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Study Highlights The Value Of Irrigation Re-Use Systems

An analysis completed by the Department of Primary Industries highlights the value to farmers of the many irrigation re-use systems that have been installed in the Macalister Irrigation District over the past four years

By Department of Primary Industries - 12th October 2004 - Back to News

Intensive monitoring of three re-use systems at Winnindoo, Denison and Tinamba during the 2003/04 irrigation season has demonstrated that a properly constructed and well-managed installation will catch and recycle approximately two megalitres of irrigation and rainfall water for every hectare of flood irrigated land that drains to it.

As an average farm in the Macalister Irrigation District has a water right of only three megalitres per hectare, this is a very significant addition to the water available for use.

Forty-one re-use systems have been installed in the Macalister Irrigation District with government financial assistance over the past four years. These have catchments averaging 62 hectares in area. With the government rebate for farm planning and re-use system installation, the average cost to the farmer for the completed re-use system was around $20,300 or $330 per hectare of catchment.

If the three re-use systems monitored by the Department of Primary Industries are typical of those installed in the district, the average re-use system on a 62 hectare catchment should recycle approximately 124 megalitres of run-off in most years.

This suggests that the cost of the extra water obtained through a re-use system should be in the order of $164 per megalitre, compared to approximately $1,000 if additional water right is purchased. Investing in a re-use system should therefore be an attractive option for increasing water security when compared with buying permanent water right or purchasing water on the sales market.

The Victorian State Government provides funding assistance in the Macalister Irrigation District towards farm plans (75% of cost up to $82.50 per hectare), re-use systems (50% of cost up to $16,600 per system) and spray conversion (15% of cost up to $410 per hectare). This funding is through its Gippsland Lakes Future Directions and Actions Plan and Water Smart Farms Initiative which target greater water use efficiency on farms in Gippsland and improved water quality in the Gippsland Lakes.

For further information on re-use systems or on the government programs that support them contact Gavan Lamb or Ken Slee at the Department of Primary Industries at Maffra on 5147 0800.

REDUCE LAMENESS FOR FREE

Heavy winter rainfall across some parts of the district has put pressure on many aspects of life on the farm, including the feet of your cows. No doubt your herd is supporting a number of lame cows, and many of them will be heifers or second calvers.

Most lameness is the result of physical damage to the feet such as bruising to the sole, damage to the white line or penetration of the sole by sharp stones. If you have large numbers of animals with these problems it may be time to look at the behaviour of your cows as they travel to and from the dairy.

Cows travel along a lane or track in a definite order. You will know the lead cows in your herd and the ones that always bring up the rear. Interestingly, the most dominant cows in the herd tend to move along in the middle of the line, with the second most dominant animals leading, and the least dominant at the end.

When the cows are allowed to move along at their own pace you will notice that they have their heads down. They carefully watch the track, looking for a safe and secure place to put their feet. Their hind feet follow their front feet exactly and the following cow tends to walk exactly the same track.

Provided they are allowed to look where they are going in this way, cows can negotiate rough and narrow tracks without damaging their feet. When they come across "danger zones" on the track, the cows will slow down to negotiate the obstacle deliberately and carefully.

If the cows are hurried or stressed on the track or in the yards you will notice heads in the air and the herd bunching up. If their heads are up the cows are no longer able to carefully place their feet out of danger. Cows that are routinely pushed along tracks are therefore at much greater risk of foot damage and consequent lameness.

Pushing the herd up from behind puts the rear guard under pressure. Remember that these cows are the least dominant animals in the herd, and they have little influence over pace of the dominant cows in the middle of the group. The herd will not reach the dairy any faster if the tail enders are hurried. What will happen, however, is that these tail-end cows will become stressed, their heads will be raised, they will be less careful about where their feet are going, and they become more likely to sustain damage and become lame.

So, one simple and cheap way of minimising lameness is to allow the cows a leisurely walk to the dairy at their own pace, and this is especially important in wet, muddy conditions and with tracks in poor repair.

FISH WASTE …. NOT WASTED!

Researchers at DPI Tatura and Werribee are investigating how the use of a waste product from one primary industry could help to solve problems in other industries and also benefit the environment.

Every year, thousands of tonnes of fish waste produced by Australia's seafood industry ends up as landfill, at a cost to processors and the environment. However, through patented technology, these wastes can be processed and incorporated with rock phosphate into mainstream agricultural fertilisers. Because seafood processing wastes are principally organic, the resultant fertilisers qualify for organic certification. This is of particular interest to the organic agriculture sector, which is faced, with a lack of suitable fertilisers.

The researchers, from DPI's Primary Industries Research Victoria division, are comparing the agronomic value of a phosphorus-based fish fertiliser with that of superphosphate in the production of tomatoes, irrigated pasture and dryland cropping (triticale).

Project leader Aravind Surapaneni said that the first tomato field trial had been conducted on a low-phosphorus site at Tatura.

"Despite some harsh seasonal conditions, good commercial yields (more than l00t/ha) were achieved with the fish-waste fertiliser during the 2002-03 season," Mr Surapaneni said.

"These yields were comparable to those obtained using superphosphate, although the plants grown with fish waste tended to establish more slowly."

The experiment has been repeated in 2003- 04, with the tomatoes to be harvested in late March.

Aravind also hopes that the fish waste work can be extended into more practical situations, with trials on commercial tomato growers' properties later this year.

The fish waste project is supported by funding from the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) and from DPI (through its Ecologically Sustainable Agriculture Initiative).

FRDC program manager Ian Knuckey said that the processing of fish into fillets results in up to 60% waste product, and there are increasing environmental and economic barriers to the disposal of waste into landfill.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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