Australia’s Cotton Awards about Recognition, not Competition
March 24, 2011 Unlike most competitions, Australia’s annual Cotton Industry Awards is more about “joining them” than “beating them.” The purpose of the awards is to celebrate those talented and dedicated people who have helped grow Australia’s cotton industry, according to Cotton Australia CEO Adam Kay.
He called on the growers, researchers, innovators and young achievers from across the cotton industry to recognize their contributions to an industry that is now in the resurgence after a decade of drought.
“The thing that makes the cotton awards different is that it really isn’t a contest,” Kay says. “It’s not about determining who is the best or cleverest, but rather, it’s a way of recognizing those people in our industry who continue to give their all, day after day.”
Speaking at the annual Cotton Grower of the Year farm walk–held on the property of last year’s winners, John Norman and Tony Taylor–Kay said the application process for this year’s awards has been simplified to make it easier to enter or to nominate someone worthy of industry recognition.
“For the service to industry and grower categories, people only need to put forward a name and some basic details. Anyone can enter and you can nominate yourself or someone else. A phone interview will help ‘shortlist’ the finalists,” Kay says. “This low-paperwork application system will make it easier to enter and easier to find those people working in the Australian cotton industry who are just plain good at what they do. We’d also love to see all the winners of the local crop competitions entered into these national awards.”
This year, the Cotton Award presentation will be held at the Crossing Theatre in Narrabri on August 10, as part of the Cotton Collective week. Tickets for this event will go on sale mid-June.
Categories for the 2011 Australian Cotton Industry Awards include:
• Monsanto Grower of the Year Award
• AgriRisk Innovative Grower of the Year Award
• Chris Lehmann Trust Young Achiever of the Year Award, sponsored by Bayer CropScience
• Cotton Seed Distributors Researcher of the Year Award
• Cotton Australia Service to Industry Award
Cotton Awards application forms are available from Cotton Australia by calling 02 9669 5222. April 22 is the deadline for submitting entries.
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