​​The cotton industry’s 2025 Nuffield Farming Scholarship recipient, Moree-based agronomist Kate Lumber aims to use her opportunity to improve the profitability of the sector through improved resilience and water efficiency.

Supported by both Cotton Australia and CRDC, Moree-based agronomist Kate Lumber was announced as the industry’s scholarship winner, only weeks after graduating as a Future Cotton Leader at the Australian Cotton Conference.

Kate’s study topic is centred around growing cotton in areas with limited water and gaining a better understanding of how to grow reliable crops through cotton physiology and the farming system, particularly as it relates to semi-irrigated crops.

“My desire to study the semi-irrigated cotton system comes from the push to maintain productivity and profitability in the lower water years, ensuring the best use of this resource.”

“It’s about the overall profitability and resilience of the industry and how we can manage the water use efficiency in that system.

Kate is hoping to use her scholarship to travel to Texas and California to see farming systems that implement limited water irrigation and manipulate growth to manage water use efficiency, as well as countries like Brazil, Greece, Argentina, Turkey and Egypt that typically produce ‘rain grown’ cotton.

“There’s no silver-bullet to managing water, every environment is different, but understanding the farming system and how to best employ strategies to create improvements for growers and across the industry is the goal for me.”

Kate said she was ‘incredibly grateful’ to CA and CRDC for their long-standing commitment to supporting young people in the industry and for fostering excellence in leadership.

“I am humbled by the trust in me and the investment they have made in me to complete the Nuffield scholarship, and I look forward to keeping everyone informed as I move into that journey.”