The Ord River continued

The Ord River Irrigation Scheme provides farmland ideally suited to growing more than 60 crops, including high-value horticultural and seed crops, irrigated pasture, sugar, some specialty pharmaceutical crops and the proposed cultivation of genetically modified pest-resistant cotton.  No one crop has proved to be the solution for the Ord River Irrigation Scheme, but the construction of a sugar mill, a joint venture between CSR and the Ord River District Co-operative, and the successful sugar cane harvesting resulted in the production of raw sugar late in 1995.
By 2000 long held plans to expand the Ord River Irrigation Area from 14,000 hectares had not been enacted.