to my own perspectives,” she said. 

“It’s been really educational, but I also feel like it’s been very needed to have this collision of perspectives.”

Alice said the program had shifted the way she thought about the Murray-Darling Basin, from seeing it as a system with problems to recognising it as a place where broader national and global issues intersect, including food security, resource availability and inclusion of First Nations perspectives.

“What I’m hoping to get out of it is not only my own self-development, but also this continued connection of people and collision of perspectives to the point where we can actually work together,” she said.

The workshop included a visit to a cotton farm in Moree, giving participants from outside the industry a first-hand look at cotton production, regulation and water management.

Jacob said the visit helped many people better understand the scale and complexity of cotton farming, including licensing, telemetry and the regulatory requirements growers manage.

Following the in-person workshop, the participants will take part in a couple of online sessions, culminating in a final face-to-face session in Canberra in November where they’ll have the opportunity to present their individual and group projects to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority.

Applications are currently open for Cohort 2 of the Murray-Darling Basin Leadership Program and Cotton Australia encourages people connected to the cotton industry and the wider Basin to consider applying.

Cohort 2 applications close on 2 August 2026. To find out more and apply, visit: Murray–Darling Basin Leadership Program.