Water prices
WITH 110 per cent in NSW Murray and 100 per cent in every other river, except the Murrumbidgee, us poor cousins are sitting on 44 per cent, plus an average of 28 per cent carryover which works out to an average of 72 per cent of what we own.
Us poor cousins on the Murrumbidgee have had a bit of extra off-quota water on the mighty Billabong, which has been fantastic and much appreciated.
Unfortunately, that will finish this week, but it was great while it lasted.
The temporary water market has hit $200 per megalitre on the Murray as well as the Murrumbidgee, and about $138 on the local channel system.
This just goes beyond belief and the hectares of rice going in is dropping every day.
There are a few very disillusioned flood irrigators around that thought that with the amount of water around, they could buy in a bit of cheap water. Grow a heap of rice and maybe put a few quid away for the future if it paid off.
They are now reassessing their future. Almond farmers do not own water, they buy it in every year. Maybe this is the future.
Sell our water to the almond farmers and buy more dryland blocks out in the Mallee.
No yabbies out there as my mates from Manangatang found out when they filled in the channels and put the pipeline in.
Southern Bell frogs
I KNOW I keep going on about these things, but they are supposed to be in the top 100 of endangered species in Australia.
Not around Moulamein, I can tell you.
I have had a professor at my place that was studying frogs. She had never seen a Southern Bell frog in the wild. If she came out to my farm to study them at the moment at night, she would run over more than she has ever seen.
They are everywhere and they are a healthy bright green. We are watering at the moment. It is not just the channels, there are hundreds of acres of frogs out there.
Wherever you pull up, either on the edge or out in the middle of a bay, they are in full song, and they are breeding. Frog eggs everywhere.
The best I have found is over 15 bell frogs under one irrigation slide.
New moon on its back
THE old man grew up in a time when they didn’t have internet, TV or even a radio.
They spent a lot of time looking at the sky on hot nights when it was too hot to be inside. Even I remember doing it.
Bloody hot, the old fella would go outside for a bit of relief from the heat and us kids would follow him.
We may have ridden our bikes around in the moonlight, shot a few basketball shots into the very rough basketball ring that we had or just throw rocks at each other while he was not looking.
Eventually, we did go and sit beside the old man and he used to point out all the constellations that he knew and talk about the old fellas that he knew back in his younger days and their weather theories.
A new moon coming in on its back meant one of two things. Either the moon was full of water and it was going to rain.
Or, the new moon was holding the water in because it was on its back and it was not going to rain. If the new moon came in on its side, it also meant one of two things. Either it was tipping the water out so it was going to rain, or, it was empty so there was not going to be any rain.
Yes, makes a lot of sense and I keep forgetting to record the results.
Going by the new moon coming in on its back this week and 36 degrees temperatures as well as El Nino predicted, I would back in the theory of on its back and holding all of the water in, so no rain. Only time will tell.
More time to take photos
THE gallery girls have decided to have their 2023 photo competition on Friday, October 23 to give everyone a couple of more weeks to find the perfect photo. Yellow is still the theme for the Moulamein Art Gallery event and prizes total $700. Get clicking.
River levels
THE Edward River has continued to drop very, very slowly and is now at 2.1 metres and around 2150 megalitres per day.
Once the off-quota goes off this week in the Billabong, we will let a heap more water flow past us and into the Edward.
The fishing report is starting to liven up. My young fella caught his first legal cod since he has been home.
Ten minutes of cheese in the water and bang, a 62cm cod and it was his birthday.
Unfortunately, for a cod eater like me, it was also the cod’s rebirthday as it had to go back into the water.
It was fat, as are all fish being caught at the moment, as there is that much food still in our rivers that they do not need bait on a hook.
This one was caught on cheese – worms are working for a few bites from the odd yeller or yabby.
At least they are on the nibble again.
Have not tried for a feed of yabbies yet, but I think they are still going in the rivers.
Any fish that is getting caught are that fat, they are almost round. Eventually they will get hungry again but they are starting to finally bite again.
