Two cotton farming families from opposite ends of the country have been named as finalists in the prestigious The Weekly Times Coles Farmer of the Year Awards.

The Bolten family from Kununurra, Western Australia and the Eather family from Narrabri, New South Wales have both been recognised for their innovation and will compete for top honours in the Innovative Farmer of the Year category.

Fritz Bolten and his wife Andrea run Oasis Farms near Kununurra, managing about 975ha of irrigated land growing cotton, corn and sandalwood. Over two decades, the business has reinvented itself, trialling more than 25 crops in search of a system that could deliver scale, reliability and profit in a remote environment.

Cotton has emerged as the backbone of the operation, but only after years of modelling and trials.

For Fritz Bolten, the resurgence of cotton in Western Australia’s Ord Valley is as much a business decision as it is a farming one — built on research, adaptation and lessons borrowed from overseas.

Meanwhile, the Eather family from Bellevue Pastoral Company has transformed their Narrabri cotton farm into an agricultural powerhouse, through strategic expansion and innovation.

Through a series of strategic property purchases, adapting their cropping programs and building committed teams, Darren and Leanne Eather, along with their children Julia, 25, and Tom, 23, have expanded the Bellevue Pastoral Company portfolio into an impressive and highly productive operation.

The portfolio now includes about 2700ha of cotton, durum wheat and dryland cereals, 404ha of almonds with more than 125,000 trees, and a rapidly expanding citrus program with 180,000 trees being established. Bellevue Pastoral has continued its progressive growth, due to their willingness to adapt, ability to build competent and valued teams of people and a vision of what could be possible.

The Farmer of the Year Awards will be held at the MCG in Melbourne on Friday 13 February.

The Awards recognise Australia’s best in beef, cropping, dairy, horticulture, sheep and innovation.

Last year growers David and Julie Bellato from Coleambally were finalists in the cropping Farmer of the Year category, while Condamine growers Nigel and Vanessa Corish were named the overall Farmer of the Year in 2023.