Australian growers are expected to plant an extra 60,000 hectares of dryland cotton following falls of up to 90mm on the Darling Downs and 80mm in northern NSW since late last week.

An extra 30,000 hectares of dryland cotton is expected to be planted on the Darling Downs after the latest rain, bringing total plantings back to levels of 3-4 years ago at 50,000-60,000ha, after a conspicuous absence caused by drought.

Within hours of the rain, growers and seed distributors were signalling solid demand for both dryland and irrigated cotton varieties, said Craig McDonald, Cotton Seed Distributors agronomist at Dalby. Growers are responding to recent movement in cotton prices.