Water, Land and People - Goulburn Broken Catchment ...

PROGRAM REPORTS
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Spatial distribution of results for FI-1 across dairy properties in the Central Goulburn
Irrigation Area for the 1996-1997 and 2003-2004 irrigation seasons.
Efficient Irrigation Technologies to Match
Soils and Dairy Farming Systems
The Project Leader, Matthew Bethune, research staff,
Abdi Qassim, Benny Selle and QJ Wang; worked with
Product Development Staff, Rabi Maskey, Alan Lavis
and Technical Staff Peter Clayton, Brian O’Meara,
Tony Cook and Sherridan Watt on this project.
Funding was provided through Dairy Australia
(including Murray Dairy), DPI – Agriculture Division,
and DSE – Catchment and Water Division. The
project ran from July 2004 to December 2006.
Background
The prosperity of the irrigated dairy industry
depends on our ability to use limited water
resources more efficiently. Research at DPI Tatura
has shown that replacement of border-check
irrigation systems with sprinkler irrigation systems
on dairy farms in some environments can reduce
water use, increase production and be cost effective.
However:
• General access to information about
appropriate selection, design and management
of sprinkler irrigation systems is not available
to farmers, irrigation designers and advisers in
Victoria.
• There are no measures of the economic
and environmental benefits that broad scale
use of efficient sprinkler irrigation systems
on dairy farms will deliver to catchments.
Such information is required for catchment
planners to be able to assess the likely impact
of policy initiatives related to farm irrigation
system infrastructure.
Project Outline
The project objectives were achieved through
the delivery of a suite of information and support
products to dairy farmers, irrigation advisers, system
designers and catchment planners as follows:
• An Information Booklet summarising
recent investigations into the applicability of
alternative irrigation systems on dairy farms.
• A set of Irrigation System Selection and
Design Guidelines that provide direction
for farmers going through the process of
selecting an appropriate irrigation system for
their requirements.
• A Catchment Planning Information package