Etta Plains owner Lucas Findley has told a Mount Isa audience how his family's agribusiness is transforming the property near Julia Creek.
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Findley Farms from Narrabi, northern New South Wales, bought the property 120km north of Julia Creek in 2019 with its water allocations of 39,500ML providing a platform for cropping expansion for irrigation and dryland operations.
A run in the Flinders River allowed them to plant 172 hectares of cotton using a bankless irrigation system and the crop is starting to see the light of day.
Mr Findley told an audience at MITEZ economic diversity forum on Tuesday said they were supported in the pilot program by the state government and McKinlay Shire Council.
"We sat down with council and said, do you want us to do this irrigation farming, they said yes, and that's what we're doing," Mr Findley said.
Mr Findley said sustainable broadacre farming was possible with good planning and execution but it was was important to "respect the weather" in the north with its wet and dry seasons that are different to northern NSW.
He said the combination of soil, sunshine and rain made the quality of product high and makes the economic model work "if you know what you are doing".
Mr Findley said it was important to use the water allocation straight away and not leave it till it was too late to make a difference.
"Flexibility is the key, and we need to pivot and respond to change," he said.
The Findleys also planted 1300ha of grain sorghum in February to use soil moisture.
"The irrigation industry will allow cattle producers to pivot to broadacre farming and a diversification for their business and the entire region," he said.
"Development will be more difficult and costly than people think."
With no cotton gin in the area, the cotton will be transported to Emerald for processing and marketing.
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Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
