Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 425 IREC Farmers' Newsletter No. 196 — Summer 2016 5 IREC Farmers' Newsletter No. 196 — Summer 2016 Chairman’s foreword It is outstanding to have a wet winter under our belt, 100% allocation and plenty of sound options to put that water to productive use. WET winters bring challenges with seedbed preparation and timely planting of summer crops but they certainly bring out the best in us to ensure the job gets done. It is pleasing to drive around the irrigation valleys of the Murray and Murrumbidgee and see plenty of rice and cotton up and out of the ground. This is a credit not only to our farming community but also to the agronomic research and extension of our rice and cotton industries. Wet weather workshop IREC staged a very successful “wet weather workshop” in early October. Brian Dunn from NSW DPI rice research, Jorian Millyard from Cotton Seed Distributors and Kieran O’Keeffe from CottonInfo all gave excellent presentations on adaptive management strategies and the shortcuts that could save time in the lead-up to planting. The workshop was well received by the fifty attendees who gave very positive feedback on the day. Men’s health was another topic broached on the day with counsellor Neville Brady highlighting some hard-hitting truths in an entertaining manner about how men cope with stress. Men talking about how they feel is a great start and it is usually the first step to recovery. A short but very powerful message was packed into a DVD put together by the Leeton Calo’s Riders Club. A copy of the DVD can be collected at the IREC office (located in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Griffith building). It is essential viewing for all of us to get a deeper appreciation of depression and the journey people go through on the road to recovery. I would like to thank the sponsors of the day: Yenda Producers Cooperative, Murrumbidgee Irrigation, Coleambally Irrigation, Commonwealth Bank, Ricegrowers Association, Riverina LLS and Southern Cotton. Check out IREC for 2017 I would encourage our members to go onto the IREC website and have a look at the calendar of events for 2017. Among other things there will be an irrigation bus tour to the northern regions of NSW in February and a technology field day during winter. We will be re-visiting our breakfast meetings in February 2017 to give some progress reports on projects that were established due to the last round. We will also be calling for emerging issues that face our irrigation businesses going forward. Please make yourselves available for one of the breakfast meetings in your area. They will be short and sharp, you get fed and watered, and we will be selecting sites that will be of interest to all. New partnerships I am excited to announce a more formal partnership with both Murrumbidgee Irrigation and Coleambally Irrigation. These are our irrigation companies who are working hard to deliver water to the farm gate more efficiently and consistently than ever before. By working with IREC they are showing a clear desire to see our businesses improve and prosper. I encourage you all to take advantage of the discounted membership to IREC that your irrigation company has negotiated on your behalf. It is your involvement in IREC activities that improves the outcome and benefits of IREC activities for everyone. I trust you will enjoy reading the summer edition of the Farmers’ Newsletter. Regards, Robert Houghton