REVENUE of $12.26 million from grower levies and government contribution means the Cotton Research Development Corporation (CRDC) is significantly smaller than the other four corporations on the National Ag Levy Scorecard.  However, according to the 2016-17 annual report, the CRDC batted above average, with a direct research spend of $20.3m.  The difference between revenue and spend is mainly attributed to government grants, with about $6.7m in revenue sourced through a competitive federal grants. This extra income, on top of about $1m interest on long-term investments, resulted in grower levies being leveraged with the extra government funding.  A headline performance figure from the annual report was an average 3.1 per cent year on year productivity growth to the industry since 2013. The CRDC services about 900 growers, primarily across two states across only one commodity, which is quite streamlined by comparison to the larger research and development corporations.  According to ABARES estimates, cotton generates an average of $1.9 billion in overseas exports, which is comparable with lamb, wine and sugarcane exports. Growers of cotton pay a compulsory research levy of $2.21 per 227 kilogram bale towards the CRDC. Over the coming weeks Fairfax Agriculture Media journalists will be focusing on five research and development corporations and comparing their performance.
