Cotton harvest delayed by months of wet weather in NSW

Bogged farm equipment at Michael Egan's farm Kiameron, in Warren, on the way to the cotton fields. (Supplied: Michael Egan)

Relentless rain is delaying the cotton harvest by up to two months in parts of New South Wales.

In a normal year, Narromine grower Jon Elder said he would have started harvesting by Anzac Day, but was yet to make a start this season because the ground remains too wet for machinery.

"Our ground is heavy clay that needs a certain amount of time to dry out. [It's] just too wet," he said.

While cotton can remain on the plant for months, the quality of the crop is likely to be affected by water damage and discolouration the longer it does.

Soil is still too wet to take harvesting equipment. (Supplied: John Elders)

Warren cotton grower Michael Egan has been flooded since December and said he anticipated a substantial drop in the quality of his harvest when he would eventually be able to get to it.

Mr Egan said he expected a substantial degradation in the grade of his cotton, with the moisture and leaf litter bringing the colour and quality down.

But a few good days and it could still turn around.

Cotton prices are high, which means much of the losses could be recouped.

"It's a bit of an unknown at this stage, depending on what happens with the weather between now and picking," he said.

Cotton remains on the plants in fields in Narromine almost two months after harvest usually begins. (Supplied: John Elders)

Once-in-a-generation rain

Mr Egan, who has grown cotton since the 1980s, said he had only seen a wet cycle like this once before.

Another challenge was when machines finally do go in to harvest the cotton they would leave deep tracks in the soil.

Then tractors would be needed to get the round bails back out.

"It'll be a mess at the end of the day, and then we have to turn around and get that country ready for cotton next year. So that's a big challenge," Mr Egan said.

He said it was more than likely he would not be able to do anything until the spring to give the soil enough time to dry out.

Peter White is market lead of Cotton Seed Distributors and said the situation was similar for cotton growers across the state, but central and southern NSW were the worst-hit.

Through Namoi and Moree, he said it was still very stop-and-start, but the harvest was more advanced the further north you went.

"Wouldn't be more than 50 per cent of the crop off in those areas," Mr White said.