A NORTHERN NSW cotton producer has been found guilty of illegally extracting water out of the Barwon River.

It hasn't been a particularly cheery start to 2019 for the cotton sector and international pricing trends are not helping the situation.

Calls to ban Australian cotton exports to save water in the Murray Darling Basin have been slammed by the industry.

Cotton Australia has hit back at claims the cotton industry was to blame for mass fish deaths in the Lower Darling River.