"We are financially stressed at the moment. That's not where anyone wants to be," Mr Grabbe told Australian Cotton Outlook today.

"We're not embarrassed about it and it is on with the show."

All told, the Dirranbandi irrigation showpiece is seeking an estimated $100 million or more in funds to rescue its balance sheet from the red, following heavy losses during recent drought years.

The company's directors have sought this investment from both Europe and Asia, and Mr Grabbe said there was a huge interest on the continent in the soft commodities boom.

"What we do know is there is an enormous amount of interest out of Europe in agriculture, in particular water and agriculture," he said.

"It is highly, highly likely that we will have a suit of investors out of Europe with us."

Mr Grabbe also pointed to this year's grain crops as cause for optimism.

The operation has planted about 15,000 hectares to wheat over the winter, which he said would reap a harvest of about 100,000 tonnes.

With the ABARE predicting an Australian wheat crop of 37 million tonne this year, that would put Cubbie's contribution at an impressive 0.27pc.

"It is going to feed a lot of mouths and we are proud to be a part of that chain," Mr Grabbe said.

With water still in storage from flows over the summer, he said they planned to plant 7000-12,000 hectares of cotton later this year.

"The fundamentals are right (in the cotton industry). We have forward sold cotton for 2010 and 2011 well in excess of $500/bale and with the seed price high at the moment it props up the lint price big time.

"We've always been labelled a cotton farm – and correctly so because that is what we normally grow – but this year we have been a mixed irrigation enterprise. We grow fibre and grain."

With the sorghum and sunflower harvest almost complete, and the headers to hit the wheat in five months, chairman Keith De Lacy has been reported as saying that Cubbie would this year make a profit of $30-$40 million.