Contents - Greenmount Press

Vale Ken Arnott
■■By David Dowling
The Australian cotton industry lost one of its greatest
characters when Ken Arnott passed away on September 1, at
the age of 71. Ken was one of the pioneers of the irrigation
and cotton industries in the Gwydir Valley, a larger-than-life
character who devoted a vast amount of time to industry issues
– particularly related to water.
My first recollections of Ken were, when as a young, knownothing
bug checker, I regularly checked trials at the Ken
Arnott managed property, Telleraga in the lower Gwydir. Ken
always had time for a friendly chat and an ability to impart
some useful knowledge in a few short words.
In those days, most people just knew him as the “Big
Biscuit,” a nickname which belied his talent and ability. Perhaps
his greatest strength was being able to communicate with
everyone – from a young tractor driver to a British Lord.
What follows is largely taken from an interview I did with
Ken in 1987, plus some recollections (in the blue text) of their
father by his sons Charlie, Kenny and Tom who delivered the
eulogy at his funeral.
The Ken Arnott story started at Murrurundi in the Liverpool
Ranges of Northern NSW on his father’s grazing property.
After boarding school in Sydney and a stint of jackarooing
in the Riverina and the Northern Territory, Ken returned to take
up a section of the family property. He married the love of his life,
Susie, and settled down for a few years of intensive sheep raising
with some limited farming.
“Very early on I decided that this was not the sort of farming
that I wanted to do,” said Ken. “I could see that the interesting
and successful agriculture of the future would involve spending
money and taking risks.”
One morning, after the normal “get up, it’s
time to get going”, one of us had the hide to ask
“where are we going, Dad”
“Listen boys, if you are not making dust you are
eating it. So get up, and get going.”
He didn’t have the financial backing to fulfill his dreams, but
was introduced to some English investors who did, and managed
to convince them that he was the person to manage their
Australian operation. The company was called the First Heritable
Trust, and the land they chose was Midkin South, 15 kms west
of Moree. In 1969 they bought the 5000 hectare property and
commenced a staged development.
Dad convinced Mum that a two door car was
safer than a four door, because we couldn’t fall
out, and bought a 327 Monaro.
Ken learned a lot about investment from them. “Some of the
families have been looking after their money since 1066,” he
said. At that stage, Copeton Dam was being built, but wasn’t
due to come into operation for some years, so they decided to
put bores down in the meantime.
“Apart from being good country, it was right in at the Gwydir
Raft, which had to receive irrigation water from Copeton
whichever streams eventually carried the water,’’ said Ken.
The irrigation country was envisaged to include crops of corn,
sorghum and combining irrigation with livestock activities. Cotton
was not considered an economic possiility, and was specifically
excluded from the early licences in the Gwydir.
When water from Copeton Dam became available, there was
very little demand for licences, or recognition of their value. Ken
Arnott did recognise the value of the water and established 800
hectares of river irrigation on Midkin South. It was around that
time that he started to realise the possibilities of flood irrigation,
especially the use of large volumes – a technique with which he is
closely associated.
Dad always seemed to weave into every day
activities, important life lessons.
Once when leaving for a pig shooting trip to
Goodooga, I was packing supplies. “Should I pack
all these boxes of bullets Dad” Packed already
were enough bullets for a month of shooting.
“They will be no use to us here in the cupboard
at home when we are out at Goodooga will they
boys,” he would say. “Pack everything.”
Ken Arnott.
“In the early days of Midkin South, I was changing most of
the syphons by myself, so I soon recognised their shortcomings,
especially when irrigating cereal crops on cold winter nights,”
12 — The Australian Cottongrower October–November 2012