SUNRAYSIA irrigators are at loggerheads with Victorian Farmers Federation over water trading.

The irrigators say the VFF Water Committee is dominated by dairy farmers and does not represent horticulture producers.

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The VFF Sunraysia Branch has passed a motion that it maintains the right to make policy separate to that of the VFF.

It also says it may make its own submission - disagreeing with the VFF's - to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on water trading.

The irrigators say the 4 per cent cap on trading permanent water out of an irrigation district, championed by the VFF, stops them selling water to the Commonwealth's water buy back scheme.

Irrigators also say the VFF advocated for low reliability water to be exempt from the cap - but Sunraysia pump district irrigators don't have low reliability water.

One irrigator also blamed the VFF for losing the qualification of water rights - where horticulturalists with high value crops are given some preference in allocations to keep their crops alive.

South Australia and NSW still have that system.

Pasture growers could afford to wait and see whether they needed to buy carryover water while horticulturalists with permanent plantings and high-value crops could not, he said.

Asparagus Growers of Sunraysia president Peter Midgley said the VFF had not "batted" strongly enough on carry over water.

Those who bought their maximum amount of 50 per cent of possible entitlement are now forfeiting water, as this year's Murray system allocation has reached 50 per cent and no-one can take more than 100 per cent of their entitlement.

This means every 1 per cent of general allocation above 50 per cent means the irrigators lose the same amount of carry over water.

VFF Water Committee chairman Richard Anderson said there were "as many people saying they want to sell (water to the Commonwealth) as there are saying we shouldn't lift the cap".

He had made representations to Victorian Water Minister Tim Holding last week regarding the cap, which he said should allow "some exemptions".

Mr Anderson said the VFF had never supported farmers losing carry over water they had paid for.