Growers say roadside cotton litter will not lead to explosion of new weeds

Growers involved in the developing industry are forced to transport their harvest long distances to Dalby in Queensland for processing.

The NT's first cotton gin is under construction and should be operational near Katherine sometime in the next year.

Despite promises the cotton bales would be fully covered this year, the loose cotton is again leaving a long trail on transport routes to the east.

One Top End grower will rack up more than 600,000 kilometres this season trucking cotton east to Dalby for ginning.

MORE READING: Finalists named in trans-Tasman award.

Tipperary Station manager and president of the Northern Cotton Growers Association, Bruce Connolly said for him that meant 180 triple road trains over 3500km each.

Residents have raised fears about the cotton litter becoming a weed menace in the outback.

NT Farmers chief executive officer Paul Burke said it did not pose a weed risk.

"It is a completely natural product and does not pose any risk to animals or the surrounding landscape," he said.

Mr Burke said loose cotton was dislodged from the open sides of bales in the early stages of transport by wind.

In response to community concerns after last year's harvest, the industry said cotton bales would be completely covered.

Mr Burke said those plans were abandoned because of problems locating specialised covered cotton trailers to the region.

He said extreme weather events in the rest of Australia and "prohibitively high" transport costs prevented growers from utilising the trailers this season.

"In the absence of the specialised trailers, producers attempted to manually cover the loads/trailers with canvas covers," Mr Burke said.

He said this was also abandoned due to the safety risk.

"Manually covering the loads requires a worker to stand on top of the slippery, plastic cotton bales at a considerable height to secure the canvas cover. The risk of serious injury or death involved in covering the bales is simply too high for industry."

Mr Burke said scientific studies, including work supported by the CSIRO, show that as cotton is a natural product grown locally, it breaks down and biodegrades and does not pose a genuine weed risk to the northern landscape.

"Cotton must be cultivated and actively managed to thrive," he said.

"The harsh environment on the side of roads simply does not allow cotton to grow well and become a weed risk.

"Furthermore, in many instances cotton lint will likely be eaten by livestock further eliminating the risk of the seeds germinating.

"Modern cotton has been growing in the north for four years.

MORE READING: Wool to have single specification for online sales.

"To date, there is no evidence of wild cotton growing on the sides of roads."

Mr Burke said with the opening of the Katherine cotton gin combined with the use of covered trailers next year "cotton on the side of the road will be significantly reduced".

The first target for the small gin is to grow from between 12,000 to 20,000 bales a year to 60,000 to 70,000 bales.

Cotton is still a controversial crop in the Top End.

Operators of the vast cattle stations in the NT have long been looking for a cash crop to diversify their income.

Environmentalists fear the impact of irrigation on local waterways and extensive land-clearing.

But it has been demonstrated cotton can be grown on wet season rains alone and GM cotton varieties can ward off the tropical bugs.

Cotton is also fast growing in popularity at Kununurra on the Ord in WA where another gin is planned.