Food for Thought Sophie Baldwin Southern Riverina Irrigators Chief Executive
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SOUTHERN RIVERINA IRRIGATORS Food for thought Sophie Baldwin Southern Riverina Irrigators chief executive WelcomeN THE past few years as a journalist In the case of the Southern unfolding in front of their eyes. covering the growing threat from Riverina; a true food bowl for the Despite that damning indifference, poor water policy and the Basin nation — irrigation goes hand in hand our farmers are still getting up every IPlan, and in the past few months as with success. day and are still doing what they chief executive of Southern Riverina The Southern Riverina stands out in love — producing food for the nation. Irrigators; I have been on the frontline Australian agriculture as a diverse and If you think the output is impressive watching and working alongside productive region; producing staples now, just imagine what could be our farmers. from rice, cereal, livestock and dairy achieved if Southern Riverina’s farmers At the same time the majority of through to niche products including got their water back. Australians still do not comprehend mushrooms, organic stone milled flour And in the end, that is all we are and eggs. asking, we want our fair share. the importance of agriculture Its farmers are world class and many This magazine is a showcase of the within the Australian story — and are industry innovators and leaders. lengths our farmers have had to go to economy — and its role in our Food For Thought is a tribute to this remain viable. country’s future. region and its farmers. I would like to thank all the families Agriculture’s capacity to build Agriculture in the Southern Riverina’s who welcomed us onto their true wealth, not just at a farm level farming industry injects millions of properties and appeal to everyone but in our towns and cities and dollars into local economies and reading this to join us in sending the their combined communities, is billions into the national economy. message that our producers not only unprecedented. And the best Australia has to offer in have the right to farm; the country And unlike other economic booms return as we go to press is the Murray- needs them on the land and on agriculture is a renewable industry. Darling Basin Plan, which only serves the job. But it must be managed correctly to cripple the region, compounded by If they aren’t then every man, woman and given the support and resources it poor water policy and governments and child in Australia will pay the price needs to not just survive but to thrive. that seem oblivious to the disaster for a golden opportunity lost. ContentsFarming first, Federation a The growing Baxter family just They’re Wright but the system is all (very) distant second ....................................................4 keeps on trucking ................................................................23 wrong ....................................................................................................46 Leave the water in the hands At Modbury it’s the brother act ........................26 The farm’s not broken but water policy of Australian-owned family farms is ....................................................................................................................49 Kate’s a genuine good egg...................................28 and watch our economy grow .......................7 An insatiable taste for her From the SRI Table ..............................................................32 Farming 2020 is all about being gourmet mushrooms ....................................................50 light on your feet ...................................................................10 Bushies helping to save Flour power— it’s Woodstock all the Bush Stone-Curlew ................................................34 A century of farming on the brink ................12 over again ......................................................................................53 Adaptability— it’s been a Prime time to trade ...........................................................14 Where only the sky is the limit ...........................56 stunning solution ..................................................................36 Don’t let the decline Loving the lifestyle of liquid gold ...................59 This couple knew spuds become a collapse ..........................................................16 were a sure thing .................................................................40 Sponsors ...........................................................................................62 Dairy farmers see potential of Persimmons, potential Southern Riverina Irrigators footprint .....64 rejuvenated southern Riverina.........................16 and big plans.............................................................................42 Straight out of farming’s coaching manual ...............................................................20 2 SOUTHERN RIVERINA IRRIGATORS Food for thought OOD For Thought is a Most disheartening of all, they have demonstration of the watched the absurdity of precious commitment — and the water flushed out to sea rather than be determinationF — of the southern used on highly productive farmland. Riverina farming community to North of us irrigators blithely go about do whatever it takes to do what it their business of illegal floodplain does best. harvesting. Feed Australia. For too long thousands of gigalitres As your chair of Southern Riverina of water have been ripped out of the Irrigators I have been loudly advocating system by unlicensed and unmetered for change — and have been heartened irrigators — and to rub salt into a by the community support we have very raw wound, then hoard it on garnered along the way. their properties in storage systems I read through this magazine and I see constructed without the appropriate determination, I see innovation, I see works permits. pride and I see guts. While at the same time the farmers of I see family farms incorporating the southern Riverina are metered to best practice, I see farms doing within an inch of our lives. amazing things. Here we sit, in the southern Riverina, but we know, and even if governments All in the face of adversity. with little — or no — allocations as won’t acknowledge it, they know we are And I see the will to fight. the reliability of our general security approaching a dangerous new world Imagine what we could achieve if the water erodes away; from its long- where our food supply will be reliant on tap was turned back on and water was term average of 84 per cent to just 48 the largesse of overseas producers and returned to where it rightfully belongs. per cent. whatever prices they want to charge. We only want what is ours; and we will And there have been casualties. In lean years the food might not be continue to fight until we get it. Just a decade ago there were 90 dairy there whatever the price. In a country crying out for economic farmers in our region; today just 20 So who is out there fighting for us? stimulus; just give us back our water remain. Certainly not The Nationals, who seem and we will do the rest. Australia’s crop production has fallen, content to hang the Southern Riverina For the past three years our farmers every year for the past three years, out to dry. have been forced to make lifechanging compounded by this year’s dismal rice Which means it is up to us; we must decisions about their businesses harvest of just 57,000 tonnes. do all the work on the farms; we must and their families while watching In the cold light of day that means do all the work to feed Australia and untouchable water flow past their Australia is out of homegrown rice, with now we must do the fighting ourselves farm gates. no domestic supply expected until as well. They have watched on as the lifeblood autumn 2021. I want my grandchildren to have the of Australian farming has been spilt Do the sums. option to be farmers if they choose. into forests time and time again as Australia is now reliant on imports. We are in this for the long haul and the insatiable downstream demand That might not even raise a blip on we won’t stop fighting until we get a continues unabated. the metropolitan consumption radar fair outcome. Food for thought SOUTHERN RIVERINA IRRIGATORS 3 Farming first, Federation a (very) distant second SOPHIE BALDWIN meets the scion of an Australian farming dynasty who has been working with his wife to redefine the essence of the family property at Caldwell — and they’re making a pretty good job of it O AND Don Hearn have When the Hearn family first arrived in insect populations to assist with pest accomplished a lot in the 24 Australia they were traditional sheep management,” Jo said. years since they consigned their farmers but the arrival of irrigation in Don remembers the wetland Jdusty and well-travelled backpacks the 1950s opened the family business flourishing back in the 1970s and along to a cupboard and took up the tools to a world of possibility and opportunity with Jo, he wanted to make sure it for a life of farming at Caldwell, north including sheep, beef and of course a would be around for generations of Moama. much more reliable cropping program. to come which is why they have an From the early days, when they For Jo and Don, diversification has environmental covenant across the decided to grow grapes for wine always been a core part of their entire area. production, the business has grown to own farming journey but equally as “It can never be cleared although we encompass a thriving Jungle Lane Beef important has been