CRISIS point is looming for district irrigators, according to Coleambally maize grower Rodney Foster.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
He said it may take 10 to 15 years, but the future of farming may be in danger.
Last week federal MP Bob Katter said crisis time was just around the corner for the whole of the Murray Darling Basin and Mr Foster agreed.
He said despite having a good winter season, that come summertime the crops will suffer because of the Murray Darling cutbacks and water prices.
“There's no doubt about it, they've put the pressure on the job,” he said.
“You look at the water prices we thought we'd have to pay and the ones we did and it’s not right.
“The wet season has been good for winter crops.
“Come October and November it's the dry and summer crops that will ultimately suffer.”
He said there would be one crop in particular that would suffer more than others.
“Back around 1999/2000 it was the rice growers that were doing well,” he said.
“Now rice will cost something like $3000 per hectare to produce.”
He said there were some benefits to come out of the past decade.
“You can move from crop to crop now, so it’s a lot more diverse than what it was 10 years ago,” he said.
“Rice used to be the main crop.
“It’s at the stage where crops like cotton and corn are the ones farmers will want to produce, with rice probably being on the bottom of that list.”
He said it would be the youth of who would will suffer in the years to come.
“There's a problem with a lot of de-watering happening in farms,” he said.
“I’ve got five farms that are fine, but I’ve got 15 dry ones.
“Young kids have looked at buying up those dry farms and they don’t realise they’ll probably go bust if they do.”
He said people who previously would have gone into farming might not think it’s worth the time and energy.
“There is a crisis, it might take another 10 years to come, but it’s there,” he said.
“The younger generation won't come through on the farms.
“They might be doing a trade now where they're having weekends off and finishing at better hours.
“They then think to themselves ‘why should I bother when it’s becoming harder and harder?’
“The money just isn't in farming the way it once was.”