Several recent experiments at ACRI, Narrabri have illustrated the fate of N fertiliser in irrigated cotton cropping. During the cotton growing season of 2011-2012, nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions totalled 0.51, 0.95, 0.78 and 10.62 kg N2O /ha, for the four N fertiliser rates (0, 120, 200, or 320 kg N/ ha). Further measurements have indicated that about 12 kg N/ ha was lost to deep drainage and 10-15 kg N/ha was lost in the tail water following irrigation. Shallow fertiliser placement resulted in N moving out of the hills and lost via denitrification in the irrigation network