but what has that got to do with this discussion about the misappropriation of water in the Murray-Darling Basin system?
Mr Opinion,
I'd imagine Hasbeen provided the info for people who think !

Yes, Hasbeen. My comments on cotton and rice growing were just a side issue: nothing to do with the real problem of the almighty stuff up being made with our water. I should know by now to keep it simple and not go off the track, because the minor things will always be jumped on:).

I have a visceral objection to growing cotton and rice in Australia when it can be done with more water in developing countries who need the trade. What about the globalisation which is supposed to be soooo good for all and sundry? Why is it that our traditional farming, that we have always been so good at, is going down the gurgler while the elites cheer on foreigners, growing cotton, calling it 'investment'? The same people who reckon we are stupid and who are laughing at us as they soften us up to become a colony of China

I agree completely ttbn, with your thinking on the Murray-Darling. The South Australian government have used the idiot Greens to concoct a story that gives them millions of acre feet of fresh water to waste.

However denigrating cotton as a crop unsuitable for Oz is crazy. Cubby station collects it's water from overland flows, which are only going to waste if not collected. They are not stealing anyone else's water. I expect cotton serves the same useful function in the western cropping soils, as on the black soil planes.

The same is definitely true for so called environmental flows down the Murray. These are simply a waste of water, to be mostly evaporated uselessly from the South Australian ponding. South Australia is stealing other states water with this ploy, just to waste it.

I doubt anyone begrudges SA a fair share of the Murray-Darling water, but any thinking person must begrudge them the terrible waste of water caused by using the barrage retained water as a cheap irrigation distribution system, & fresh water playground.

I have never been able to understand the Greens, so anti dams, don't object to this effectively damming of the river mouth, unless it is merely bitchiness, in their desire to rob farmers of the water they need.

I guess I just found it, didn't I. Greens are simply nasty bitchy yobbos, who hate anything or anyone being productive

Has,

The three videos in the Quadrant article made a lot of sense to me. In think you would be interested in what the presenter thinks should be done with the Murray' mouth and the lakes.

Forgot. Yes, the Greens are troglodytes.

ttbn to answer your other question, "Why is it that our traditional farming, that we have always been so good at, is going down the gurgler", I'll tell you. It is because our traditional farming is no longer profitable enough to still work.

Once upon a time a farmer could grow a hundred acres of wheat, & even with the occasional year when the crop failed, his family could live well. Remember those soldier settlers blocks after the war, they were all a square mile, 640 acres. They were supposed to be a bountiful living for a family, instead they were a sentence to misery. Produce prices had come down so much by the 50s, that 600 acres was not a living block.

My Jandowae mate tells me that 50 years ago one good 1000 acre wheat crop, with another moderate crop, allowed for a failed crop every 3 years, & offered a good living. Today they can't afford the planting costs of a failed crop, so just don't plant at all, if the subsoil moisture is not sufficient to ensure a harvest. His 1600 acre is considered a marginal size for a cropping farm today.

Without the judicious use of cotton his son, who is now running the place would be better off driving a truck for a living.