NORTH EAST AND GOULBURN MURRAY
Part of the Farmer Group Rural Newspapers Covering Victoria Published since 1984
FEBRUARY, 2016
37 Rowan Street, Wangaratta 3677
Bull sales preview
Farmer to Farmer
PAGES 11 - 14
PAGE 23
Bruce Diffey talks water PAGE 26
Water use equity still simmering Reader calls for equity and water use HI¿ FLHQF\ PHDVXUHV IRU IDUP GDPV
HOME-GROWN: Rangan Charolais’ Graeme Cook and canine helper with young sires at Sandy Creek. Rangan’s bull sale will be held as part of the autumn round on March 16. At Woolsthorpe, Graeme and Elizabeth Glasgow showed their Angus bulls on their property on February 2. Their sale will be held on March 4. See pages 11-14 for North East Farmer’s bull sales’ preview.
ISSUES of equity and the efficient use of water captured on private land are still causing debate between some farmers, lobby groups and the State Government. Upper Catchment Water Users’ Committee chairman David Evans, from Myrrhee, has responded to North East and Goulburn Murray Farmer’s January story – ‘Big thumbs up for Water Act’ – by saying that no mention was made of equity and water use efficiency issues connected with water produced from private land in the high rainfall Upper Catchment, east of the Hume Freeway. Mr Evans claimed that more than one million megalitres of water flowed from rain falling on private land in an average year. He also said that all future rights to store and use that water had been
BY JODIE FLEMING
jfleming@ nemedia.com.au
taken away, without compensation. This included legislation to remove rights to the use of water from springs and soaks for any purpose and any depth recorded on many land titles. The former Victorian Legislative Council Nationals’ member also said that this contrasted with the purchase of two million megalitres of environmental water -from “willing sellers” – that is, fully compensated. He went on to say that: s Water from private land, converted to water right, would have a capital value of $2 billion to $3 billion. Continued page 6
ON PROPERTY SALE Jim Bruce 0419 600 355 Stephen Street 0428 579 338 Trevor Parker 0428 578 074 Kevin Sanderson 0418 574 237
ANGUS www.witherswoodangus.com.au
70 Bulls Manager: Ian Peake 0419 111 936 John and Joan Woodruff 0412 002 509 Hoysted Road, Taminick via Glenrowan
V/12d12844-V6/06-16
TUESDAY MARCH 22, 2016