Spring Ridge cotton field day draws record-breaking interest

The 2026 Cotton Grower of the Year Field Day, held on a Spring Ridge property, drew in a record-breaking crowd from across Australia with more than 300 industry professionals attending.

Jock Brownhill – along with brother and cousins Hugh, Oscar, and Archie – hosted the field day on their family property in March.

The younger Brownhills are fourth generation farmers with Jock and Hugh spearheading a new way to run family operations beginning their company Merrilong Agriculture Company (MAC) of which they are both directors.

Important to the brothers is utilising their team as well as their family in sharing knowledge and working together to create a stronger operation.

The field day incorporated panel discussions, farm tours exploring the award-winning crops along with discussions from Cotton Seed Distributors (CSD) agronomists and Brownhill family members on what they did to ensure their crop to be the best it could.

Cotton Australia chief executive officer Adam Kay said the way the farming family is conducting operations is impressive.

He noted the way the younger Brownhill generation talked on succession planning, saying the discussion was something that many in the industry could relate to.

“I think one of the things that stood out today is just the work they’ve done on succession planning from generation to generation. They had a very frank discussion with a number of generations up on stage this morning about how they’ve managed that succession planning, some of the specialists that they’ve brought in to help and that was really insightful. So many farmers are here going through the same thing with their families that found that really useful,” Mr Kay said.

“Interestingly, the boys here have gone off farm and developed skills and worked in other industries and they’re bringing those skills back. Also, the way they have an independent advisory board that looks at what they’re doing and challenges them, and the specialists there on finance and costs and different parts of the industry. They challenge themselves to these people bringing an external view.

“We had some really good field trips out to look at the latest cotton variety, and we had the head of the CSIRO cotton breeding team, Dr Warwick Stiller, out in the field talking about what’s coming through.

“We had the Brownhill boys and their agronomist talking about a beautiful irrigated crop and what they’ve done there. So it was really a day where there was something for everyone.”

The Brownhill family purchased the ‘Merrilong’ property in 1959 for 22 pounds a hectare, which in today’s money is equivalent to $44, and have continued to grow and improve their farming practices since.

Now MAC manages 10,700ha, which includes 1850ha of irrigation, 6750ha of dryland farming and 2100ha of grazing country in the Liverpool Plains.

The company has 13 full time staff, as well as several contractors.

The younger Brownhills credit the depth of knowledge that their fathers hold when it comes to the farm’s success, saying their operation works through a collaborative process.

“I think today has been brilliant, Jock and his whole team of organisers have done a fantastic job and with the help of all the sponsors, it’s been brilliant,” Hugh Brownhill said.

“I think the vision of Dad and Dave and the advice they had early on is probably the biggest driver of being able to have conversations around succession planning.

“I want say a big thank you to Jock and everyone who’s organised the day in Gowrie and the sponsors and everyone who took the time to come and visit. Hopefully everyone has got something out of the day.

The field day was a large success, with Cotton Australia saying it was one of the larger field days they had seen.

“I think today says a lot about the culture of the industry where people willingly share knowledge,” Mr Kay said.

“It’s always been there and it’s something we’re trying to keep encouraging because in the cotton industry, your neighbour is your counterpart, not your competitor, there are other industries where it’s dog-eat-dog and there’s competition in cotton.

“We’re all trying to work together for the good of the Australian industry, to tell that great story. I think that’s what I get out of the day, is just that collaborative approach.”