Abuse - Cotton growers are tough, but how much more can farmers bear?

By: "Farm Tender" News
Cattle News
Feb 27, 2019
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Tony May - Head of Customer Marketing, ANZ at Bayer Crop Science

I saw a social media post that I just can’t get past. It was from an anonymous cotton grower battling the dual enemies of drought and misdirected public outrage about water and it read, in part:

“What’s happening has led to mental illness, my marriage hanging together only by sheer grit and determination, the destruction of communities and friends; and an industry sitting precariously on the edge in the face of relentless, toxic hatred against anyone associated with water….. We’ve been told to hang ourselves, shoot ourselves and to go rot in hell or jail.”*

The cotton industry is unfairly taking the brunt of the blame for the woes of the Murray-Darling Basin – but it’s the people who grow cotton who have become the target of public revulsion.

Farmers are tough and bear disaster, triumph, failure, success and tragedy as a part of the job description.

But they’ve just about had enough.

Let’s talk about bravery. It takes no courage at all to sit anonymously behind a computer and fire off hateful comments about a crop you’ve never seen and people you’ve never met. What does take guts is to get up day after day in 40+ degree heat to work a 14-hour day outside to grow a product we all need, knowing that when you open your social media feed, strangers will be spewing insults at you.

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Australian cotton has been swept into an ugly theatre where facts are abandoned and good, decent people are being cast as national traitors.

The facts have been repeated again and again:

* Cotton is an annual crop that is only irrigated when water is available. If there’s no water available, there’s no irrigated cotton grown – unless a farmer irrigates using bore water or water they stored from a year when there was a high water allocation.

* Cotton farmers buy a water licence, then are allocated an amount of water annually depending on what is available in government storages. That calculation first prioritises the needs of the environment and communities. Again, if farmers don’t receive a water allocation, they don’t grow a cotton crop.

* Australian cotton farmers are the best in the world at using water efficiently. We now grow almost twice as much cotton for the same amount of water than we could ten years ago.

* No-one is angrier about those who steal water than the overwhelming majority of our 1200 cotton growers who follow the rules and use best practice to manage water.

* This is one bad drought - a mere fraction of water has entered into the basin this year compared to previous years and no water would have made it to the lower reaches of the Darling in any circumstance.

But what you really need to know is that every cotton crop is the result of a farmer - a family, a fellow human being – making a decision to farm because they love it.

I’ve never met any farmer that didn’t want to pass on their property, their soils and the water system in better condition than when he or she first started growing. Farmers plan to farm well into the future and are emotionally and financially invested in protecting the natural resources that are necessary to their livelihoods.

I’ve been in and around the cotton industry for nearly 30 years. I don’t get into a paddock as much I would like anymore, but even from my city window, the respect and admiration I have for cotton farmers is fierce. The cotton industry is supported by an ecosystem of researchers, seed-breeders, agronomists, consultants and agri-businesses who see growing cotton as more than just a job.

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We – the community around our farmers – have a responsibility to stand up and defend the industry we love. And we need to defend agriculture, not just cotton. This time it’s cotton in the crosshairs. Last time it was dairy, pork and live export. It’s in all our collective interests to loudly champion agriculture and to share what it’s like to dedicate your life to growing food and fibre.

But at that the moment, cotton farmers themselves are the front line and are the ones being demonised in the public’s eyes.

Here’s what I want cotton growers to know:

We value you and we support you. We know you care about your families, your communities and the environment that supports your livelihood. We see the smart decisions and the hard decisions you make every day to contribute to an industry that sets the benchmark for environmental stewardship. We see you at field days and community sporting events and school P&C meetings, supporting and building each other up.

Stick with it, in the face of unfair negativity and the gutless insults. This is real bravery in action and we applaud you for it.

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If you need to talk confidentially with someone who will listen without judgement, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 (24 hours / 7 days)

* This quote is from a Twitter post by @ShannaKWhan who is undertaking research as an industry advocate