On Tuesday, November 20, Goolwa resident Dianne Campbell presented a cheque for $749 to the SA Country Women’s Association, which will in turn go to the emergency aid fund to benefit farmers experiencing severe drought.
SA Country Women’s Association Group president and life member Melva Miles said the funds will get distributed at no cost to the people that need it.
“This is going to the right place and I would like to commend Dianne for starting this and raising $749,” Melva said.
The $749 was raised at the Wharf Barrel Shed, the Goolwa Markets and the wider community.
The fundraising was the initiative of Dianne Campbell and Chris from the Wharf Barrel Shed in Goolwa to support the country’s farmers.
“It does not much matter how much people raise, it all counts.
I will hand deliver the cheque myself and I am sure it is a boost to the fundraising effort and to the farmers,” Melva added.
Dianne thanked the community and the people of Goolwa for their support.
“We have raised some funds to help the struggling farmers and I thank the community for their support and in particular Chris from the Wharf Barrel Shed.
The money is in good hands with the CWA,” Dianne said.

Trying to rejigger stalled talks on a plan to protect Lake Mead, the CAP board is pushing a new plan to spend up to $60 million to compensate water users whose supplies would be cut due to future Colorado River shortages.
The Drought Contingency Plan proposal approved by the Central Arizona Project board last week is a less-ambitious, less-expensive and shorter-term blueprint than those proposed earlier by water agencies and the Gila River Indian Community.
It would help farmers pay for new wells and more water efficiency, and provide more water for tribes than they’d get under the drought plan’s earlier versions.
“We want to come up with a plan that this board by itself can approve — a plan we believe would work.” The drought plan is aimed at keeping Lake Mead from falling to catastrophically low levels.
It would boost the level of cuts in CAP water deliveries to farms, cities and tribes as soon as shortages on the Colorado River begin — as early as 2020.
It means bringing an end to attempts to vilify other water users and casting aspersions on their motives.” Pinal County farmers would get what they see as “full mitigation” of previously proposed cuts: 595 million acre-feet of water over seven years through 2026.
The proposal also would provide some relief to cuts planned during early shortages to the Gila River tribal community and to many Phoenix-area cities.
Their class of water users would get 88,000 acre-feet a year of mitigation, about three-fourths of what was going to be cut.
The CAP would spend up to $60 million to buy up to 250,000 acre-feet for mitigation.
That’s far more than what cities and other CAP users are paying today for the river water.

Prior to the crisis in the Syrian Arab Republic, 1.5 million ha of land were under irrigation and 4 million tonnes of wheat were produced annually, ensuring self-sufficiency for bread – the country’s major staple food.
Consecutive joint assessments conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have found a decrease in food production and the adoption of negative coping mechanisms.
During the 2017/18 cropping season, below-average rainfall in the first three months led to a further reduction in the production of wheat and barley.
The areas planted for wheat were reduced by about half compared with the previous two seasons.
The domestic production of wheat was estimated to be 1.2 million tonnes in 2018, which is lower than the previous year and much lower than pre-crisis production levels.
This year’s season was classified as one of the worst in more than 20 years, due to the combination of drought and late rainfall, which affected both rain-fed and irrigated production.
Many farmers left their land, while those who have remained do not have access to quality seeds and inputs.
For the current planting season, which takes place in November and December 2018, the lack of good quality seeds is the main concern.
Thanks to a generous Belgian contribution of USD 400 000, through the Special Fund for Emergency and Rehabilitation (SFERA), FAO aims to improve the food security and nutrition of drought-affected farmers in the Syrian Arab Republic through distributing quality seeds and inputs for resumption of increased wheat production.
This partnership will benefit 1 850 families (11 100 people) in Al-Hasakeh and Deir-ez-Zor, who will also receive training on good agricultural practices.

Michael McCormack has announced an extra $500m for water infrastructure projects, including dams, a near doubling of capital spending in the Coalition’s water infrastructure fund.
The acting prime minister and Nationals leader gave few details on Monday about which projects would benefit except that the funding would be used “to identify and co-fund the construction of new water infrastructure projects across regional Australia” with state and territory governments.
It’s still public infrastructure projects keeping the economy afloat | Greg Jericho Read more Labor attacked the announcement as a “thought bubble” and criticised the government’s record on water infrastructure.
The $500m funding commitment tops up the Coalition’s $520m national water infrastructure development fund, which has already been committed to projects, and comes after the Coalition set up a $2bn water infrastructure loan facility.
McCormack said the Coalition “aren’t afraid to back dams – we want to build more of them”.
“If we want to create jobs and grow regional Australia then we need to add water,” he said.
“This announcement will turbocharge the construction of water infrastructure in regional Australia because our agricultural industries expect it and our communities deserve it.” The only projects nominated to gain from the $500m cash injection are: a $2m feasibility study to increase water supply in Queensland’s north and south Burnett regions; $1m to help Western Australia’s southern forest irrigation scheme pass regulatory hurdles; and $250,000 to help design Victoria’s coldstream recycled water pipeline.
Labor’s agriculture spokesman, Joel Fitzgibbon, said the announcement “is just another dam thought bubble driven by political desperation”.
“People in Queensland will understandably be sceptical,” he said.
On Monday the treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, did little to dampen expectations of a big-spending mid-year economic outlook, refusing to rule out the possibility that the government would use the update to bring forward its income tax cut plan.

THE first container shipment of molasses from Vietnam arrives at the Brisbane Port today with the cattle feed supplement to be distributed throughout Queensland amid concerns local supplies were running out due to the prolonged drought.
AgForce CEO Michael Guerin said AgForce had worked with importers to organize the molassesshipments after Queensland cattle producers expressed fears the supply shortage would hamper their ability to feed their livestock.
“Molasses is an important energy feed supplement for cattle and the ongoing drought has all but exhausted local supplies as it has been in such high demand,” he said.
“AgForce sought feedback from members in recent months about what molasses they required going forward and have been working with importers on both short and long term solutions, with container shipments arriving once a week over the next three weeks starting from today.
“These first shipments will deliver 750 tonnes in containers, while the indicative volume sought at this stage is more than 2500 tonnes, with some producers seeking regular parcels.
“This option is more expensive but it is providing an interim solution for farmers in desperate need.
A longer-term bulk option is also being pursued, but this is more complex as there are extensive import permit processes and important biosecurity protocols that must be met.” Mr Guerin said Queensland cattle producers who needed molasses could register their interest on the AgForce website here: https://agforceqld.org.au/ molassesregistrationfollowup and AgForce would put them in touch with the importers bringing containers into Queensland.
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The city of Napa will take the lead among local governments in funding a new plan to help the county cope with California’s next drought emergency.
Napa would assume $138,966 of the $230,193 to be provided by Napa County’s five cities, plus the county and the Napa Sanitation District, toward a drought contingency plan.
The City Council on Tuesday accepted its share of the $430,193 budget, which includes a $200,000 federal grant from the Bureau of Reclamation Napa officials expect to see approved by month’s end.
Each government’s payment toward the drought plan will be based on its population and water use, with the city of Napa paying about 60 percent of the local share, according to a city memorandum.
American Canyon would provide the second largest share at $31,652, followed by the county with $22,567, St. Helena with $15,120 and Napa Sanitation with $10,132.
Calistoga would commit $8,502 and Yountville $3,254.
A contingency plan reviews the water supply and consumption in each city and agency, and recommends potential projects to make up supply deficits during a drought.
The most recent plan stemmed from a 2005 study by Napa Valley governments, and led to the city of Napa improving its Barwick Jamieson Treatment plant and buying more rights to state-supplied water from Yountville and St. Helena.
Brown and Caldwell, a Walnut Creek design and engineering firm, will partner with local governments to create the drought plan.
The company originally contracted with Napa, Sonoma and Marin counties last year on a water shortage strategy for all three counties, but Marin and Sonoma ultimately pursued their own plan, Brun said in a pre-meeting memorandum.

It’s clear.
El Paso is in the middle of a long-term river drought.
Our river supply is dependent on Elephant Butte Reservoir.
After years of investment and careful planning, our utility has built an innovative portfolio of water resources, including desalination, water reuse and conservation.
And then there’s the Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant.
In its 11 years of operation, the world’s largest inland desalination plant has proven its worth.
In our great city, conservation is a way of life.
For more than 25 years, El Paso Water has prioritized water conservation.
El Paso Water knows that our water supply grows stronger when diversified.
Because of years of investment and responsibly managing our water sources, we are prepared to handle Mother Nature’s occasional challenges.

The social media page for the Strydenburg-based organisation KAIN – Karoo animals in need – showcases the realities many farmers, livestock and locals are facing due to the effects of the water shortage.
Loots explains in her post that the drought has plagued the Karoo and outlying areas since 2011, and that there is a dire shortage of livestock fodder.
She adds that her own farm is unable to feed the animals, and many farmers in the area are turning to selling their property in a desperate attempt to escape the disaster.
We cannot help as we are also struggling to feed the animals.” Farmers are being forced to bury their livestock as they pass away from lack of water and food.
Loots goes on to implore the public to donate fodder to farmers in the area so they can feed their animals.
We can get [maize] at R160 a bale.
Please contact Alta Loots at 082 835 9466 if you can sponsor a bale.
We will update as we receive more.” A domino effect Project leader of non-profit organisation Save the Sheep, Sybil Visagie says the Karoo is not equipped to deal with the extreme drought.
Visagie says that backyard farms are receiving aid as well as larger farms.
“Farm workers have lost their jobs and Save the Sheep is helping these individuals by distributing food parcels to them,” she said.

Germany-based fertilizer producer K+S AG (FRA:SDF1) has revised down its full-year earnings guidance after a severe drought hit production at its main mine network in the third quarter.
The miner now expects earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) to come at between 570 and 630 million euros, compared to the 660 to 740 million euros previously forecast.
“The extreme drought and higher logistics costs have restricted our growth potential in the third quarter,” Burkhard Lohr, CEO of K+S, said in the statement.
“The operating performance in Canada’s Bethune and Germany, on the other hand, is starting to improve,” he noted.
The potash producer shut down its Wintershall site, part of its Werra mine network, in late August.
The following month, it also halted production at is Hattorf site, as exceptionally low water levels in the Werra river restricted its ability to dispose of waste water.
The Werra plant — which includes the Hattorf, Wintershall and Unterbreizbach sites — is the largest of its kind that K+S owns.
It was back online and at full tilt in early October.
It’s estimated that every day of stoppage cost the company about 1.5 million euros ($1.74 million) per site, which means the outage had a negative impact of 80 million euros on K+S ‘s earnings.

Extreme weather over summer could reduce the output of coal, gas and hydro power generators and cause problems with the reliability of electricity supply, according to the Australian Energy Market Operator.
Energy minister declares Snowy Hydro expansion ‘fundamental’ to Australia Read more Aemo will on Friday release advice about its summer readiness plan for 2018.
It says the weather bureau is predicting warmer-than-average temperatures in the coming months, with heatwaves of shorter duration in the south but longer duration in the northern regions.
“Extreme temperatures and events including bushfires, lightning and storms can reduce the output of thermal, solar and wind generation, impact transmission lines and result in loss of supply.
Part of the response will include demand management, with 132MW of reserves available to support reliability in Victoria.
The costs of contracting the additional supply are passed through to energy consumers.
Clean energy is cheap, surging – and headed for a fall Read more Aemo’s chief executive, Audrey Zibelman, says the new supply “will alleviate the short-term risk of involuntary load shedding during summer peak periods” but says integration will be important to ensure ongoing reliability and stability of Australia’s power system throughout the year.
The assessment notes that the high uptake of rooftop solar is pushing back peak demand to later in the evening because power consumers are generating more of their own supply during the day.
Zibelman said she was confident Aemo had put in place the necessary procedures to minimise the risks over the coming summer.
“Aemo is confident the plans we have made and the targeted actions we have taken in collaboration with the wider energy industry and governments, have appropriately equipped us to tackle any unforeseeable events the upcoming summer might bring,” she said.