Jup, if you are going to attribute a comment to me, then please be so kind as to get it right. I was not advocating a "business as usual" approach, simply pointing out that farmers are running a business - they need to make money off it. It is a business that generally returns significantly less than most in terms of ROI.

I dont disagree that 10% of farmers (or of most business people) are the innovators - I have worked for some, and they tire themselves out constantly pushing uphill. I wouldnt agree with the remainder of your statistics entirely. There are obviously some that rape their land, but then they dont stay on there for long. Some dont manage as well as they could, but do a reasonable job given the constraints of time, money and education.

Funny, all those people that revile cotton farmers are probably unaware that most major advances in (eastern) Australian agriculture can be attributed to the cotton industry. Its an industry with high risk (a plant that just cant wait to die), and very high inputs. In the past it has also had a high return, but even so its a risky crop to grow in all but the most ideal conditions. These constraints have led to a high degree of research in cotton farming to try to manage some of the variables. As methods prove to be viable, other farming areas pick up the techniques and technologies that suit them. This includes ways of reducing pesticide use, improving irrigation efficiency, building organic matter in the soil, improving soil structure... the list goes on. But these improvements arent marketed to the general public. We just hear about the baddies.

You have to be kidding CG.
The cotton industry are masters of spin and promoting all of their so-called benefits. Even to the point of 'propoganda packs' given to primary schools.
If the irrigation sector was as effective as they are efficient then we would not have the disastorous situation facing the country that we now do.What other agricultural industry has been able to externalise its costs to the extent that this sector has?
Yes, I know about the drought. But this is Australia and it isn't the first and certainly won't be the last.
Sadly (and certainly not on purpose) most farmers are not doing the best job possible for their landscapes, & to blame or differentiate between that and profitibilty shows that education should be at the heart of any attempt to alter and improve the status quo.

Bushrat: “I know about the drought. But this is Australia and it isn't the first and certainly won't be the last” etc. “education should be at the heart of any attempt to alter and improve the status quo”. Mate; let’s ask the obvious question – education sure, but by whom? Not our current batch of academics IMHO.

Our rural reporter Sarina Locke on ABC 666 today raised again the wetting ability of parched soils, too fine now for light surface water to penetrate. It sticks like slime thought to your boots early in these cooler mornings.

http://www.abc.net.au/backyard/presenters/SARINALOCKE.htm?canberra

We then listened to a range of issues, % ground cover, length of recovery, grazing the high country, HR burning, river nature, gully cross section study and so on however Prof Thoms ANU had the idea that all rates of change today are probably different historically and seem “chaotic”.

It’s my view nobody really knows how to deal with that except perhaps the more astute living on the land.

Practical response to rates of change of various interactions in industrial process was my job for decades. Experienced as I was then I still relied mostly on the nearest operator. They usually had a good nose for trouble and were far more reliable than any set of data. We smiled as academics came and went.

Geoff Minchin from LCMA gets close to understanding the broadest range of issues and concepts at the grass roots like our Noelene from the high country. Getting useless bleached thatch and other debris back into soil (late season burning) as a long term carbon reservoir with out a lot of CO2 pollution is as yet a bit tricky for modern science.

Ask Doc Fleming at NSW Parks about their suppression of sparks.

Some Background; a group in their wisdom on MDB water futures helped remove cattlemen from the Vic Alps in the 70’s. Our natural reservoir was wet enough then to run the risk of wildfire.

Reading sudden rates of change and developing in phase responses are absolutely critical regardless of our imposed time frames.

Goodness Bushrat, you show your ignorance!!

Cotton farmers arent masters of spin, they just market themselves like any other business. You are free to take their marketing activities with as much salt as you like!! I'll take cotton marketers over McDonalds marketers any day.

You are right, this is a drought and not the first or last. But it is the worst in living memory, significantly more severe than what was to have been expected based on generations of knowledge. Dont blame irrigation farmers for the lack of water in the rivers. To start with most irrigation water used is from seasonal rains from year to year - this amount would not have been able to be stored for times as dry as this. Secondly water rates paid by irrigators help to pay for the infrastructure that is needed to supply both farm water and town water - dams. Larger dams could be built, but the greenies would be jumping up and down about that and we have a government that has a distinct lack of foresight in this area.

I dont get your point about the externalisation of costs. Not sure what it is that you are referring to. But most irrigators are effective as well as efficient. Most would be happy to contribute towards further infrastructure development to help alleviate future droughts, but are hampered by government and the greenies. Plus the blinkered view that so many have of the industry - most would cry "vested interest" - sure it is, but they would not be the only ones to benefit from such an investment. Others benefiting would be towns downstream, the environment, the economy (more production = more jobs and more money filtering through the economy).

Come and spend a little time with the industry before reviling it. You will probably be pleasantly surprised.

Bushrat, If there wasn't so much misinformation regarding cotton growing in Australia education packs for schools would not be necessary.

Cotton is grown to provide the best return possible. When water is available. If another crop stacks up equally or better then irrigators will change to that crop.

As CG says have a look for yourself. If not at least read a bit about the industry.

You could try www.cottonaustralia.com.au

Rojo,
Not a lot of information on the cotton australia website regarding any detrimental impact of over extraction, damage to ecosystems and the very real economic costs that are incurred by these unsustainable practices to downstream landholders and the environment.
Hmmm....wonder why that is.
CG, Just because you don't understand what I mean (your words) does not mean that I am ignorant or that I am wrong.For a little more understanding of 'externalisation of costs' try reading Paul Hawkens' "The Ecology of Commerce".
To listen to Malcolm Turnbull and the PM sprout about their 10Bill water plan would leave most people thinking that all farmers are irrigators, and sadly that's where all the money will go.
Lets see how efficient we can get at something that we just shouldn't be doing...