New Cotton Seed Distributors chief executive officer appointed

Cotton Seed Distributors has announced Dr Ian Taylor will lead the organisation as its new chief executive officer.

Since the announcement of the current CSD managing director Peter Graham’s retirement last December, the CSD board has been actively recruiting for a new chief executive officer.

This process was facilitated by Rimfire Resources.

The position created significant interest, with a mix of external, internal, and international candidates.

After a rigorous interview process, the CSD board has unanimously resolved to offer the position to Dr Taylor, who has accepted.

Dr Taylor is the executive director of the Cotton Research and Development Corporation based in Narrabri.

During his 11 years at CRDC, Dr Taylor has been a key player in the formation of the original CottonInfo team, then become the general manager – research and development, before being promoted to the executive director role in 2019.

Prior to joining the CRDC, Dr Taylor was the technology development lead for Monsanto in Australia and later promoted within Monsanto to the technical development and stewardship lead for the Asia Pacific area based in Singapore, where he managed a team working across many different cultures and countries.

It is planned for Dr Taylor to commence at CSD in early September 2023 to allow a transition period before Mr Graham’s retirement at the end of 2023.

CRDC chair Richard Haire has paid tribute to Dr Taylor’s enormous contribution to CRDC over the past decade.

“Ian has played a critical role in delivering R&D impact for the benefit of Australia’s cotton growers and the wider industry over the past 11 years, and we thank him for his tireless service to CRDC,” Mr Haire said.

“In particular, Ian has spent the last two years leading the development of CRDC’s next five-year Strategic RD&E Plan, in close consultation with the wider industry. This new plan – which comes into effect on July 1 – is bold, ambitious and will chart a new course for CRDC and cotton research, and we thank Ian for delivering us to this vital point.

“Critically, Ian is not leaving the cotton industry – he is going to one of our valued research and collaboration partners, CSD. We already work closely with the CSD team, and having Ian at the helm will only continue to strengthen this partnership.”

The retirement of Mr Graham will close the chapter on decades of service to the Wee Waa-based organisation.

Announcing Mr Graham’s retirement at the end of 2022, CSD said in a statement that its managing director had led successful investment to expand the Australian cotton breeding program through a strong focus on research and development.

“He also drove CSD’s growth in extension activities that have contributed to industry growth, with cotton now being grown from northern Victoria to northern Australia, effectively tripling the average size of the Australian cotton crop,” the statement read.

CSD chair Tony Quigley said Mr Graham’s unwavering commitment to CSD’s success had played an integral part in helping the organisation get to where it is today.