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Innovation and calculated risk taking have made the Australian cotton industry the envy of the world. It’s also a masterclass in governing through uncertainty.
When Queensland cotton farmer Paul McVeigh talks about the future of his industry, he doesn’t think in quarters. He thinks in generations. It’s a patient, purposeful perspective that brings pointed awareness to a powerful governance framework any board director could study.
Australia’s cotton industry is, by any measure, a remarkable performer. Despite weather patterns plagued by drought and flooding, our country exports nearly all of its crop, contributing billions to the national economy, although export volume can vary. Forecasts for the 2025-26 season are approximately $3.5b–$4b, but predicted to fall 13 per cent to $2.8b in 2026-27, reflecting lower export volumes.
CSIRO research says Australia achieves yields three times the global average. It has reduced insecticide use by 85 per cent and cut herbicide use by 52 per cent through widespread adoption of precision agriculture. It competes admirably as a top-five global exporter in a heavily subsidised international market.
These challenges bring an acute sensitivity to the need for constant improvement. The foundation of its success is approximately 1500 farms, mainly in inland NSW and Queensland, 90 per cent of which are family-owned.
Richard Haire FAICDLife has chaired the Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC) since 2016. A joint venture between the federal government and growers, CRDC was established in 1989 by the government to work with industry to invest in research, development and extension for a more profitable, sustainable and dynamic cotton industry.
““Farming is the ultimate long game,” he says. “If you’re committed to creating a multi-generational system, sustainability is not an optional thing, it’s survival. That’s economic, environmental and community sustainability. Environmental stewardship and natural capital management isn’t a want-to-have or a nice-to-have. It’s a must-have, if you’re thinking long-term.”
For board directors in any sector, reframing sustainability as much more than a reporting obligation or a stakeholder relations exercise brings accountability.
First movers
McVeigh, a multigenerational cotton farmer and a former Western Downs Regional Council mayor, says family-owned operators are typically the first movers in any expansion, setting land values, proving up new regions and absorbing the earliest risk, before larger corporate players follow. “They step up to be the risk-taking engine of innovation, often trading certainty for the promise of a better tomorrow,” he says.
However, the cotton industry’s resilience is not built on individual enterprise alone. It is reinforced by a set of institutions that have, over decades, earned genuine trust from growers, government, researchers and the wider community. “We’ve been blessed with very strong grower-owned and driven institutions, including Cotton Seed Distributors, CRDC and [growers’ peak representative body] Cotton Australia, around which the industry coalesces for strategic thinking, planning and doing,” says Haire.
Innovators
In the early 1990s, criticism over pesticide and water use pushed the Australian cotton industry to launch myBMP, a voluntary best-practice environmental management program that audits growers across 11 key areas. Farmers have embraced research and scientific developments.
The results include insecticide use down 85 per cent thanks to CSIRO-bred GM varieties. Aquatic algae has been cut by 52 per cent, through Integrated Pest Management. Water use has halved per bale over two decades by upgrading to precise irrigation systems, building more efficient water storage, water recycling and improving plant genetics to yield more fibre using significantly less water.
Practical necessities
Consistency, accountability and the willingness to engage have meant the cotton industry’s bodies have built credibility because they haven’t treated governance as a burden to be minimised. The industry approached board diversity as a practical necessity to introduce external expertise while keeping the focus grounded in operational reality. “We’ve always made sure we’ve got external capacity coming into our meetings and discussions,” says McVeigh. “It’s helped us find ways to grow, while understanding the best fertiliser is the farmer’s footprints in the paddock.”
For boards across all industries, there are ground-level realities no dashboard can capture. Lived experience is an essential part of decision making and directors need to remain connected to the work and people the board serves.
After 30 years of transformation, world-leading productivity and hard-won social licence, the temptation to consolidate rather than continue innovating is a challenge the next generation must face. “The question is whether the industry is as courageous today as Paul’s generation was. They were prepared to take risks on behalf of the future industry,” says Haire. “To trade the certainty of today for the promise of tomorrow based on a belief in the science and a confidence in their own ability to execute with discipline.”
McVeigh warns “if you’re not contributing to success for the future, we’ll probably start flat-lining”.
For any director navigating disruption, the challenge is how to mitigate risks, but also build more than just resilience.
Insight from past generations has provided invaluable expertise. Developing their skills is a key factor in ensuring farming is once again seen as a real career opportunity.
“We should be extremely proud of our forefathers,” says McVeigh. “Now we need the next generation to engage and contribute, so we can continue to build a great industry.”
This article first appeared as 'Crop stars' in the Aug/Sep 2026 Issue of Company Director Magazine.
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