Back in the 1970s, a couple of mates who had gone through Agriculture college together, came up with an idea to establish a huge cropping property in one of the most arid regions of Australia.

Today, Tandou boasts the largest sub-surface irrigated area of any farm in Australia.

In the season just passed, Tandou harvested more than 6,500 hectares of cotton, which equates to around 50,000 bales - just under 2 per cent of the nation's total harvest of three million bales.

With cotton prices the lowest in 30 years and a global oversupply, it is a difficult time for one of the nation's oldest industries (cotton arrived with the First Fleet in 1788) and Tandou is not immune to the industry downturn, but it survives on diversity, its dedicated workforce and most of all, access to water.

Tandou farm is based in the dried up lake bed of Lake Tandou at the bottom of the Menindee Lakes system in far western New South Wales - just over an hour's drive south of Broken Hill. Without water, this region with its 20 centimetres of rain a year, is one sheep to the 12-acre country, with water it can bloom.

Tandou has bought more than 33,000 mega litres of water licences. It buys temporary water at the right price from other licence holders and gets supplementary water when the lakes fill and spill, and after South Australia's needs are met.

It is the biggest single producer of pima cotton - a longer stapled, higher valued variety than the upland cotton sold on the futures market.

The company also grows more than 200 hectares of grapes, 50.8 hectares of apples, 11.74 hectares of apricots, 1,074 hectares of durum wheat and 2,239 hectares of malting barley.

There are also around 12,000 merino sheep roaming the vast desert landscape surrounding the main farm.

There is really no other place in Australia like Tandou.

CONTACTS

• Tandou
  Phone: (03) 5018 6500, Fax: (03) 5018 6599
  PO Box 5062
  Mildura, 3502
  
  Email: [email protected]

SITES

1. Tandou