Irrigation Journal Autumn 2023

AUTUMN 2023 • VOLUME 39 NO 01

BIG ISSUE Digital maturity in Australian agriculture

RURAL How technology is helping with irrigation in berries A new way for councils to control irrigation at unpowered sites

ISSN 0818–9447

Netafim's approach to the skilled labour shortage IN THIS ISSUE: IMPROVING IRRIGATION IN SUGAR CANE URBAN RAINGARDENS NEW TECHNOLOGY PREDICTS CROP WATER NEEDS

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CONTENTS FEATURES DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY Technology benefits cane growers and the environment – the Burdekin Irrigation Project 20 Satellite imagery and soil moisture data optimise vineyard irrigation scheduling 23 A new approach to irrigation control at unpowered sites

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Investing in variable rate irrigation to improve pasture growth in Western Australia

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FEATURE ARTICLES Pump case study: A single-skid solution for a council reserve

15

A positive approach to the skilled labour shortage

38

Unprecedented snapshot of global water availability

39

A simple guide to soil moisture terminology

41

Dams at risk in changing climate

45

Using macroalgae to remove nutrients from wastewater

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REGULAR ITEMS Chair's Message From the CEO Technology: Rural Technology: Urban Research The Big Issue IAL News Professional Development Contractors' Corner ICID Insights The Water Conservancy State Roundup Business Feature Bookshelf

2 3 4 8 12 16 32 36 40 42 44 48 50 52

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ON THE FRONT COVER: CSIRO and Goanna Ag have developed WaterWise, a new technology to predict crop water needs. Pictured: Tom Dowling and Alicia Garden from Goanna Ag and Trevor Philip from Pacific Seeds) in a corn trial. Read about it on page 12.

42 AUTUMN 2023

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CHAIR’S MESSAGE Every year, Irrigation Australia’s senior leadership team and board of directors hold a strategy day as part of our planning and review process. The strategy day brings together experts from across the industry, representing suppliers, consultants, manufacturers, retailers, installers and designers.

Together, they have more than 300 years of industry experience. Having this pool of knowledge is important because, as is the case in other industries, water professionals face an increasingly complex set of business challenges that will test the ‘tried and true’ practices that have delivered success in the past.

The water industry is critical to so many activities, such as growing food, fibre and timber, providing sports and recreation areas, urban cooling and even domestic gardens, but it is not removed from pressures such as water use efficiency and water use policy, which are, in turn, linked to broader issues of sustainability, climate change and resource scarcity.

Consumer demand is driving corporates to review the ‘green’ credentials of their supply chain. Legislators are demanding more oversight and more compliance.

Water professionals need to prepare and equip themselves to adapt smarter and faster to an environment that is more data-driven and more demanding.

These issues and their implications were central to the discussion at this year’s strategy day. It is important for Irrigation Australia to extend and enhance benefits to help its members adapt and stay ahead of the curve. We are committed to further extending its reach into policy areas via advocacy; into skills and innovation via training; and into the development of the broader

water industry via representation and certification.

Irrigation Australia will offer enhanced value to members with tailored benefits and services that generate genuine advantages and in turn, strengthen the industry. An immediate focus is on realising the potential of our new CRM and extending the value of the industry training we offer. We are also working to ensure a consistent story that elevates the importance of the industry and the role of qualified irrigation professionals within it.

The Australian water industry sets international benchmarks when it comes to efficient irrigation at scale. This is an achievement that we don’t celebrate enough. The rest of the world looks to Australia for leadership and in turn, Irrigation Australia leads the Australian water industry. The ongoing involvement and support of key suppliers, partners and our members will ensure that our organisation continues to underpin the success of the irrigation/water management industry.

Over the next months, the board has committed to further developing Irrigation Australia’s strategic plan through an ongoing process of planning, reviewing, learning and adjusting. We are all very enthusiastic about this ‘living process’ that never ends – rather it continually adapts and evolves. It’s exciting to contemplate the scope of the opportunities we are uncovering.

Please enjoy this edition of the Irrigation Australia Journal.

Simon Treptow Chair

FROM THE CEO Welcome again, all. I hope your festive break was relaxing.

As a participant in the strategy sessions to which Simon refers, and as the bloke now charged with making sense of, and implementing, it all, I’m going to focus in this edition on trying to complement our chair’s words with a bit more detail on where I expect it will all head.

First, there is a clear shift in focus from an annual strategy event towards a process of continuous, adaptive planning. We will review Irrigation Australia’s progress at each opportunity for the board to interact. We hope that this approach will keep us ahead of the curve in this new post-pandemic environment and in the face of increasingly intense climate-related events. At an organisational level, we believe this process will help smooth out the normal evolution that comes with a new CEO and new directors.

Tweaking the plan will take a while.

The board has an overwhelming desire for Irrigation Australia to take an active role in promoting the positives our industry contributes to

broader society, linking to Sustainable Development Goals, and having a bit more input into Australian processes around skills and systems, which are envied internationally. You’ll see a lot more about efficiency and sustainability, acknowledging a future with growing demand for improved yield, green spaces and so on, all with less water.

We will renew and grow our partnerships with other organisations with common interests, including other associations and stakeholders, as well as explore new partnerships with influential groups.

We will see new mechanisms to support member engagement, including online and other communities of practice to drive policy and advocacy, and the development of scripts – position papers to clearly articulate where we stand on key issues and where we need to be to aid advocacy.

These will consider regionally specific needs, and we will offer more support to regional committees.

Members will be a focus. Using our existing strengths to support members – for example, tools to support

onboarding new staff, workforce planning, and broader skilling – will be in the pipeline. We aim to have a structured schools/attraction program in place in the first half of 2023. Over the longer term, we aim to deliver more targeted event opportunities, and we will keep advocating for significant government investment to support training and skills development.

Training is at the core of what we do, but for the short term we are focussing on quality, compliance, and user experience, rather than new offerings. We have grand plans to work on certification – building the profile and market opportunities for existing certified personnel, value for money with the program, and encouraging greater uptake of certification programs.

Plenty more to come, but exciting times. Please continue to reach out to me at dave.cameron@irrigation.org.au with your feedback and ideas. .

Dave Cameron CEO

Check out Irrigation Australia's social media feeds. www.facebook.com/irrigationaustralia www.linkedin.com/company/irrigation-australia-limited www.youtube.com/user/IrrigAust

AUTUMN 2023

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TECHNOLOGY: RURAL DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY IN BERRY IRRIGATION – CHALLENGES, SUCCESSES, AND THE VITAL ROLE OF HUMANS SNAPSHOT • Berry growers are moving towards growing berries in alternative substrates, often coir, in containers within polytunnels. A different approach to irrigation is needed here and digital technology has a big role to play.

• There is far less room for error in this environment (with drainage being a very important variable), but also far greater ability to control the microclimate.

• Growers sometimes use fully automated irrigation systems, but there are risks involved with this and manual monitoring is still required. Others use the data provided by sensors to assist with irrigation decisions while remaining in control of irrigation scheduling.

• Flexibility is key when designing digital systems for berries in this environment, and the technology is still evolving.

• This article provides an overview of how technology is helping berry growers with irrigation in tunnel environments, with insights from Ag Logic’s Marek Matuszek, Mark Salter from Berries Australia and berry grower George Kelsey from Hillwood Berries .

Monitoring drainage is important. This picture shows raspberry canes and manual drip and drain station. Photo supplied by Mark Salter.

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Many berry growers have moved towards growing crops in polytunnels, using alternative substrates, usually coconut husks, also called coir, as a growth medium. Polytunnels are becoming more affordable, and this method of production has the advantages of precise control of the microclimate, higher yields in a smaller area, better fruit quality, an extended growing season and savings in water, energy and labour.

This growing environment introduces new challenges for irrigation, many of which can be addressed with digital technology. This article explores how technology is currently being used in berry irrigation and the vital role that humans still play in the process.

Less room for error but more control It goes without saying that making irrigation decisions for berries grown in containers under tunnels requires a very different approach to berries grown outdoors in the soil.

Growers of field-based crops can use various soil moisture measuring tools to support irrigation scheduling, but many of these technologies are either unsuitable or need to be adapted to container cropping practices.

There is also far less room for error in container cropping.

Marek Matuszek, from Tasmanian ag tech company Ag Logic, has been designing digital irrigation systems for berries for about eight years, with a focus on tunnel-grown fruit for the last two. Marek notes, “Soil is a great buffer – it holds nutrients and water. It’s different in a pot; you need to make sure you are diligent with irrigation, particularly when it comes to preventing build-up of salts.”

For this reason, monitoring drainage is important – 20 to 25 per cent of the water should drain out of the pots or bags in which the berries are grown to ensure salts don’t build up. Irrigation times are typically one or two minutes, at approximately hourly intervals. A wet-up period needs to be scheduled for the morning and a dry-down period from mid-afternoon since most berries don’t like sitting in a wet medium overnight.

The challenge is to get the right amount of water to the plants at exactly the right time. But on the flip side, the advantage of this environment is that growers can tightly control the inputs to get them exactly right.

Mark Salter, industry development officer for Berries Australia, has extensive experience in berry growing and in 2005 received a Churchill Fellowship to study hydroponic raspberry production overseas. “What I like about hydroponics is that it allows you to have a very precise irrigation and nutrient regime, tailored to a lot of variables.

TECHNOLOGY: RURAL

Mark Salter, industry development officer for Berries Australia.

This is why berries have headed down this road – growers can produce high yields and better berries,” Mark explains.

While some growers have moved to fully automated irrigation systems, others prefer to have more control, using the data provided by the system to inform their irrigation decisions. Many growers use a combination of both automated and manual systems.

Fully automated systems Irrigation can be fully automated, triggered either by the level of solar radiation or, more often than not these days, according to Mark, by the weight of pots sitting on loadcells. The loadcells hold a representative sample of containers and the average of their weights gives an accurate water content measurement at any given time. Once the weight drops below a given threshold, irrigation is triggered. Some of these advanced systems even recalibrate at the end of the day to account for the changing weight of the fruit.

Nutrient dosing systems are also automated with very precise injection tanks, which is efficient and results in huge savings in labour, Mark says.

But both Mark and Marek emphasise that complete reliance on an automated system is dangerous. “The technology is great until something goes wrong,” Mark notes. “If the system stops working for some reason, or a dripper line is cut through, you wouldn’t necessarily know.”

A few hours without water on a hot day could compromise an entire berry crop. “Changes can be rapid, particularly in berries.” Marek says. “A mistake can cost a lot of money.”

For this reason, Mark says, growers with fully automated systems normally have a three-tier system: the irrigation and nutrient controller that irrigates, controls everything, collects data and provides data from the field; a second, less sophisticated, digital system that runs on batteries or solar and alerts the grower if it detects issues; and a third tier, which comprises daily manual monitoring of variables such as EC and drainage.

Mark says that this third tier, manual monitoring, is one of the most crucial aspects to get right, not only to detect irrigation issues but also issues with plant health, pests and other problems that technology cannot detect.

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Technology is no substitute for human knowledge Aside from the risks associated with trusting a fully automated system, Marek says, technology is no substitute for a grower’s intimate knowledge of their crop and its growing environment, and just as importantly, if you take the human out of the loop, the grower does not have the opportunity to learn.

“If you’re doing things manually you can learn and improve things,” Marek points out. The process of learning, Marek believes, is the most important factor in getting irrigation right, and this is where he sees digital technology playing a role. “I see technology as a step towards greater understanding but not necessarily autonomy.”

For this reason, Ag Logic focuses on designing tailormade systems that give the grower the right data to make confident irrigation decisions while remaining in control.

The key, Marek says, is to find the balance between getting the data to the grower quickly to enable them to make immediate decisions but to also use the data to look at the season retrospectively and adapt future practices accordingly.

Flexibility is key Marek says that designing digital systems is all about being adaptable. “We’ve found that we can go into a new site with a theoretical idea, but once we’re there the practicalities mean we need to change our plans. Every site is different and what we do will depend on many variables – the slope of the block or if pots are on the ground, or different trellising systems. How we set up systems is ever-changing.”

But it's not just the physical characteristics of the site that matter; it’s also about what the growers want. In theory, the most straightforward approach to making irrigation decisions might be to focus solely on drainage, but growers often want other information to make optimal decisions for their crop.

Newly planted raspberry canes on a weigh station. Photo supplied by Mark Salter.

“In strawberries, there is a beautiful correlation between drainage percentage and the yield, with 25 per cent drainage being optimal. This keeps up with plant water demand and drains salts,” Marek says.

With this in mind, Ag Logic started off its work in this area looking at drainage percentage with a relatively simple and cost-effective set up of tippers that measured irrigation going in and drainage going out. “But growers soon requested data about other variables – EC coming out, temperature, et cetera.

It has been a case of starting off in an idealistic way and then adapting what we do based on growers’ needs.”

The future Mark notes that technology in general is progressing rapidly.

“Systems will get better and better. The use of robotics is becoming more commonplace, particularly in the berry industry overseas. Some interesting artificial intelligence systems are being developed to monitor and evaluate crop load.”

In terms of irrigation, while Ag Logic places a strong focus on giving the grower the data that they want, presented in ways that make sense to them, not all systems are so user friendly.

“Perhaps the main thing that needs to be improved is user friendliness,” Mark says. “These are complex systems designed for managing complex crops – different blocks at different stages. For a grower who is already time poor, systems need to be easy to manage and data easy to access and interpret.”

HILLWOOD BERRIES – AN EVOLVING APPROACH Hillwood Berries in northern Tasmania grows strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries in polytunnels using hydroponic growing principles.

Growing berries in polytunnels can result in higher yields in a smaller area, better fruit quality, an extended growing season and savings in water, energy and labour. Photo by Oliver Hale on Unsplash.

Ag Logic took a stepwise approach to adding more sensors into its systems. “The next step was to look at EC of irrigation water going in and the EC of drainage water.

“We then looked at what’s going on in the bags themselves and then the ambient conditions - what’s happening in the tunnels,” Marek says.

Nowadays, Ag Logic’s fully set-up systems measure the volume of irrigation water going into the bag and drainage coming out, and EC of both. Within the bags, sensors measure moisture, bag temperature and bag EC. Other data collected includes ambient air temperature, humidity and vapour pressure, and Ag Logic is currently working on incorporating pH data.

The sensors log data every minute, which is updated in the grower’s app at five-minute intervals. All data is automatically presented as graphs based on the grower’s parameters.

Marek notes that no two growers have the same specifications, and each has their preferred way of viewing the data and making irrigation decisions. “We work with a plug-and-play system and incorporate different sensors as needed,” Marek says. “Some growers place more emphasis on EC, some on drainage percentage, some on EC of the drainage water. We consult with the grower about what they want and need in order to make the best decisions.”

George Kelsey from Hillwood Berries has been working with Ag Logic to develop a digital system. Hillwood currently uses both an automated system, triggered by radiation levels, and a manual system informed by data provided by sensors that monitor moisture levels in the bag, EC of both irrigation and drainage water, and the amount of runoff.

“We operate on the principle of keeping the plants as happy as possible,” George says. The automated system does a reasonable job on sunny days, but George notes, “You’ll get a far happier crop if cycles are triggered by actual moisture in the bag rather than by temperature. It is important to set manual cycles because then you’ve got control.”

On overcast days, the manual system is preferable, allowing the farm managers to rein in the irrigation and drop the runoff from 20 to 25 per cent down to 10 to 15 per cent to account for the plants’ lower transpiration rates.

Ultimately, George says, Hillwood Berries wants to move towards a fully automated system that will work on both sunny and overcast days and is triggered by moisture levels rather than radiation. This is a work in progress. “We need to work closely with Ag Logic to understand best kind of probe to give us most accurate moisture data. This will involve doing calibrations to ensure that the data is accurate.”

Acknowledgments. Thank you to Marek Matuszek of Ag Logic, Mark Salter from Berries Australia and George Kelsey from Hillwood Berries for providing information for this article.

Eve White, Irrigation Australia

TECHNOLOGY: URBAN CITY OF UNLEY DEMONSTRATES THE BENEFITS OF RAINGARDENS SNAPSHOT • The City of Unley in South Australia established raingardens on an urban street to capture and filter stormwater and use it to irrigate street trees.

• This case study outlines the design, the lessons learnt along the way and transferability of this approach.

Passive irrigation is an important aspect of water sensitive urban design, and one approach is through raingardens. Incorporating raingardens into urban streetscapes can enhance the amenity of the area, improve urban and coastal water quality and reduce mains-water use. This article describes how a South Australian council retrofitted raingardens into a suburban street.

When Randolph Avenue was due for some upgrades, the City of Unley took the opportunity to run a pilot project to demonstrate the benefits of passive irrigation. The council established raingardens – specially designed garden beds that filter stormwater runoff from surrounding areas or stormwater pipes, to convert an underutilised space into a softer, more environmentally friendly area.

The location Randolph Avenue in Fullarton, a southern suburb of Adelaide, was chosen for the pilot project for several reasons: • The elm trees lining the southern side of the street were reaching the end of their lifespan.

• The site held potential with an unusually wide 20 m road reserve coupled with the removal of the elm trees.

• The site had significant runoff from adjoining residential properties and several large townhouse and aged care complexes.

• The northern footpath needed to be replaced and the project provided an opportunity to create a footpath on the southern side of the road.

The innovations

The raingardens contain sedges and rushes that remove pollutants from the stormwater. Photo credit: Water Sensitive SA.

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Previously, stormwater in the street was managed via the kerb and gutter system draining to a conventional underground stormwater pipe system and associated side entry pits (SEPs) at the end of the street.

In the new design: • all road runoff and stormwater systems from adjoining multi-dwelling complexes are directed to a series of raingardens that are located and sized to cater to the contributing sub-catchment • the raingardens contain sedges and rushes that remove pollutants, particularly nitrogen, from the stormwater • outlets have been designed to provide between 100 mm and 200 mm extended detention • the raingardens typically include three inspection and flushing pipes • treated stormwater collected by the raingarden underdrains (100 mm slotted PVC pipe), overflows to a new dedicated ‘collector’ drain that distributes this filtered water to soak wells located adjacent to the new street trees. Any subsequent overflow discharges to the existing downstream drainage system and ultimately to Glen Osmond Creek.

• a saturated zone of 450 mm depth is used in the raingardens to assist plant viability and storage capacity of the systems.

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TECHNOLOGY: URBAN RANDOLPH AVENUE RAINGARDEN DESIGN

Lessons and challenges

Maintenance

The project team faced several challenges along the way, which included: • Additional site inspections are needed when contractors have little exposure to the innovative design, to ensure the systems are constructed and established as designed.

• Early design that was based on extensive community consultation was later discarded as other opportunities for the project arose. The project team later reflected that further community consultation should have occurred after discarding the early design, which would have helped with issues that arose regarding community concerns and expectations.

• The original landscape design proposed the inclusion of 70 trees; however, to maintain minimum distances from sewer connections this figure was reduced to 50 at the time of planting.

• The tight site made stockpiles difficult to store on site.

• A large rain event in December 2014 scoured the open excavations requiring rectification works.

• Four water mains burst, not related to the project, and resulted in heavy siltation of the basin on the northern side of Randolph Avenue.

• The first filter media presented to site had a filtration rate of 11 mm/hr, which was rejected given it is well below specifications.

• Competing demands for space (parking, parking lane paths, footpaths and spots for wheelie bins) left surprisingly limited space for raingardens.

Maintenance includes fortnightly visits to the site for the purpose of: • conducting a general inspection of the raingarden: rock mulch, liner, walls etc • ensuring the irrigation system is working • removing rubbish • removing organic material from inlets • weeding • replacing failed plants.

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Future opportunities and transferability An innovative feature of this project is the integration of a collector drain that collects treated stormwater from each of the raingardens and distributes this water to a number of soakage devices to facilitate passive irrigation for new street trees. The system is designed to convey approximately 10 ML of treated flow and there is potential to harvest and reuse this flow in additional areas should suitable sites be identified.

Streetscape raingardens are highly transferable across urban areas; however, the design and benefits will vary greatly between sites. Randolph Avenue had the benefit of being able to retrofit the streetscape layout with pathways, garden beds, replacement of existing trees, and creation of additional greenspace. These changes led to strong outcomes for water quality, landscape amenity, and community connection to the outdoors.

Stormwater runoff is filtered by the raingardens and used to support new street trees. Photo credit: Water Sensitive SA.

Stormwater infiltration wells • 31 infiltration wells of dimensions 600 x 400 x 450 mm deep • Waterproof membrane top and bottom with geofrabric and 20 mm screenings around the perimeter, providing lateral infiltration to adjacent trees and garden beds.

Acknowledgments. Thanks to Water Sensitive SA, the CRC for Water Sensitive Cities and To the City of Unley for providing content for this article. The original case studies are available here and here.

A QUICK GUIDE TO RAINGARDENS How do they work?

Water collects and settles on the garden surface and soaks through the plants and filter media, trapping rubbish and sediment on the surface. The soil and plant roots work together to filter the water and remove nutrients and toxins.

Designing a raingarden Raingardens are usually 1–2 per cent of the catchment area.

They are usually installed after the upstream catchment is 95 per cent developed because poorly managed construction sites create sediment and clog the raingarden.

When designing a raingarden, make sure:

The best sites for similar projects are those where neat integrations between the raingardens and other competing elements of the streetscape (carparking, service locations, pedestrian movement and safety) can be achieved.

Features Total impervious area of contributing catchment: 5.25 ha

Bioretention – raingardens • 10 raingardens of dimensions 1.70-2.10m wide with a variety of lengths ranging from 6.75-25.5 m) • Total length of raingarden is 146m giving a total treatment area of 245 m2 (0.5% of impervious contributing catchment) • A saturated zone of 450 mm depth to assist plant viability and storage capacity • A design infiltration rate of 160 mm/hr through filter media • HDPE-lined system with no exfiltration

• it is designed to treat stormwater runoff from gentle rainfall. Runoff from heavy storms should bypass the raingarden into the drainage system • its base is above the surrounding groundwater level • the filter media is tested before installation to confirm it meets hydraulic conductivity and plant growth standards, and holds adequate moisture to support the plants • plants are selected that can grow in sandy soils and tolerate dry conditions in between rains.

When not to use raingardens • on flat sites with little difference between the ground surface and waterway water level – raingardens need at least 0.8 mm of head between the surface pond and drainage pipe invert • in catchments with high sediment loads, such as industrial areas with disturbed surfaces, or an area where sediment clogging is considered a high risk • in areas with construction sites upstream • in areas with constant catchment flows, which may stop the raingarden from drying out to prevent algal growth • in large catchments with high flows.

Acknowledgment. This information comes from an article by Melbourne Water and is reproduced here with permission.

AUTUMN 2023

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RESEARCH NEW TECHNOLOGY PREDICTS CROP WATER NEEDS SNAPSHOT • Researchers at CSIRO and ag tech company Goanna Ag have developed a new technology, WaterWise, that combines canopy temperature data with other data to predict a crop’s water needs and give growers confidence in their irrigation decisions.

• The technology is being offered as a data stream for on-farm customers as part of Goanna Ag’s GoField irrigation management system.

• An independent review found that WaterWise could save up to $769 million in water and energy costs for Australian farmers by 2030, and help farmers increase their yields.

• The researchers are now looking at using satellite or drone thermal imagery to fill in the data gaps and further improve the technology’s prediction ability.

In an Australian first, CSIRO together with Goanna Ag have developed a technology that allows plants to communicate their water needs directly to farmers.

WaterWise collects real-time data on crop water stress status and uses this, combined with other data, to predict future water requirements in real time.

Irrigation management relies on growers taking many things into account. Timing, for example, is critical to maximise crop yield and quality. Successful managers do this well, but often need to rely on experience rather than definitive data to make their decisions. Differences in soil type, regional climate, water availability, system capacity, attitude to risk and the amount of data collected means that irrigation management has to be tailored and responsive. Decisions are often challenged when situations are considerably different from normal, such as when extreme weather events occur.

But recent improvements in wireless sensor technology and advanced data analytics enable use of plant- and soil-based sensing to continually monitor crops and soils, allowing application and a degree of precision not previously attainable on a commercial scale.

Communicating directly with the plant The WaterWise project builds on earlier research co-funded

by CSIRO and the Cotton Research and Development Corporation, establishing temperature thresholds for cotton.

The technology relies on a network of sensors that provide plant-based monitoring of crop water stress. This information is used to help growers to make irrigation decisions that will maximise yields and the quality of crops and reduce their water footprint.

Since 2020, Goanna Ag has been offering WaterWise’s smart analytics as a data stream for customers as part of their irrigation management system, GoField. Pictured: Tom Dowling (Goanna Ag COO), Alicia Garden (Goanna Ag CEO), Trevor Philp (Summer Grains Agronomist, Pacific Seeds) with GoField in a corn trial. Photo credit: Goanna Ag.

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It does this by: • using canopy temperature to measure plant stress • using data analytics to incorporate this knowledge with in-field sensing and weather forecasts, and • developing strategies that use this information to build a precision irrigation decision-making toolbox.

These data allow growers to see water stress to date and gives a prediction of their crops’ future stress over the next seven days, leading to better irrigation practices.

WaterWise will have the biggest impact on the most water-intensive agricultural commodities and other farming operations that rely on flood irrigation practices. But team leader, Dr Rose Roche, emphasises that the technology is crop-agnostic. “You can take a canopy temperature sensor to a crop grown in the US, for example, and it will behave the same no matter what the soil type or situation is in relation to the weather climate and plant. And it can be used in tree crops and horticulture as well as broadacre cropping.”

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The technology uses canopy temperature data to determine crop water stress and combines this with other data to build a precision irrigation decisionmaking toolbox for growers.

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Rose says that it is the ability to predict the future that is the real breakthrough science. For the first time, growers can see the water stress of their crops at any point and predict their future water needs.

"Just like humans, plants have an optimum temperature. When things are normal it's easier to predict when a plant will need water. But when conditions change – like with a new crop, a new field, or unusually hot or cold weather forecasted – farmers want backup with their decision making," Rose says.

It also shifts decision making from being reactive to proactive. Alicia Garden, CEO of Goanna Ag notes, “This benefits every plant, regardless of crop. And for Australian irrigators, it’s especially critical, because it can take up to ten days for the water they order to be delivered.”

DELIVERING PUMPING SOLUTIONS

RESEARCH Codesigned with irrigators Developing and commercialising WaterWise involved a range of skill sets from agronomists to plant physiologists, data and machine learning experts, software engineers, social scientists and innovation specialists.

But just as importantly, it was designed in collaboration with the end-users – irrigators. “We started by identifying what irrigators want and need,” Rose explains. “We have a human-centred design approach, which means engaging and codesigning with irrigators from multiple sectors.”

Along the way, CSIRO and Goanna Ag sought feedback from irrigators and tweaked the technology accordingly.

Saving water, energy and money Since 2020, Goanna Ag has been offering WaterWise’s smart analytics as a data stream for on-farm customers as part of their irrigation management system, GoField.

Its proof of concept was Australia’s irrigated cotton market. “We started there for two reasons,” said Alicia.

“The water use R&D was already done, so it was an easy market entry. And there’s an inbuilt recognition among Australian cotton growers that research – and new technology – brings benefit. There’s a much shorter bell curve to adoption.”

Within just two years, Goanna Ag’s GoField irrigation scheduling solution has grown from 10 per cent to more than 60 per cent market penetration within the cotton industry.

An independent review of the WaterWise system found that, if adopted by 70 per cent of all cotton, tomato, sugar cane, and almond growers, WaterWise could save between $48 million and $769 million, through water and energy savings, for Australian farmers between 2021 and 2030.

The report found that, as well as saving a total of between 179 and 2,476 GL of water over the 10-year period, farmers are likely to benefit from increased yields.

WaterWise could also reduce CO₂ emissions by between 111 and 1,544 kt. These reductions are equivalent to removing approximately 336,000 passenger vehicles from the road for one year or avoiding 186,000 households’ annual energy consumption.

Satellite and drone technology The technology continues to evolve and improve. “We have gone from point-based sensors, that give occasional data, to wireless technology that provides continuous data,” Rose explains. The next step is to look at how new high-resolution satellite technology and drones might be used to provide spatial information. This information could augment the data provided by sensors, helping farmers to make more precise decisions more efficiently.

“One of the questions we’ve had from growers is which part of the field the sensors should be positioned,” Rose said. “We also want to improve the farmers’ ability to precisely manage the crops without dozens of point sensors, which can be a costly investment and also get in the way of operations.”

“We’re currently looking at how thermal imagery from satellites or drones can be used to improve our prediction capability and fill in the gaps in the spatial and time-based data. We are working with irrigation service providers and as we gain new knowledge, it is being translated into a commercial outcome. It continues to be an iterative process.”

Acknowledgment. This article is based on information from the CSIRO website with additional information provided by Dr Rose Roche.

Dr Rose Roche with an early prototype of WaterWise in a tomato crop.

Photo credit: CSIRO.

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ARTICLE PUMP CASE STUDY: A SINGLE-SKID SOLUTION FOR A COUNCIL RESERVE Designing custom pump sets is a process of problem solving and trying to find a solution that is not only effective but also efficient for the job at hand. This task can be particularly challenging when pumps are being used for multiple purposes.

Brown Brothers Engineers Australia recently developed a highly customisable package, in collaboration with irrigation designer Ten Buuren Irrigation Designs. The build incorporated many additional watch-dog safety features to ensure long-term trouble-free pumping and irrigation.

The brief was to build a pump set for an automatic irrigation system to service council sports fields with water pumped from a reclaimed stormwater storage tank. Before being delivered to the sports fields, the stormwater passes through a UV disinfection unit. The reclaimed stormwater also needed to be delivered to a nearby tanker fill hydrant. A high flow rate was required at this hydrant to enable tankers to be filled quickly.

Two pumps, one manifold Rather than using high-pressure multistage irrigation pumps for tanker filling, a lower pressure single-stage inline hydrant pump, a Lowara LNE series, was selected to deliver at a higher flowrate that exceeds the capacity of the irrigation pumps. The higher flowrate will reduce the fill waiting time for tanker operators. As both the irrigation pumps and the tanker fill pump are being fed from the same storage tank, it makes for an easier, quicker and cheaper installation for one water supply point.

The dual Lowara e-SV irrigation pump set and the hydrant pump share a single suction and discharge manifold, fabricated in 316SS pipework. The shared manifold means only one UV disinfection unit is required. This arrangement saves space within the small pump shed and reduces both the construction costs and ongoing maintenance.

The client has used Lowara pumps on other projects and required consistency in equipment where possible. The Lowara pumps range fulfilled both hydraulic requirements and the need for a shared manifold arrangement.

Custom control As well as sharing a manifold, the pump sets share a control panel. This custom panel features surge protection for all pumps and drives, input for flow and float switches for increased accuracy and protection, input for level probe to display live visual representations of tank level, fault outputs for each pump and indicating run lights.

Each pump head is fitted with PT100 temperature sensors to display live temperature readings within each pump.

All feedback is displayed via a 12-inch touchscreen located in the control panel, which simultaneously displays the status of both pump systems.

The hydrant pump activates on a start signal via an external hydrant panel linked though an IRRInet controller, while the dual irrigation pumps operate via an alternating (duty/standby) configuration to maintain a constant pressure via pressure transducers.

Acknowledgment. This article was provided by Brown Brothers Engineers Australia and Ten Buuren Irrigation Designs.

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THE BIG ISSUE DIGITAL MATURITY IN AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURE SNAPSHOT • Digital technology can help farmers produce more food more efficiently, but Australia is lagging in digital maturity compared to some other regions of the world.

• Researchers at the Food Agility CRC recently published a review paper that addressed the state of digital maturity in Australia and pinpointed what changes need to happen to accelerate the process.

• This article outlines the findings of the review and provides some pointers for the way forward. These centre around (1) technology, (2) legislation and governance and (3) people and societal factors.

Digital technology can help growers improve water use efficiency and productivity, which could help us feed a growing population in a changing climate. But in Australia, the state of digital agriculture is considered immature, and adoption is patchy. Why is this? And what can be done to help accelerate adoption? A recent review report by the Food Agility CRC addressed these questions.

Digital maturity in Australia ‘Digital maturity’ describes the process that converts manual tasks to digital by way of digitised assets, digitisation of data, digitalisation of process and ultimately, digital transformation.

In Australia, many farmers use digitised data by way of platforms, for example, software applications and online decision support tools. But few farms have evolved to digitalisation of process let alone digital transformation.

When data are combined from multiple sources – for example, data from the Bureau of Meteorology is combined with data from various sensors to advise a grower about irrigation scheduling, this is digitisation of process.

The final step in digital maturity is digital transformation – for example, a fully automated system that triggers irrigation based on combined weather and sensor data.

Dr Emma Leonard, one of the researchers involved in the study explained why Australian agriculture is lagging in digital maturity compared with some other parts of the world. “Production systems differ between countries, for example, the Netherlands has very intensive production, often in protected cropping systems; Israel has intensive systems that are highly reliant on irrigation. These systems are more suitable for technology than the large-scale, extensive systems used in much of Australia.

“In areas where farming is more similar to Australia, such as parts the US, there is often a more closed-loop approach to the use of inputs and sale of outputs, which again changes the opportunities for implementing technology.”

The study identified several key ingredients to achieve digital maturity in agriculture in Australia. These centre around legislation and governance, technological development, and social factors, and all of these are interrelated.

The purpose of the review

Dr Emma Leonard says that Australian agriculture is lagging in digital maturity but that the rate of maturation will accelerate in coming years.

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The authors reviewed recent scientific studies and other publications to get an overview the state of digital agriculture in Australia and to determine what needs to happen to encourage adoption of digital technology. The study looked at the main technologies in current use, and their limitations. It focussed on the roles of agronomists, early adopter farmers and government organisations in the uptake of digital technology.

Implementing digital technology is more challenging in the large-scale farming systems of Australia compared with some other parts of the world.

Photo by Josh Withers on Unsplash.

Key enabling technologies

Remote sensing

Some technologies have been widely developed and deployed in Australia. These can be categorised as: • proximal sensors and the Internet of Things (IoT) • remote sensing and • data analytics and information flow.

Field sampling and monitoring can be costly, especially at large scales and in remote locations. Remote sensing – collecting information about an object or phenomenon from a distance, often via satellite imagery – provides an alternative (and often cheaper) means of collecting data.

Current status and future outlook. Remote sensing is increasingly used in farming, enabled by improvements in computing and processing power, the resolution of satellite data and improved access to platforms and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).

To enhance the useability of satellite data, organisations such as CSIRO have been working alongside Geoscience Australia to create an Earth Observation Data Hub that will provide ‘data cubes’ of satellite information for applications in digital agriculture. Several companies have capitalised on the availability of high spatial and temporal resolution data from Sentinel satellites and are at the forefront of commercial remote sensing services.

Currently, the data collected via remote sensing systems are often complemented by proximal sensing systems, such as handheld or vehicle-mounted devices or even cameras on smartphones. In precision irrigation, for example, there are exciting possibilities of linking satellite information, weather forecasts and crop models with ground-based, spot sensing of crop canopy temperature. This involves static infrared thermometers (wireless IoT devices) giving precise warnings of the need for irrigation over whole farms and the consequences of delay.

Proximal sensors and the Internet of Things (IoT) Sensing technologies and robots are underpinned by cyber physical systems (CPS) and the IoT, which are essentially equivalent. Connecting sensing devices through the internet allows multi-directional sharing of data, analytics, insights and applications across the network.

Current status and future outlook. Australian CPS development and deployment research has focused on grains, tree crops, wine grapes and sugar, from the perspective of weed, pest and disease management, water use efficiency and yield forecasting.

Some examples include: IoT soil moisture sensing; horticulture systems that can detect and identify fruit fly in real time and measure the effectiveness of precision application of insecticide; and the use of IoT and sensor applications in livestock tracking, control, and animal health monitoring, and in the dairy industry.

Connectivity is the main factor limiting the widespread uptake of IoT. Many remote farming enterprises rely on satellite solutions, which offer inferior data allowances and speeds, or pay to install their own infrastructure.

Several state governments have been investing in initiatives aimed at increasing uptake of IoT.

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THE BIG ISSUE the farm or operational level. For this reason, AI is not yet being widely used in agriculture in Australia.

What changes need to happen?

Remote sensing – collecting information about an object or phenomenon from a distance, often via satellite imagery – provides an alternative (often cheaper) means of collecting data. Photo by USGS on Unsplash.

Data, analytics and information flow Digital agriculture offers the opportunity to collect data remotely and at a greater resolution in space and time, then integrate, analyse and generate actions from these data in new and improved ways. Huge volumes of data are now being produced, particularly in the private sector.

Current status and future outlook. The problem with huge amounts of complex data is that sophisticated analyses are needed to make sense of it before it can be used to make decisions. Lead researcher, Dr Birgita Hansen, says, “The volume of data generated by the private sector is rapidly out-pacing that produced by the public sector.

But data literacy and data management skills in agriculture are not keeping up. This poses enormous challenges for data longevity and reuse, essential if the sector is to apply the learnings from research to addressing new ag-tech problems.”

Ag tech companies and researchers are developing increasingly sophisticated approaches to deal with ‘big data’, using AI and machine learning, which will improve analysis, prediction and decision-making.

Sensor/AI based microclimate forecasting systems are expected to help growers increase their productivity by enabling them to increase operational efficiency and optimise resource use. Although much work has been done in the field of AI in relation to sustainable and/or precision agriculture, there has been less focus on how to use this technology to support decisions based on business rules at

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Growers will not embrace technology unless it is clear that the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. Increasing digital maturity will require a range of strategies, focused mainly on closing the gap between technology development and end users.

The review reported that three interwoven variables are limiting digital maturity in Australian agriculture. This are: technology, legislation and governance, and people.

Technology. Developing and deploying new sensing technologies and CPS suitable for Australian agriculture, will need to focus on solutions for: • power • sensing, • connectivity and • security.

The review outlines several new power-related technologies will enhance existing sensor usage and enable new uses, including hybrid energy storage, ambient energy scavenging and simultaneous wireless information and power transfer.

Improving sensing technology will require research into meta-material based and multi-band based radio-frequency sensing technology, synthetic and indirect sensing and calibration.

Good connectivity is needed to get data from the sensors to its destination – usually the cloud – but connectivity on farms is often poor; most farmers in remote areas say that their sensor networks are challenging to maintain.

Advanced antenna design can lower the cost and enhance long-range communication while enabling greater system integration beyond the use of off-the-shelf antenna technology as systems supported by IoT technologies present several attack vectors for example biosecurity, data security, and cyber physical system security.

Legislation and governance. Overarching technical issues, like connectivity, will require external drivers such as legislation to accelerate digital uptake.

A long-term strategy with strong national leadership to reconcile differences between states is needed. This will help give farmers the confidence to invest in digital solutions and to encourage development of technologies.

The review concluded that high priorities for national legislation include: • legislation around the use of robotics and animal welfare implications of remote management methods • the creation of regulations around farmer data rights • stronger oversight of the agricultural knowledge and advice network, which is mostly privatised and lacks regulation

• clear governance and stewardship arrangements around data sharing to help entrepreneurs and researchers share knowledge and develop digital solutions • support and expansion of policy-driven education and skills training.

People. For people to embrace digital technology, it must be easy for them to choose and implement appropriate technology and they must be confident that it will be reliable, and that they will have control over their data and its use. The study highlights a few changes that need to occur. These are: • Better collaboration between developers and producers.

The value proposition is often expressed as a financial benefit. In reality, users adopt when there is a need, and that need is serviced by a technology that is easy to use and provides a cost benefit. Technology developers need to work directly with end users using a co-design process that brings together all members of the farming business.

• Better knowledge and advice sharing that includes inperson events, such as field days and demonstrations, as well as formalised training.

• Building and supporting citizen science initiatives, not only for collecting data but also for encouraging knowledge exchange between agricultural stakeholders.

Knowledge transfer and collaboration needed Increasing digital maturity and adoption in Australian agriculture relies on the knowledge brokering role of agronomists and early adopters, supported by industry organisations that are themselves supported by government — for example, Agri Futures and the National Farmers Federation, rather than directly by government.

Emma Leonard emphasises the importance of agronomists. “Agronomists and on-farm advisers play a key role in the adoption of on-farm technology – from improved genetics, crop and animal nutrition to precision agriculture. Farmers are time-poor. Accessing specialists who understand farming and digital technology is essential to the successful change to digital agriculture.”

Ultimately researchers, technology developers and suppliers, farmers and their advisers need to collaborate across the entire digital innovation system. Emma notes that farm managers in general show a strong interest in adopting digital solutions and she believes that the rate of digital maturity in Australian agriculture will accelerate in the coming years.

Acknowledgment. Thank you to the study authors for granting permission to publish this abridged version of the article, especially to Emma Leonard and Birgita Hansen for providing additional information. The original paper can be accessed here.

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY Technology benefits cane growers and the environment – the Burdekin Irrigation Project SNAPSHOT • A consortium led by Sugar Research Australia is working to help sugarcane farmers improve their productivity and profitability through better irrigation practices.

• The project helps farmers identify how they can save water and energy by adopting technology, and farms receive a rebate for a percentage of the investment they make on the technology.

• By making the recommended changes, farms can reduce water use by up to 30 per cent (or sometimes more).

• Many farmers involved in the project have elected to fully automate their systems to maximise water savings and reduce labour.

• Improved irrigation practices will also translate to improved water quality leaving the paddock.

A Queensland consortium is looking at how sugarcane farmers can increase their profitability and productivity. Using a measurement-based approach to understand whether farmers are under- or over-irrigating is the first step in their challenge. Improved irrigation practices will also translate to improved water quality leaving the paddock.

The Burdekin region produces more sugarcane than any other region in Australia.

Photo by Josh Withers on Unsplash.

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Enormous potential exists to reduce water and energy costs in sugarcane furrow irrigation. The Burdekin Irrigation Project (BIP) is one of a series of initiatives supported by the Lower Burdekin Water Quality Program. The Program aims to reduce the amount of dissolved inorganic nitrogen and pesticides that make their way to the Great Barrier Reef.

The BIP, led by Sugar Research Australia (SRA), involves several partners, including Irrigation Australia member AgriTech Solutions and agronomy solutions providers Farmacist and Burdekin Productivity Services (BPS). The NRM organisation Burdekin Bowen Integrated Floodplain Management Advisory Committee Inc (BBIFMAC) also provides support by monitoring paddock runoff. James Cook University and QDAF are also part of the consortium.

In developing transformational, whole-of-farm approaches, the project aims to increase industry productivity and profitability and improve environmental water quality.

BACKGROUND More than half of the Australian sugarcane crop relies on either full or supplementary irrigation. Furrow, overhead low-pressure systems, including centre pivot or lateral move, and overhead high-pressure systems, including water winches and travelling booms, are the most used irrigation systems. However, emerging technologies such as drip irrigation are being seen as a new way to irrigate as they conserve water and lower energy inputs.

Left to right: a flume to measure furrow run off volume combined with a KP sampler to take samples in defined intervals to collect a representative sample of the whole runoff event so it can be analysed for nutrients and chemicals; a radio that transmits data from several advance sensors placed in two furrows. This allows remote monitoring of how water advances down furrows; a KP sampler taking a sample of the furrow inflow so inflowing contaminants can be measured and deducted from the outflow load to arrive at what is actually coming out of the paddock.

The Burdekin region, which is blessed with high sunlight and a reliable irrigation water supply, produces more sugarcane than any other region of Australia. The Burdekin has 80,000 ha of land under sugarcane of which 95 per cent is furrow irrigated. The region typically produces 8,300,000 t of cane farmed by approximately 530 growers on 927 farms.

THE PROJECT The BIP comprises three rounds, running between 2021 and June 2024, with over 20 farms participating in each. The project partners work directly with the farmers to measure

current water and energy use, determine the savings potential, and identify approaches to achieve these savings.

Participating farms receive a rebate for a percentage of the investment that they make in irrigation technology.

Armin Wessel, project officer for SRA, told Irrigation Australia that while commodities are at an all-time high across Australia, including the sugar industry, agriculture input costs have followed the trend thus making farmers look for more economical and efficient ways to increase their bottom lines. Farmers are also looking to adapt to automation technology to improve both their water and energy costs, and lifestyle.

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DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY like tensiometers and capacitance probes. We call this level 1 technology.”

At the other end of the spectrum, level 3 will see a farmer install a fully automated irrigation system with pump control, end of row sensor technology and automatic record keeping capability via a PC-based system with remote access via the internet.

Farmers are identifying a range of benefits once the technology is installed and operating. Most are getting value from reduced water and energy costs, more efficient labour utilisation (so less time is wasted just driving around and checking irrigation). The automation technology also gives growers options when faced with under-irrigation or poor lateral soakage. For example, the automated valves could be set to turn on and off at two-hourly intervals. This is called surge irrigation and is impossible to achieve manually with the current labour force.

A WIN FOR FARMERS AND THE ENVIRONMENT Left: Automatic rain gauge and automated single valve outlet serviced by one radio that connects to the base station and solar panel. Right: Automated T-piece outlet with two valves with radio (and solar panel for electricity supply).

Armin says that work completed by early adopters and the demonstration farms that are set up in the BIP, shows that by adopting new techniques and technology, farmers can reduce their water costs and associated energy consumption by up to 30 per cent, and more in some cases.

TECHNOLOGY OPTIONS The amount of water, energy and labour saved depends on what technology a grower elects to adopt. “We start by determining the baseline water and energy use and then report back to the grower with the options,” Armin says.

The grower then decides which level of technology to implement.

The grower can choose one of three levels, with level 1 representing the smallest investment. It was first thought that farmers would adopt simple scheduling tools and electronic pump timers as a step practice change. The reality has been the opposite, with most farmers choosing full automation as their preferred practice change.

Although this comes as a surprise to most agronomists in the industry, Terry Granshaw (District Manager, SRA Burdekin) says, "I have noticed a shift in the local farmers’ mindset of late: a thirst for technology and doing things more easily, as well as the uptake of measurement on farm and developing a plan to improve current farming systems.”

Armin noted, “The rebate system allows farmers to look at technology from a simple perspective, using scheduling tools

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Reducing runoff and deep drainage from Queensland’s major broadacre crops is key to improving the water quality in the inshore areas of the Great Barrier Reef. The BIP demonstrates that by adopting water saving technology, farmers can also benefit from water, energy and labour savings, and ultimately improved profitability.

Partners. The Burdekin Irrigation Project is funded by the partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation with collaboration between Sugar Research Australia, Farmacist, AgriTech Solutions, Burdekin Productivity Services, Burdekin Bowen Integrated Floodplain Management Advisory Committee, James Cook University, the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and NQ Dry Tropics.

Acknowledgment. Thanks to Terry Granshaw and Armin Wessel from Sugar Research Australia for assistance with this article.

Information. Find out more about the Burdekin Irrigation Project here.

Eve White, Irrigation Australia

Satellite imagery and soil moisture data optimise vineyard irrigation scheduling SNAPSHOT • Insights provided by soil moisture probes can be combined with information from satellite imagery to help growers make better irrigation decisions and to adjust irrigation to seasonal conditions.

• This article, provided by Sentek, describes how a grape grower has been learning from data from these two sources to improve irrigation scheduling.

• The outcome has been better yield and fruit quality.

John’s vineyard is subdivided into different irrigation management zones, based on grape variety, crop age, soil texture, topography, and aspect. Each zone is monitored both by soil moisture probes that automatically upload near-continuous data to Sentek’s IrriMAX Live irrigation management platform, and by satellite imagery. Over the last few seasons, John has been combining data from both sources to optimise irrigation scheduling and improve his grape yield and quality.

SOIL MOISTURE DATA

John Younger, a grape grower in McLaren Vale, South Australia, is a strong believer in technology and its ability to improve his bottom line. In conjunction with Sentek dealer Integrated Precision Viticulture and Sentek founder Peter Buss, he is achieving ongoing yield and quality improvements for Samuel Gorge Winery.

John uses EnviroSCAN probes, which provide nearcontinuous soil moisture measurements every 10 minutes at multiple depths. This information paints a picture of the soil water dynamics: the capacity of the soil water reservoir and its rate of change through crop water use and replenishment by irrigation and rainfall throughout the important physiological vine crop stages.

Vine stress in the plant root zone is easily detected when the graph’s ‘daily steps’ of vine water use are slowing down under the same or increased prevailing conditions of air temperature, radiation, and wind speed (Figure 1).

Figure 1: The upper pane shows the daily evapotranspiration (ET) while over the same period, the lower pane plots total soil moisture.

Despite rising ET, soil water use by the vines decreases as the onset of stress point is reached. The red zone indicates time in stress. The green zone indicates no crop water stress. The blue zone on top represents the ‘over-irrigation’ threshold.

SATELLITE IMAGERY GIVES A SPATIAL PERSPECTIVE Sentek’s Peter Buss with grape grower John Younger.

For a spatial perspective, John is using the ‘big eye in the sky’, an IrriMAX Live embedded Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) image service, which reports on

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DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY the crop health and vigour of his entire vineyard. NDVI is a measure of the state of plant health based on how the plant reflects light at certain frequencies (some waves are absorbed, and others are reflected). Chlorophyll (a health indicator) strongly absorbs visible light, and the cellular structure of the leaves strongly reflect near-infrared light.

When the plant becomes dehydrated, sick or afflicted with disease, the spongy layer deteriorates, and the plant absorbs more of the near-infrared light, rather than reflecting it. Observing how near infra-red (NIR) changes compare to red light provides an accurate indication of the presence of chlorophyll, which correlates with plant health. A colour scale ranging from intensities of deep red (stressed crop) to deep green (vigorous vines) reflects the vine health.

USING DATA TO ADAPT IRRIGATION TO THE CONDITIONS Irrigation management also requires consideration of constant changes in weather, crop physiological age, vine nutritional status, pruning type and irrigation system performance.

Over the last few years, John and the team have been learning from the data and adapting irrigation to the varying conditions. In 2019, the soil moisture trend line changed from the green (healthy) into the red (stressed) zone. This meant that the number of days where stress was experienced increased during December.

Figure 2 shows how NDVI satellite imagery and nearcontinuous soil moisture data complement each other by showing a stressed vineyard from two different perspectives.

The team discussed the importance of using soil moisture refill points (the yellow zone, which indicates the onset of vine stress) to dynamically manage the irrigation cycle in response to seasonal conditions. It was clear that the irrigation cycle used in 2019 (which was based on average conditions) was too long. In addition, the viticulturist recommended changes in the fertigation program.

John implemented these recommendations. One season later, in November and December 2020, soil moisture data and NDVI images were compared again (Figure 3).

The colours of the NDVI images were in the healthy green spectrum and soil moisture data in November remained entirely in the green soil moisture zone. There was no water stress at all. This enabled John to implement a Regulated Deficit Irrigation (RDI) strategy in December (Figure 4). By lengthening the irrigation cycle, soil moisture levels were gradually decreased post-veraison to deliberately induce limited stress to enhance quality of the wine. This was executed by dipping slightly below the refill point to slow down vigour, but not let it slip into the red zone (onset of vine water stress).

The outcome of this management change was an increase in yield and quality of the crop.

Figure 2: NDVI imagery of John’s vineyard in November and December 2019 and corresponding soil moisture data. The ‘underground eyes’ of the soil moisture probes work with the ‘eye in the sky’ satellite images to identify a problem and later track remediation.

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Figure 3: NDVI imagery of John’s vineyard in November and December 2020 and corresponding soil moisture data.

Figure 4: The soil moisture data of 2020 based on the best yield and quality outcome were reviewed and ‘full’ and ‘refill’ points were created within each vine physiological stage.

The soil moisture trend line that brought John improvements in yield and quality can be used in coming seasons as a starting point. The NDVI and probe data then guides appropriate responses to weather and other factors within and between seasons.

Peter Buss, Sentek Technologies

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DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY A new approach to irrigation control at unpowered sites SNAPSHOT • At unpowered urban sites, such as streetscapes, councils often use basic battery-operated equipment to manage irrigation, which means operators have limited control and limited access to data.

• Geoff Zerna from Wateresource in South Australia has developed a mini programmable logic controller to enable councils to install an autonomous batteryoperated control system.

• The system relies on the existing water meter to trigger an alarm when irrigation issues arise and also gives automatic monthly water usage reports so staff no longer have to physically check the meter.

• Eight councils are currently using the system, which is cost-effective compared with alternatives and can save water and labour while maintaining turf condition.

Monitoring and managing irrigation at unpowered sites can be a headache for councils and other land managers. Many sites, like streetscapes and parks, rely on basic batteryoperated equipment that doesn’t enable operators to control or monitor the flow or receive notifications if leaks or other problems occur.

After ten years working closely with councils and understanding their central control needs, it was clear to Geoff Zerna from Wateresource that the staff who manage these sites could benefit from having more control over their unpowered yet important irrigation systems.

“Usually, operators don’t know there’s an issue until they receive reports of water running down the road, or when plants started dying,” Geoff said. “And in conjunction with this, council staff need to read their water meters regularly to report back their water use – this has a high cost in labour and is a drain on the available manpower that could be doing more important work.”

The device is installed in the valve box and no aboveground infrastructure is needed.

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MORE CONTROL, LESS LABOUR Geoff set about working with councils to develop a product that would kill two birds with one stone by giving operators remote irrigation control with more information back from unpowered sites, and at the same time reducing the labour associated with reading water meters.

With helpful input and trust from several South Australian councils, Geoff developed the Wateresource Nemos N200+WMSi platform, that uses a mini programmable logic controller (PLC) to enable users to install an autonomous battery-operated control system that uses the existing water meter for the purposes of alarming against high flow blow outs, zero flow and unscheduled flow. The system also gives automatic monthly usage reports, meaning staff no longer need to physically check the meter.

The web-based platform currently allows users to remotely manage up to seven existing DC latching solenoid valves, giving them remote, web-based, and mobile-friendly access to data so that they can change programs and receive alerts for flow problems. The device is IP68 rated, so it can withstand high humidity environments and flooded valve boxes.

AN ECONOMIC OPTION Connecting power to an unpowered site with only a couple of valves or stations rarely makes economic sense. “An assessment by one council showed that it was going to cost $15,000 by the time they connected power and other infrastructure, not to mention ongoing electricity costs of $400 per year, just to have power on the site to use only maybe $200 worth of water per year,” Geoff said.

In comparison, the initial outlay for the Nemos system is around $2,300, and the ongoing cost is $90 per year for data, which is well within the expectations of most councils.

Another advantage of the system is the set-and-forget function to control programming based on soil moisture. An attached soil moisture sensor suspends and re-enables the irrigation programming based on user-defined high and low soil moisture thresholds. This can minimise unnecessary watering during rain events in irrigation season and suspend the controller should managers forget to turn off the programming during winter.

ADOPTION BY COUNCILS Eight councils in South Australia are currently using the technology. The City of Adelaide, City of West Torrens and the City of Onkaparinga were three of the early adopters and supporters of the system.

The councils use the Nemos system at sites where installing an external power source is difficult, expensive or impractical – such as median strips, roundabouts, streetscapes, neighbourhood parks and Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) installations.

The City of Adelaide has to date installed the system at 80 sites of their city-wide rollout, controlling streetscape irrigation across the city and North Adelaide, along with 60 pressure/flow monitoring devices throughout the parklands.

Similarly, Onkaparinga has over the last three years expanded its network to 40 irrigation systems connected to the platform, with more planned for the future, while the City of West Torrens has included the system in its standard specifications for future installations where no external power source is available.

THE BENEFITS The councils say that the system makes it easier for them to keep track of and reduce water consumption, to detect issues with the system, and to ensure staff safety.

“The Nemos platform has allowed us to manage our streetscapes more efficiently and keep track of water consumption, track vandalism areas, and most importantly, keep our staff safe. Nearly all our streetscape meters are adjacent to busy roadways or in median strips.

Physically removing our staff from these locations during programming or meter reading is a huge benefit,” says Adam Gunn, technical officer, irrigation horticulture, from the City of Adelaide.

David Ward, work group leader for turf and irrigation for West Torrens notes that the system has many advantages.

“It gives us the capacity to check irrigation daily, which means we can regularly check for alarms and anomalies with our irrigation systems.

“We recently contracted an external party to test the backflows of some of our irrigation systems. These tests alerted us to the fact that one system had been left in the off position, meaning that there was no water flow.

Under usual circumstances, this issue would not have been discovered until the plants or grass were showing signs of stress. Because we were alerted to this issue, we could rectify it before any damage to the plants and grass occurred.

“We also had an issue where a new irrigation system was installed that had not been properly flushed, and a rock became lodged in the valve, keeping the system open and leaking. The alarm system alerted us that there was an issue, so we were able to investigate and rectify.”

Not only do councils benefit from being alerted to anomalies in the system, but it also enables them to use less water in their routine irrigation. “The use of a soil moisture sensor in conjunction with the set-and-forget feature means that irrigation is only applied when the plant requires it,” Scott Murray, operations officer from the City of Onkaparinga explains. This means that when Adelaide has an unusually cool or wet spring and summer, the soil moisture sensor stops the overwatering that would otherwise occur.

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DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY OTHER APPLICATIONS

CASE STUDY

The Nemos system is also ideal for environments such as high-rise apartments and hospitals where garden beds are typically in ‘concrete baths’, and are prone to over watering.

Too often, waterlogging and anaerobiosis from overwatering results in costly loss of plants, and need for soil replacement.

The set-and-forget function independently monitors each garden bed based on its own soil and plant demands. High flow and flooding from blowouts can also be managed, with auto shutdown and alarming to the building management staff or contractor. Also, fire safety regulations of cabling in walls and between floors is very expensive, or simply interlevel irrigation cable is often overlooked in construction.

Onkaparinga Council installed the Nemos system at Byron Bay Boulevard, a playground with two stations of turf and no mains power available. Prior to this, irrigation at the site had relied on a two-station battery controller.

Cost comparison. The capital cost to install mainspowered central control at this site would have been $10,940, with ongoing annual costs of $560. In comparison, the capital cost for the Nemos system was $2,300, with ongoing annual costs of $90.

Installation. The Nemos WMSi2 was installed in the valve box with the valves; no aboveground infrastructure was required. The system communicates with the adjacent SA Water meter to monitor for flow alarms. An SMT-100 soil moisture sensor was installed in the turf at a depth of 100 mm.

Operation and programming. The set-and-forget function allows the Nemos to water every night, if required, based on the soil moisture. At this site, irrigation is enabled when the volumetric moisture content (VMC) drops to 20 per cent and disabled once it reaches 30 percent (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Irrigation is enabled every night if needed, as determined by soil moisture levels.

Onkaparinga Council installed the Nemos system at Byron Bay Boulevard, a playground with two stations of turf and no mains power available.

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Outcome for January 2023. The programming allowed for irrigation on all 31 nights of January if required based on set-and-forget levels. Irrigation was needed on only 12 nights as determined by soil moisture levels, in contrast to the standard two or three day per week programming that would previously have occurred regardless of conditions.

Figure 2: Irrigation events (blue) and soil moisture content (green) for the month of January.

Note the high flow event at 1:00 am 1 January in Figure 2.

A rotor had been kicked off in the early hours of New Year’s Day, and the system had alarmed on high flow. Since highflow shutdown was enabled, the system automatically shut down and alarmed. Some days later, the back-up alarm for low soil moisture was triggered, reminding the operator that repairs were needed urgently. The full system was restored, and moisture levels re-established.

Throughout January, the turf was maintained in excellent condition with appropriate soil moisture levels.

NEXT STEPS Geoff says that as far as he’s aware, this is the first system of its kind. Over the last few years, he has refined it based on

feedback from South Australian councils and both he and the users are happy with its performance. The next steps will be to market it to other councils throughout Australia.

Acknowledgment. Thanks to Geoff Zerna from Wateresource, Scott Murray from the City of Onkaparinga, Adam Gunn from the City of Adelaide and David Ward from the City of Torrens for providing information for this article.

Geoff would also like to thank the other supportive councils, as well as SA Water for cooperation and support for the utilisation of their water meter infrastructure to give councils greater control over water sustainability.

Eve White, Irrigation Australia

NATIONAL RENEWABLES IN AGRICULTURE CONFERENCE SET FOR JUNE The fourth annual National Renewables in Agriculture Conference and Expo will be held on the 21 June, as farmers increasingly take up renewables to reduce costs.

The conference will be held in Dubbo with a solar grazing tour the following day.

Keynote speaker Ross Garnaut, a renowned clean energy expert and author, will discuss how Australia, rich in resources for renewable energy and for capturing carbon in the landscape, could become an economic superpower of the postcarbon world.

Investments in equipment upgrades, sub-metering, renewable energy, battery storage and load shifting can often attract government incentives that either reduce growers’ upfront expenses or generate revenue through trading certificates. Gemma Clement, from Green Energy Trading will present on navigating certificate schemes available for financing renewables on farm.

These are just two of the inspiring speakers at the event. Karin Stark, conference founder says, “We’ve got brilliant speakers to discuss battery storage, bioenergy, future farm vehicles and fuels and of course we’ll hear directly from farmers on how they’re saving money and what they’ve learnt. We are also covering redefining farmers roles in decarbonising the grid.”

For more information and to book tickets, visit this link.

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DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY Investing in variable rate irrigation to improve pasture growth in Western Australia SNAPSHOT • Variable Rate Irrigation (VRI) was incorporated into a centre pivot that irrigated a 100 ha area of pasture for dairy production at Boyanup in Western Australia.

• The VRI provided a range of benefits, which led to increased pasture consumption.

• Investing in VRI appears to be a very profitable option for this site, if an extra 1 t DM/ha of pasture was consumed.

• This centre pivot covers a large area with significant variation in soil type. An investment in VRI may not be profitable for a site with less variation in soil type.

The expenditure on the soil survey appears to be worthwhile before investing.

ABOUT THE RESEARCH This work was initiated in 2014, but the implementation was refined over the following five years as part of a Smarter Irrigation for Profit project. The site was a 100 ha area of kikuyu/annual ryegrass pasture for dairy production at Boyanup in WA, which was irrigated with a centre pivot.

There was some variation in soil type and some areas were often boggy, which led to management challenges and inefficiencies. This suggested that there was potential for improvements in irrigation efficiency with the incorporation of variable rate irrigation (VRI) for the centre pivot.

Given the high capital cost of VRI, it was considered sensible to conduct soil sampling and mapping to get an indication of potential benefits. Hence, the researchers initially conducted EM38 and Gamma Radiometric surveys to identify soil sample points, which were then extracted and soil attributes including water holding capacity were determined. That data showed that there was enough variation in soil water holding capacity to suggest there could be substantial benefits from installing VRI. An initial soil survey helps avoid needless capital expenditure if VRI is not found to be worthwhile, at around 10 per cent of the cost of the VRI installation. The farmer describes the investment in the soil survey as a ‘no brainer’ and this approach saved them investing in VRI for a second pivot on the farm where the soil survey indicated minimal benefit was likely from incorporating VRI. Once installed, the VRI began to show a range of benefits, which led to increased pasture consumption. Under the old flat rate application, some areas were often too wet

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and others too dry during the irrigation season. With VRI it became possible to keep soil moisture levels much closer to optimal across the whole area, and pasture growth rates improved considerably in these areas. This meant that in spring, the start-up time could be earlier as there was much less risk of some areas being waterlogged. In autumn it became much easier to optimise the sowing of annual ryegrass without compromising irrigation scheduling.

Overall, the total amount of water being applied to the pivot remained about the same but it was used more productively.

The VRI allowed the pivot to be switched off when travelling over the central laneway, gateways and around water troughs. This resulted in less boggy patches that made it easier for movement of machinery and cows, which appeared to contribute to a range of benefits, such as better udder health, less mastitis and improved milk quality.

The variable rate irrigation resulted in increased pasture consumption on the dairy farm at Boyanup. Photo by Jakob Cotton on Unsplash.

ANALYSIS OF FARM-LEVEL COSTS AND BENEFITS The estimated benefits and costs of incorporating VRI into the 100 ha pivot were analysed. The analysis applied discounted cashflows over 10 years and applied a 5 per cent discount rate.

Capital expenditure/setup costs. A cost of $60,000 to retrofit VRI to the pivot (including software) was assumed.

There was also an additional $25,000 for a variable speed drive (VSD) which the farmer found necessary to get the full benefit of the VRI. The cost for the soil survey (EM38 and Gamma Radiometric) was $6,000.

Amount of extra pasture consumed. The amount of extra pasture consumed as a result of implementing VRI was not

measured. The farmer estimated there was 30 per cent more pasture consumed (~3 – 4 t DM/ha) based on the reduction in the amount of supplementary feed required. However, it is possible that other changes in management practices also had an impact on this. In this analysis we tested a range of additional amounts of pasture consumed (0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 t dry matter per ha) to estimate the ‘break-even’ amount required that would result in VRI being an attractive investment.

Value of extra pasture consumed. A value of $250/t dry matter for the additional pasture was used to represent a long-term typical value for supplementary feed of similar quality. Values of $125 and $375 /t dry matter were also used to test the sensitivity. It was assumed that all the extra pasture could be consumed via grazing and no extra harvesting costs were incurred. The farmer indicated that this was what had occurred for their situation.

Value of water saved. It was assumed that the total amount of water being applied by the pivot did not change.

Other changes in operating costs. It was assumed that any extra labour or repairs and maintenance costs were balanced out by reductions in labour and better herd health associated with less waterlogging of laneways, gateways etc.

GOOD RETURNS The results indicate that the investment in VRI provides very attractive returns if an extra 1 t DM/ha of pasture is consumed, with and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 40 per cent and three years to break-even (Table 1). The farmer estimates that the extra pasture consumed was substantially higher than this, making VRI a very profitable investment. If less than 0.5 t DM/ha of extra pasture was consumed, then it appears VRI would be unlikely to be an attractive investment for this site.

TABLE 1. SUMMARY OF RESULTS. DISCOUNTED CASHFLOWS OF BENEFITS FROM VRI COMPARED WITH THE BASELINE SCENARIO. EXTRA PASTURE CONSUMED (t DM/ha) (VALUED AT $250/t DM)\

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

Internal Rate of Return (nominal)

13%

40%

75%

129%

Years to pay back (after interest)

7

3

2 or less

2 or less

The results are sensitive to the value of the extra pasture consumed (Table 2). If less than 1 t DM/ha of extra pasture was consumed, then it appears VRI would be unlikely to be an attractive investment for this site if the value of the extra pasture was $125/t DM. This value for the extra pasture is likely to be a better estimate if the extra pasture needed to be conserved and fed back.

If the extra pasture is valued at $375/t DM, then VRI becomes an even more attractive investment. This value is likely to be a reasonable estimate for a drought period but is unlikely to remain at this level for the life of the investment.

TABLE 2. SENSITIVITY TO THE VALUE OF EXTRA PASTURE. DISCOUNTED CASHFLOWS OF BENEFITS FROM VRI COMPARED TO THE BASELINE SCENARIO. EXTRA PASTURE CONSUMED (t DM/ha)

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

(EXTRA PASTURE VALUED AT $125/t DM) Internal Rate of Return (nominal)

-2%

13%

26%

40%

Years to pay back (after interest)

10 or more

7

4

3

(EXTRA PASTURE VALUED AT $375/t DM) Internal Rate of Return (nominal)

26%

75%

170%

486%

Years to pay back (after interest)

4

2 or less

2 or less

2 or less

CONCLUSION Investing in VRI appears to be a very profitable option for this site. This centre pivot covers a large area with significant variation in soil type. An investment in VRI may not be profitable for a site with less variation in soil type.

Acknowledgment. This is a Smarter Irrigation for Profit Phase II (SIP2) project, originally published on the SIP website and reprinted here with permission. SIP2 was led by the Cotton Research and Development Corporation in conjunction with Dairy Australia, AgriFutures, Sugar Research Australia, and Grains Research and Development Corporation. SIP2 was supported by funding from the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry as part of its Rural R&D for Profit program.

Information. For information, visit the SIP website. For more information on this economic analysis, please contact Dan Armstrong, Principal Consultant D-ARM Consulting, through armstrongdan@bigpond.com.

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IRRIGATION AUSTRALIA NEWS SNAPSHOT • Naomi Carragher joins Irrigation Australia as business administration manager/company secretary.

• Irrigation design and Professional Engineers Legislation.

• Tracy Martin gives members an update of what’s happening in the regions.

INTRODUCING NAOMI CARRAGHER We’d like to introduce Meet Naomi Carragher, our new business administration manager/company secretary. A lot goes on behind the scenes at Irrigation Australia, and it is Naomi’s job to keep many cogs turning.

Naomi, who has been with Irrigation Australia since December, describes her role: “I’m responsible for overseeing the administrative services, including formulating policy advice, financial and human resource policy, Workplace Health and Safety, planning, research and development programs and guidelines within the organisation.”

“I’m also responsible for ensuring the company’s compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements and that the decisions of the Board of Directors are implemented and that directors are aware of and kept informed of their legal responsibilities.”

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Naomi brings to Irrigation Australia more than 13 years’ experience in customer service roles in travel and accommodation, event management, project support and marketing. She is experienced in the water sector, having spent the last two years with the Queensland Water Directorate, managing members and industry suppliers.

Naomi and her husband Bryon have a busy life outside of work, with three young children Owen (6), Austin (4) and Dylan (3). “Any free time I can get is spent swimming or reading a book in a nice quiet place,” Naomi says.

Naomi is looking forward to new opportunities and challenges at Irrigation Australia. “This is a very exciting time for Irrigation Australia with a new CEO and other new staff members coming on board. After the last couple of years with COVID and now coming out on the other side of it, it’s an opportunity for irrigation Australia to review our strategic intent and what we can provide for our members nationally and internationally. I am excited to be part of that change and seeing it come to fruition.

“I’ve been impressed by the commitment of the board members and I’m looking forward to working closely with Simon, Val and the other directors.”

Welcome, Naomi!

REGISTERED PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS LEGISLATION The Registered Professional Engineers Act 2019 (Victoria) commenced on 1 July 2021, following on from similar legislation introduced some years ago in Queensland.

Quoting from the Act: “The Act requires you to be registered with the Business Licensing Authority (BLA) to provide professional engineering services in a prescribed area of engineering in Victoria, or from a location outside Victoria, if the services are intended for Victoria. You are not required to be registered if you work under the direct supervision of a registered practising professional engineer or only in accordance with a prescriptive standard.”

The Act prescribes five areas of engineering (fire safety, civil, structural, electrical and mechanical) with different deadlines for registering. Civil and Structural engineering commenced on 1 October 2022. The program requires an application, assessment and commitment to continuous professional development and is designed to improve engineering standards. The Act prescribes significant penalties for individuals (up to $92,000) for serious breaches.

In Queensland, where similar legislation has been in place longer, the majority of compliance actions to date relate to complaints made against those unregistered, or misrepresenting themselves as Professional Engineers in some way. The legislation also featured in the Dreamworld ride coronial inquest, although prosecutions were made under workplace health and safety legislation.

Following a member referral, which questioned the relevance of the legislation to our sector and in particular Irrigation Australia’s Certification programs, including the Certificated Irrigation Designer qualification, the Irrigation Australia Ltd Board resolved to raise awareness of the issue with members.

Irrigation Australia encourages the use of Certified Irrigation Designers for design work associated with irrigation projects of any significance, with the scope of certification being relevant to the project at hand.

However, design of irrigation systems has not traditionally been viewed as an engineering activity, and is generally undertaken without any external regulatory management or control.

To date, an irrigation design professional would typically undertake the design of most irrigation systems, engaging where appropriate with a qualified engineer for specialised technical support (including more significant structural design activities relating to dams, channels, pontoons, major intake structures, etc.).

Similarly, qualified engineers working on irrigation design projects often engage with experienced (and hopefully Certified) irrigation design professionals to gain specialised knowledge and support beyond the engineer’s level of expertise.

Irrigation Australia considers it highly unlikely that a holder of a CID certification alone would fulfil the requirements to be a registered professional engineer, which is designed for degree-qualified engineers.

Irrigation Australia believes that the vast majority of irrigation design work falls outside the intended scope of the Professional Engineers Registration Act 2019 and will address the issue from this standpoint if the issue arises in the future. In the meantime, CIDs should make themselves aware of the definition of a professional engineering service, ensure they are not misrepresenting their own services, and consider when professional engineers should be engaged in relation to any particular project.

Irrigation Australia and our Certification Board are committed to continuously improving and protecting the integrity of our Certification programs. Should you have any queries or concerns, contact dave.cameron@ irrigation.org.au. We are pleased to announce John Harvie’s recent election as the Chair of the Certification Board and acknowledge Gennaro Vellotti’s significant contribution as outgoing Chair and decade of service on the Board.

More information on the process for applying for Registered Professional Engineering registration and relevant assessing bodies is available for Queensland and Victoria. More details regarding the prescribed areas of engineering practice can be found here.

REGIONAL ROUNDUP What’s going on in the regions and with membership by Tracy Martin, Irrigation Australia's National Membership and Regions Manager.

Melbourne. The Melbourne Committee will be holding a planning session to review the event calendar and determine priorities for 2023–24. If you have a suggestion for member events, field days, training topics or an area of concern that affects the local irrigation industry that the Committee should know about, email the regional chair Guy Nicholls, gnicholls@rainbird.com.au, or National Membership & Regions Manager Tracy Martin, tracy.martin@irrigation.org. au, or call 0407 701 513.

If you are an irrigation contractor or own an irrigation retail business based in Melbourne, be sure to find out how your business can benefit from the Waterwise Garden Irrigator and Waterwise Irrigation Design Shop programs.

The programs, which are designed to optimise wateruse efficiency and reduce water use in garden irrigation systems, can be completed as self-study. Underpinning the programs are best practice standards for irrigation system specifications, installation and design. To learn more, visit www.waterwiseprograms.com.au OR contact Irrigation Australia on (08) 6263 7774.

South Australia. Committee members have been busy organising a workshop to be delivered to local government parks and gardens teams and procurement officers. The workshop will be held on 8 March at The Lights Community and Sports Centre in Lightsview. The presentation will focus on the Certification Irrigation Framework and highlight the advantages for local governments in adopting this framework as part of their irrigation tenders. Find out more and register here.

Western Australia. The WA Region has had a busy start to the year, planning and organising the 2023 Waterwise Irrigation Expo, to be held on 16 August at Optus Stadium.

Keep an eye out for the exhibitor prospectus, which will outline the options available for manufacturers to exhibit their products and technologies – it will be available in the coming weeks. If you wish to register your expression of interest in exhibiting, email tracy.martin@irrigation.org.au. The Committee will now focus on planning an exciting delegate program and we may even get to walk on the ‘sacred turf’!

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IRRIGATION AUSTRALIA NEWS The WA region has also developed content to help bore owners adapt to a two-day rostered watering regime that was introduced back in September. These important tips and tricks are being communicated via social media. You can help us widen our reach and educate the community about water-efficient practices by sharing these posts throughout your networks.

The Waterwise Council Training Program will conclude in 2023. This program, which has been fully subsidised by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation and Water Corporation, is part of the Waterwise Council program and gives Gold Councils the opportunity to expand the skills of the parks and gardens teams. The remaining courses are scheduled for 6 to 19 and 22 to 25 May, with a final session being held in the second half of 2023 to accommodate remaining participants. IALWA will support the initiative by managing the administration, registration and delivery of approved nominees.

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Northern Territory. The combined NT Farmers Federation and Mangoes Australia Field Day on soil moisture monitoring and water-saving practices, to be conducted by Irrigation Australia, has been postponed to 2024 and will now take place in Carnarvon.

Irrigation Australia will work with both affiliated associations to deliver relevant content, be responsible for logistics and where possible provide opportunities for manufacturers to exhibit their latest products and technologies. Stay tuned for more information.

The Northern Australia Food Futures Conference, will be held in Darwin from 22 to 25 May. This is Australia’s leading conference on agricultural development in the north and is attended by investors, politicians, and industry and community stakeholders from around Australia and the world.

The conference will feature: • more than 50 speakers from industry, research, government and private sector, including successful farmers from WA, NT and Qld • workshops, keynote and plenary sessions • an ag tech forum • an exhibition and displays • an incredible social program showcasing the very best of Darwin and surrounds.

Find out more about the Northern Australia Food Futures Conference in the video above.

Queensland. A number of members met in February to discuss establishing a regional committee. Members agreed that there should be one committee for the region, and it should cover the interests of both rural and urban irrigation professionals. In the coming weeks Irrigation Australia will advise local members about this decision and will invite them to nominate to this committee.

Find an Irrigation Specialist If you are looking for an irrigation specialist, then the Irrigation Australia website is your one-stop shop.

Just click on ‘Member directory’

A group of Queensland members met in February.

Regional committees represent the interests of the members, their primary purpose being represent the industry at a regional level, provide local industry intelligence and act as a communication link between the board, management and other industry stakeholders. If you are interested in participating on this committee, email tracy.martin@ irrigation.org.au.

Then you can search for a professional in your area by state, category, postcode, name or company name.

WATERWISE IRRIGATION PROGRAMS ON FACEBOOK Have you checked out Irrigation Australia’s Waterwise irrigation programs on Facebook?

There are two categories:

• Waterwise Garden Irrigator - for professional installation and maintenance services • Waterwise Irrigation Design Shop - for expert advice and quality parts The Facebook page aims to provide the wider community with #waterwise tips and advice and promote members.

Use the QR code and jump on Facebook to find out more and keep up to date.

Scan me

Click to visit our website

IAL BOARD DIRECTORS Simon Treptow (Chair) Irrigear Stores, Mornington Victoria 3931 Valentina Tripp (Deputy Chair) Davey Water Products, Scoresby Vic 3179 Colin Bendall SunWater, Brisbane 4001 Peter Brueck Waterwise Consulting, Bangor NSW 2234 Greig Graham Rivulis, Brendale Queensland 4500 Rob Nadebaum Rain Bird, Deer Park Victoria 3023 Matthew Binder MJ Binder Consulting, Adelaide, SA Andrew Ogden Western Irrigation, Bibra Lake WA 6163 Momir Vranes Ashgrove Queensland 4060 Carl Walters Goulburn-Broken Catchment Management Authority, Shepparton Victoria 3632

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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IRRIGATION AUSTRALIA TRAINING A training update by Geoff Harvey, Irrigation Australia's National Training, Certification and Marketing Manager.

Whether you’re new to the irrigation industry or looking to further your career or expand your knowledge in a particular area, Irrigation Australia has a nationally accredited course or qualification to suit you. Here’s a rundown of a few that we’ve got coming up.

Certificate III in Irrigation Technology AHC32419

Students on the Cert III course. The course covers everything you need to learn to operate and maintain irrigation systems in a range of environments.

This certification is a great gateway into the irrigation industry. The course covers everything you need to learn to operate and maintain irrigation systems in a range of environments. It is delivered over four blocks of training, with the first two being virtual and the second two face to face.

Irrigation Pumps & Systems

Certificate IV in Irrigation Management AHC41119

Electrofusion & Butt Welding

This qualification reflects the technical and supervisory skills and knowledge required to operate as supervisors and specialists within the irrigation industry. It applies to irrigation installation site managers and managers of irrigation systems in the irrigation servicing, horticulture and agriculture industries. The course is a blend of virtual and face-to-face training and delivered over two blocks of training.

This training covers the skills and knowledge required to weld polyethylene (PE) plastic pipes using electrofusion and/ or butt welding. It is delivered face-to-face over one day or two days, and you can choose to become a Certified Poly Welder in Electrofusion (CEW), Butt Welding (CBW) or both!

For more information, contact our Training & Certification team on training@irrigation.org.au or (07) 3517 4000.

Storage Meter Installation and Validation

TRAINING DIARY

Our Storage Meter Installation and Validation course covers how to select water storage meters, data loggers and telemetry systems and the installation, commissioning/ maintenance and validation of water storage meters.

Our Irrigation Pumps & Systems course is designed to provide candidates the knowledge and skills to operate and maintain irrigation pumping systems and install, test and maintain pumping systems to a national standard.

DATE

COURSE

LOCATION

9 to 10 March (2 half days)

Certificate III in Irrigation Technology AHC32422 – session 1 & 2

Virtual classroom

20 to 21 March (2 full days)

Introduction to Irrigation

Adelaide, SA

Meter Installation & Validation

29 to 30 March (2 full days)

Electrofusion & Butt Welding

Adelaide, SA

Our Meter Installation and validation course is nationally accredited and offers candidates the skills and knowledge to become an irrigation meter installer and validator.

29 March (1 full day)

Electrofusion Welding

Adelaide, SA

30 March (1 full day)

Butt Welding

Adelaide, SA

3 to 5 April (3 full days)

Meter Installation & Validation

Griffith, NSW

3 to 5 April (3 half days)

Irrigation Pumps & Systems

Virtual classroom

3 to 6 April (4 half days)

Commercial Irrigation Design

Virtual classroom

4 to 6 April (3 full days)

Storage Meter Installer & Validator

Trangie, NSW

18 to 21 April (4 half days)

Urban Irrigation Design

Virtual classroom

2 to 5 May (4 half days)

Meter Installation & Validation

Virtual classroom

9 to 10 May (2 half days)

Cert IV in Irrigation Management AHC41119 – sessions 1 & 2

Virtual classroom

15 to 16 May (2 full days)

Introduction to Irrigation

Adelaide, SA

23 to 24 May (2 half days)

Cert III in Irrigation Technology AHC32422

Virtual classroom

6 June (1 half day)

Basics in Drip Irrigation

Virtual classroom

7 to 8 June (2 half days)

Basics in Wiring & Electrical Troubleshooting

Virtual classroom

13 to 16 June (4 full days)

Meter Installation & Validation

Brisbane, Qld

11 to 13 July (3 full days)

Meter Installation & Validation

Griffith, NSW

Commercial Irrigation Design This is a mid-level irrigation hydraulics and design program for parkland/football field–sized sites. This course is for urban domestic irrigation system designers or technicians looking to take the next step in irrigation system design processes. It is also suited to irrigation project supervisors responsible for checking and/or selecting the best irrigation design for their field.

Urban Irrigation Design The Urban Residential Irrigation Design course is an entry-level domestic irrigation design program. It is suited to participants that work in irrigation and landscape sales and installation fields, and various irrigation systems operators and managers interested in the basics of irrigation system designs.

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IRRIGATION TRAINING INFORMATION AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Check out Irrigation Australia’s training course booklet. This comprehensive publication provides essential details on training courses offered by Irrigation Australia.

• Certificate III in Irrigation Technology • Certificate IV in Irrigation Management • Centre Pivot and Lateral Move • Meter Installation and Validation • Introduction to Irrigation | Agriculture • Introduction to Irrigation | Urban • Irrigation Pumps and Systems • Irrigation Efficiency • Urban Irrigation Design • Commercial Irrigation Design • IRRICAD Design • Irrigation Installer • Storage Meter Installation and Validation

KIAN’S CAREER PATH: CERTIFICATE III EXPANDS CAREER OPTIONS

Like many of us, Kian Lotter has not had a linear career path. Irrigation Australia caught up with Kian to find out about how he ended up working in irrigation, why he chose to complete a Certificate III in Irrigation Technology, and what he thought of the course.

Kian has also undertaken formal learning, having recently completed a Certificate III in Irrigation Technology run by Irrigation Australia. “I was given a specialised role [irrigation technician] so I started to look at what extra courses I could do. This was at the time when we were looking at installing the new system. It was going to be a large job, so more knowledge was always going to help. The fact that is a tradelevel course was an extra incentive – two trades look good on your resume.”

Unfortunately, the start of Kian’s training coincided with COVID’s arrival in Australia, which delayed and disrupted his learning. “It was a struggle at times at the start,” Kian says.

“But the reduced class size [due to COVID] worked to my benefit. I got to know the trainers at a more personal level, and I took advantage of that learning opportunity.”

Kian found that the hardest aspect of the course, and the area that he learnt the most, was the unit on pumps, since he had little prior experience in this area. And in a more general sense, the course has given him a stronger grounding in the theory behind irrigation. “I feel like I’m a lot smarter with things now. I understand the lingo; it’s made me 100 per cent more confident.”

He also found that one unexpected benefit of completing the Cert III was the networking opportunity it provided, and the new contacts to exchange ideas about different ways of doing things.

Kian is excited about his future in the industry and the range of directions his career could take. “My skills apply not only to golf courses but other settings as well. The Cert III has really broadened my job opportunities and set me up for the future.”

After originally completing a greenkeeper apprenticeship in 2008, Kian left the industry to work in hospitality for ten years.

But in 2019 he decided to return to the outdoors, in a role as greenkeeper for the Royal Canberra Golf Course, and since then his focus has turned to irrigation.

In Kian’s role as irrigation technician on the 27-hole course, he must keep track of more than 2,000 sprinklers. “If something needs fixing, I’m the one who does it,” Kian says.

“My work involves maintaining the whole system. This means general maintenance but also dealing with emergencies. If there’s a leak, a broken sprinkler, or a mainline blow out, I’m the one on call. My day can change quite quickly!”

Kian enjoys the problem-solving aspect of his role. “Every irrigation issue is different and that keeps me on my toes. It’s good for the brain.”

The learning process is ongoing. Right now, Kian says, he is spending a lot of time learning about operating the new system that was designed by Water Wise Consulting and installed last year by D&A Irrigation (you can read more about this big job in the winter 2022 journal).

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ARTICLE A POSITIVE APPROACH TO THE SKILLED LABOUR SHORTAGE A current topic of discussion among managers across many sectors is the skilled labour shortage.

One irrigation company has chosen to turn this problem on its head and view it as an opportunity – a chance to evolve in a direction that they hope will benefit the employees, the company, and the broader irrigation industry. Irrigation Australia Journal spoke to Aaron Edmunds, managing director of Netafim Australia, about the company’s approach.

The unemployment rate is sitting at around 3.5 per cent, the lowest rate since 1974, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data. At the same time, a 2022 report by the National Skills Commission, highlighted that the demand for workers across all industries has been increasing rapidly over the last few years. Many sectors, including the irrigation industry, are facing a skilled labour shortage and competition between businesses for workers.

A multifaceted problem Aaron says that from the perspective of a manager within the irrigation industry, there are several facets to the problem. “The skill base in the industry has diminished over the years. Ask anyone across the supply chain – farmers, suppliers, manufacturers. There’s a shortage of skilled labour, both in terms of quantity and quality.”

Tied in with shortage of ‘quality’ skills, there is the ongoing challenge of knowledge transfer. Irrigation professionals often need highly specialised skillsets that they develop over many years in a role. This is particularly true for a company like Netafim that produces technical products for micro irrigation. But what happens to that knowledge when a long-term employee with specialised skills resigns or retires?

While high rates of employee retention are generally thought of as a positive, the other side of the coin is that when a skilled employee leaves after a long time with a company, years of accumulated knowledge may be lost too. “Our retention has been excellent over the 30 years we have been operating in Australia. A good percentage of employees have been with Netafim well in excess of 10 years,” Aarons says. “So when someone leaves after a long tenure, it’s challenging! As a business we want to preserve our IP and offer the market not just a good product but also a skilled support base.”

A new approach needed

Aaron Edmunds, managing director of Netafim Australia.

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Over the last 12 months Netafim has put considerable work into developing a strategy to simultaneously deal with the shortage of skilled professionals and the problem of knowledge transfer and IP retention.

The approach has three core focuses: IP retention, IP transfer and a sound employee value proposition that puts individuals at the centre.

IP retention. Netafim is taking steps to empower transparent conversations between managers and employees to foster a workplace culture in which people feel like they can truly contribute and develop. “Typically, in a business environment you see ongoing discussion around topics like performance and KPIs, but less emphasis on employee development, transfer of IP and the employee value proposition. We are empowering transparent conversations not only to facilitate the transfer of IP but to build a good company culture that creates a workplace where employees enjoy contributing to the success of the business,” Aaron said.

UNPRECEDENTED SNAPSHOT OF GLOBAL WATER AVAILABILITY A report released by the Global Water Monitor Consortium, led by The Australian National University (ANU) has offered an unprecedented snapshot of global water availability.

IP transfer. “When a person leaves, there is often a mad scramble to transfer IP,” Aaron says. “Invariably some valuable IP gets lost in the process. Netafim is implementing a formalised regular process of preserving IP within the business. This includes regular internal training, facilitation of mentor/mentee relationships and cross-functional collaboration. Change within businesses and within the industry will always happen. Maintaining IP is not only critical for our business but exceptionally important for the longevity of the irrigation industry.”

Employee value proposition. The third focus area for Netafim is the employee value proposition. “We’re really focussing on communicating well with our employees to ensure we are aligned on our visions and mission and also being clear about success factors and how individual roles contribute to them,” Aaron says.

Netafim is focusing on the development of individuals within business – not only at a professional level, but by taking their personal needs (for example, flexible work hours, health and wellbeing, the need for new challenges) into account. Central to this is a culture of open, honest communication in which managers know their employees as individuals, and employees feel comfortable to express their needs and concerns to managers. Aaron expects that this strategy will not only lead to greater employee satisfaction but will also attract people to the business.

An ongoing process Netafim’s person-centric approach aligns with recent research that shows that there has been a great disconnect between why employers think their employees are leaving and the actual reasons behind employee exits. A survey by McKinsey found that while employers were more likely to focus on transactional factors, such as inadequate compensation and work–life balance, employees prioritise relational factors, including feeling valued by their manager and organisation, having a sense of belonging, and through generational change, a greater focus on environmental responsibilities.

Aaron says that Netafim is about halfway through the implementation process of this approach, and he emphasises that this is an ongoing process and new initiatives will develop.

“This is a cultural evolution for our business and I think it addresses a lot of the things happening within both the agricultural industry and also the employee space,” Aaron says.

“It’s great to have policies and procedures and plans, but our approach is not that rigid. We are looking outwards at what’s happening in the market, with our customers and with peers, and acting accordingly, as well as listening to our employees.

“The labour situation is what it is. We’re choosing to take the attitude that this is our opportunity to do things differently and better.”

We already knew that climate change is affecting water availability but what’s unusual about this report is how quickly the data were collected and analysed. Normally, the process takes many months, but by using satellite instruments and by automating the data analysis and interpretation process, the team reduced that time to a few days.

The group combined water measurements made at thousands of ground stations and by satellites to produce up-to-date information on rainfall, air temperature and humidity, soil water, river flows and the volume of water in natural and artificial lakes.

The report shows that: • air temperature over land in 2022 followed the long-term warming trend, while air humidity is declining • globally, in 2022, the water cycle was dominated by relatively warm ocean waters in the western Pacific and the eastern and northern Indian Ocean. As a result, a severe heatwave developed in South Asia early in the year, followed by a very wet monsoon that caused massive floods in Pakistan • in Europe and China, extreme heatwaves gave rise to ‘flash droughts’, droughts that develop within a few months following severe heatwaves, causing low river flows, agricultural damage and bushfires • a key feature of 2022 was that it was the third La Niña year in a row.

This caused floods in Australia, but also deepened drought conditions in the western United States and parts of South America.

The report also predicts that relatively dry conditions in 2023 could worsen drought in parts of North and South America, Central Asia, China and the Horn of Africa. However, La Niña conditions are unwinding, so there is hope that water availability may soon return to more normal levels in some of those regions.

Long term, though, the authors warn that both droughts and floods will become more frequent and severe.

Source. Scimex website.

Information. The 2022 report and the Global Water Monitor data explorer providing access to all underlying data are publicly available here.

Eve White, Irrigation Australia

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CONTRACTORS’ CORNER FROM AIRCRAFT TO IRRIGATION – HANNAH WARNER FROM TOTAL WATER SNAPSHOT • Hannah Warner and her business partner Ronald Abood run Total Water – a company that specialises in irrigation system maintenance and installations.

• The business, based in Sutherland Shire, NSW, has seven staff and most of its clients are government entities.

• Hannah has seen a recent shift towards more women working in the traditionally male-dominated irrigation industry.

• While Total Water had no problems operating through COVID, the challenges now are staff shortages, increased costs of materials and labour, and disruptions due to ongoing wet weather.

From aircraft mechanic, to marketing, to running an irrigation business, Hannah Warner has had a varied career. Irrigation Australia caught up with Hannah to find out about Total Water’s story and what it’s like being a woman in a male-dominated industry.

Hannah and her business partner, Ronald Abood, have operated Total Water for the last 12 years. Total Water is based in Sutherland Shire in southern Sydney and specialises in maintenance of irrigation systems.

IA. What kind of jobs form the bulk of your work?

Hannah. Our work is very varied. While Total Water is primarily an irrigation maintenance company, we also do installations.

We are a plumbing maintenance company, which sets us apart from our competitors. We work closely with a pump contractor and a central control system provider; with these collaborations we can offer the client a high-quality end-to-end service.

Our clients are mostly government entities, with our biggest clients being Sydney Olympic Park and Centennial Parklands.

We were involved with the original Sydney Water ILEP (Irrigation and Landscape Efficiency Project) and are currently part of the SIMPaCT (Smart Irrigation Management for Parks and Cooling Towns), project at Sydney Olympic Park.

IA. Can you tell me a bit about the background of Total Water?

Hannah. Total Water is a partnership between myself and my business partner Ronald Abood. In 2010 we bought Jeff Croft Plumbing Pty Ltd. We have been working together as a successful team for the last 12 years. In March 2011 we changed the name of the company to Total Water, which we felt was a more appropriate name and branding. Total Water prides itself on providing clients with outstanding service built on quality, knowledge and response.

IA. How many staff do you have and what are their qualifications?

Hannah. There are seven staff in total and as directors Ronald and I take a very hands-on approach. Our staff need to be multi-talented and they have many qualifications and skills between them.

I was originally an aircraft mechanic in the Royal Navy, then moved into sales and marketing, finally ending up in irrigation 16 years ago. Four of the staff are qualified plumbers, two of whom are certified and licensed roof plumber, drainer, gas fitter and LP gas fitters. One has a water plumber licence (urban irrigation). The other has a degree in marketing and international business studies.

Hannah Warner and business partner Ronald Abood have operated Total Water for the last 12 years.

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IA. Can you tell us a bit about your experience as a woman in the industry?

Total Water, based in Sutherland Shire, NSW, is primarily an irrigation maintenance company, but they also do installations.

Hannah. From my early career in the Royal Navy, I have worked in male-dominated industries. The irrigation industry is also very male dominated, but I have seen a shift in recent years to dealing with more female project managers and an acceptance of females in the industry. I am very no-nonsense and having a business partner with six sisters makes my life much easier than some.

IA. What challenges and opportunities are you seeing in the industry currently?

Hannah. As an essential service, Total Water was able to operate through COVID. The knock on from this is that currently recruiting staff is virtually impossible, labour costs have increased, and material costs have skyrocketed. Then with La Niña, this year has been our toughest year to date.

Irrigation systems haven’t been running and heavy rainfall has prevented us from carrying out projects.

We continually aim to improve the water efficiency of our clients’ irrigation systems and good regular maintenance is an important component of this.

A SIMPLE GUIDE TO SOIL MOISTURE TERMINOLOGY There are a few terms used to describe soil water and how much water is available to a plant. These are handy to know and can make a difference when reading and interpreting soil moisture graphs and setting irrigation.

A plant uses water for cellular function, growth and to cool itself.

If readily available water is exhausted, a plant may be using more energy extracting water from the soil, creating more heat than it can remove from itself.

Soil terms

When this occurs, a plant uses energy otherwise put into growth for cooling, reducing potential yields. This is the stress point. In leafy crops, stress is undesirable and will reduce maximum potential yield.

In some fruit and vine crops, stress is induced to reduce fruit size and increase sugars and firmness.

Water is held in the gaps between (pore space) soil particles and around their surface. The soil particle size and distribution influence the soil’s water holding capacity. Generally the smaller the particles and the greater the organic matter, the greater the surface area for water to be held. Fine textured soils like clays and silts have a high total water holding capacity.

Field capacity describes the water a soil can hold, after excess water has drained from the soil. This is influenced by gravity (the weight of the water) and the surface tension exerted by the soil particles. If soil is above field capacity, then drainage will occur.

Plant terms Moisture that a plant can easily remove from soil is called readily available water. At field capacity, available water is high and a plant only need exert a low suction force to overcome the tension holding the water in the soil.

As soil moisture is depleted, less water is held between soil particles and more around the surface of the soil particles. The force required to remove the remaining water increases as soil water is depleted and a plant must apply greater suction to overcome the surface tension holding the water in the soil.

To maintain good plant growth, water in the soil should be applied via irrigation or rainfall at a suitable level of stress for the crop being grown; this is called the refill point.

When a crop is unable to remove heat from itself and is losing more water than it can extract from the environment, it will close down cells in the leaves causing the plant to droop. This is the wilt point and a plant can recover when the environment cools down or water availability increases.

If water availability decreases further and too much water is lost cells will die and a plant may not be able to recover. This is called the permanent wilt point.

Acknowledgement. This article was originally published on the Wildeye website and is reprinted here with permission.

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ICID INSIGHTS RUBICON WATER RECEIVES WATSAVE AWARD FOR IRRIGATION MODERNISATION PROJECT For decades, many farmers in the region of northern Karnataka, India, lacked access to irrigation water despite irrigation channels being in place. But an ambitious project run by Australian technology company Rubicon Water has changed this, transforming agriculture in the area, saving water, and improving the lives of many families. The work earned Rubicon last year’s ICID WatSave Award for technology.

This is a story about a local technology business that started as a small-scale operation but has grown to deliver ambitious sustainability projects around the world. Irrigation Australia member Rubicon Water, first established in Victoria in 1995, specialises in improving large-scale, gravity-fed irrigation systems.

Rubicon’s technology was first developed to address water scarcity during the Millennium drought. Since then, the company has worked to automate the delivery of water to approximately 6,000 km of canals in Australia’s Murray– Darling Basin and thousands more worldwide. Rubicon’s recent project in India’s parched North Karnataka region is one of the largest irrigation modernisation projects of its type in the world.

Drought and outdated infrastructure Life on the land in north Karnataka can be hard, and farmers’ challenges have been exacerbated in recent years by drought and climate change. Large-scale irrigation infrastructure exists but water had not reached the end of many channels within the network for decades, due to an outdated delivery system.

More than 4,000 automated canal regulating gates were installed as part of the project. Photo credit: Rubicon Water.

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A massive undertaking The existing irrigation infrastructure in the Narayanpur Left Bank Canal (NLBC) comprises approximately 3,000 km of a manual-operated and outdated irrigation system that covered 400,000 ha of agricultural land. In 2019 the water management company KBJNL, that operates the NLBC System, commenced a bold journey to improve water availability and modernise their system.

KBJNL engaged Rubicon for the massive undertaking, which involved installing more than 4,000 automated gates with sophisticated software and communications infrastructure. The integrated irrigation management software precisely manages the demand for water within the extensive system and coordinates the automated gates to adjust in real-time to precisely deliver the desired flow and volume to farmers located throughout the network.

Early benefits evident Local people are already seeing early benefits, with farmers at the end of the 3,000 km canal system receiving water for the first time in decades. Farmers have also reported increases in crop yields by up to 50 per cent, due to their improved scheduling ability. Many more positive outcomes are anticipated to surface as adoption of the autonomous network capabilities continues.

The project has created a platform to: • support farmers to venture into higher-value crops, which would have been a riskier shift with the previously unreliable water delivery • enable the expansion of agriculture into new areas • reduce overwatering of currently cropped areas, with the goal to improve water use efficiency by 20 per cent • help farmers make informed decisions about when to irrigate and how much water to apply. This scheduling information will be derived from strategically located microclimate weather stations and soil moisture probes, with data delivered to the integrated water ordering software.

• enable the KBJNL project operators to leverage the irrigation management software, which feeds back vital information to them, to plan, manage and deliver water more efficiently, providing unprecedented service to farmers.

As the level of automation throughout the network increases, the yields will continue to improve, while simultaneously expected to recover a massive 1.35 million ML of water per year. The project has also supported hundreds of jobs in India; most Rubicon gate components are made locally from materials sourced from within the region, supporting the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.

Farmer standing outside automated farm outlet gate.

Photo credit: Rubicon Water.

Rubicon also received the 2022 Australian Export award for Sustainability in recognition of the company’s outstanding international success in deploying solutions to support environmental outcomes and sustainability of agricultural water.

Positive outcomes for all The State of Karnataka’s irrigation modernisation project is a great example of how precious water resources can not only be used more efficiently, but greater crop productivity can also be achieved in one of the most water-stressed countries in the world.

The project is a wonderful example of how existing, often antiquated, surface irrigation systems can be updated with technology to provide invaluable benefits for the entire region.

Acknowledgment. Thanks to Rubicon Water for providing this article.

Inauguration and awards The modernised canal system was officially inaugurated in January this year by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. Hundreds of thousands of people attended the ceremony while millions watched it on TV. Modi dedicated the project to the people of India. “Water is being supplied to drought-affected areas by developing and expanding the Narayanpur Left Bank Canal system. Now, the new system with the integrated technology will help to bring 450,000 hectares under irrigation, promoting the capability to grow more crops per drop. Farmers at the end of the canal – enough water will now come to you for a long time.”

In recognition of the project’s sustainability outcomes, Rubicon Water received the 2022 ICID WatSave Award for Technology, which was presented by Irrigation Australia at the recent ICID Congress in Adelaide. The Award recognises Rubicon’s innovative efforts to improve water management in Karnataka.

Rubicon Water General Manager of India, Sumith Choy, was a nominee for the WatSave Award, along with Program Delivery Manager, Varun Ravi and key representatives from joint venture partner, Medha Servo Drives.

Sumith noted, “The Rubicon story is a fantastic display of a small-scale Australian technology business that’s grown to deliver incredible sustainability results here in Australia and many other diverse locations around the world.

“Our project in Karnataka is a significant milestone and the recent WatSave award provides recognition not only for the benefits of automation but for our entire team, KBJNL and the Ministry of Water Resources for their progressive vision in adopting technology.”

EVENT SCHEDULE CONTACT/ INFORMATION

DATE

EVENT

LOCATION

1 to 8 November 2023

25th International Congress on Irrigation and Drainage & 75th IEC Meeting

Andhra Pradesh, India

rsdte@nic.in, ceenvtmgmt@nic.in, yellark@gmail.com

1–7 September 2024

75th International Executive Council Meeting and 9th Asian Regional Conference

Sydney, Australia.

naomi.carragher@ irrigation.org.au;

4th World Irrigation Forum

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

7–13 Sept 2025

dave.cameron@ irrigation.org.au mancidmalaysia@ gmail.com; mancid. org@gmail.com,

IRRIGATION AUSTRALIA'S COMMITTEE ON IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE (IACID) Momir Vranes (Chair) Dave Cameron, E: dave.cameron@irrigation.org.au Geoff Harvey Peter Hayes Eddie Parr, Carl Walters Richard McLoughlin Karlene Maywald Michael Scobie Isaac Jeffrey Naomi Carragher, E: naomi.carragher@irrigation.org.au

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THE WATER CONSERVANCY WHY TALK ABOUT WATER CONSERVATION WHEN ITS FLOODING? Smart Approved WaterMark – a label consumers can trust With Australian consumers becoming more aware of the environmental and ethical impacts of the products they buy, many manufacturers are keen to tap into this sentiment, which is influencing buying decisions. There are dozens of eco, ethnical and sustainable labels on the market and shoppers can find it confusing. Some certification schemes are open and transparent about their methodology for assessment, while others aren't. Smart Approved WaterMark (SAWM) is recognised and has established its credentials as a trustworthy label when it comes to water-saving products for the home and garden.

Australians want to buy sustainably According to the Eco Label Index, 57 different labels are in use in Australia, as well as various international rankings and ratings, purchasing guides, certificates, and certifications.

In a November 2020 CHOICE member survey, 14 per cent said they wouldn't mind paying more for sustainable, ethically sourced or environmentally friendly products. In the January 2021 CHOICE survey, 57 per cent of respondents said it was important to them that the products they purchase are environmentally friendly. Yet only two out of five people say it's easy to make environmental choices. Unclear or confusing labelling was listed as one of the main reasons for the difficulty.

Labelling schemes methodology and assessment criteria must be transparent The Smart Approved WaterMark (SAWM) is a label that consumers know is trustworthy. It makes selecting products easy, makes rebate management easy, and gives manufacturers the incentive to innovate.

SAWM Digital Innovations Hunter Hydrawise, Rain Clik and Flow Clik. Hydrawise is a Wi-Fi enabled irrigation controller equipped with Hydrawise Predictive Watering uses local weather data from the internet to fine-tune irrigation systems to water only when necessary, saving up to 50 per cent on watering bills. Rain-Clik, with its Quick Response feature, commands an irrigation controller to shut off immediately after rain thereby preventing overwatering. Flow-Clik helps identify a break in an irrigation system before any damage can occur. The amount of water loss in the event of high external leakage is substantially reduced.

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Independent, rigorous assessment SAWM is rigorous in its independent assessment of claims.

To be eligible for the mark, products and services must adhere to all the following criteria and must be proven as stated.

1. Water saving. That the primary purpose of the product or service is directly related to reducing actual water use and/or using water more efficiently, where there is a direct correlation between the use of the product and water savings.

The Independent Expert Panel needs all claims in the application – water saving claims especially – to be independently verified (such as independent testing, case studies or comparative reports).

Applicants must prove the main purpose of the product is directly related to reducing actual water use or using water more efficiently. To gain approval, applicants must be able to demonstrate that the product saves water or improves efficiency and calculate the amount it saves.

Unsubstantiated marketing claims are not regarded as evidence of water saving.

SAWM Water Savers. Toro Drip Eze and Enviro-Drip. Extruded in-line drip tubes are precise, low-flow irrigation products that apply water to the plants at a slow consistent rate, reducing the risk of run-off and water wastage.

2. Fit for purpose. That the appropriate use of the product or service is consistent with supplied instructions and other documentation.

To prove this, applicants must provide examples of the information provided to customers to ensure correct use and application of the product.

3. Meets regulations and standards. That the product or service is of high quality and meets industry standards, and customer and community expectations, in relation to water use.

Proving the product meets the regulations and standards criteria often requires a third party. Applicants must provide evidence that the product complies with all the appropriate national and state regulatory, health, plumbing (Watermark), electrical and standards requirements.

Certificates and/or evidence for the product should be collected before application.

All plumbing and drainage products must have the

‘Watermark’ to be eligible. Applicants are asked to check the ‘Watermark Schedule of Products’ which lists products requiring Watermark certification or to visit the Australian Building Codes Board site.

Greywater products sold in WA must also be approved by the Department of Health.

All pool and spa covers must have the SAWM Fit for Purpose Certificate to be eligible.

4. Environmentally sustainable. That the product or service, while satisfying the above three criteria, is environmentally sustainable, and despite claimed water savings will not adversely affect the environment in other areas. Note that services provided by a manufacturer to assist in sales will not be considered.

To demonstrate a product is environmentally sustainable an applicant must prove that it will not adversely affect the environment in other areas. If the product does have any possible negative health and environmental risks, it is necessary to provide details and copies of any consumer safety information provided with the product e.g., safety data sheets (SDS).

Have a product or service that meets the criteria?

SAWM Standard. Netafim Techline Purple Dripper Lines. This range is made for distributing greywater around the garden. Bioline’s large holes make it a suitable greywater diversion device for use on the soil surface. With UniBioline used to distribute greywater beneath the soil surface or under mulch.

If you have a product or service that meets the criteria, or you would like to find out more go to the Smart Approved WaterMark website or view the Frequently Asked Questions.

If you’d like to see the portfolio of products click here.

Meet The Water Conservancy or visit the website.

Zoe Palmer, marketing and communications manager, The Water Conservancy

DAMS AT RISK IN CHANGING CLIMATE A new study suggests that dams will be at greater risk under climate change than is currently assumed. The researchers found that existing models for potential maximum rainfall are out of date and existing dams are potentially at greater risk due to spillway inadequacy.

Engineers use a rainfall model to help them design critical infrastructure such as large dams. But the recent study by researchers at the University of NSW and the University of Melbourne says that existing rainfall models, which have not been updated for at least 20 years, are out of date.

The paper, published in Water Resources Research, calculates that the probable maximum precipitation (the greatest depth of rainfall possible over the area in a certain amount of time, PMP) estimates for 546 large dams across Australia are expected to increase between 14 and 38 per cent on average due to greater rainfall intensity because of climate change.

The new research reanalysed existing meteorological records, added in more recent data that was not previously included, and then calculated potential changes in the future by incorporating the latest climate scenario modelling. The models showed that there would be a systematic increase in the PMP. The study suggests that the current method of calculating PMP is outdated and does not take into consideration the current changes in atmospheric conditions, let alone those predicted into the future.

The researchers highlight the fact that previous amendments to PMP estimates have resulted in large-scale dam enhancements but say that further upgrades are needed. Required upgrades to dam infrastructure will vary depending on location, climate and design of each dam and risk and cost assessments will need to be done on a case-by-case basis.

Find out more about the study in the video below.

Engineers design dams to accommodate the largest flood event that could reasonably be expected at a given location, known as the Probable Maximum Flood (PMF). They use the PMP to calculate the PMF. However, the PMP calculation is based solely on historical data with no consideration for future climate conditions. This means that many large dams constructed decades ago were designed using information representative of a cooler climate.

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ARTICLE USING MACROALGAE TO REMOVE NUTRIENTS FROM WASTEWATER An Australian company, Pacific Biotechnologies Australia, together with researchers at James Cook University, have found a way to use native Australian macroalgae to remove pollutants from wastewater. The chemical-free technology, RegenAqua, is more cost effective than conventional wastewater treatment methods and is carbon neutral. The algae is ultimately harvested, processed and formulated into a biostimulant for the agricultural industry, making this a truly circular economy solution.

How does it work?

The wastewater enters a raceway where native macroalgae strips the water of pollutants. The treated water is returned to the client or the environment. The algae is converted into a biostimulant, rich in auxins and gibberellic acid, that is used in progressive farming methods like fertigation or foliar applications. The biostimulant is typically used as a companion product, reducing reliance on traditional nutrient rich, synthetic fertilisers.

Australian company Pacific Biotechnologies has developed a system that uses macroalgae to remove pollutants from wastewater.

The technology is being trailed with agricultural runoff.

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Municipal wastewater and aquaculture The company has so far focused on treating water from municipal wastewater treatment plants and onshore aquaculture facilities. Its effectiveness in removing nitrogen and phosphorous from treated water has been demonstrated at a sewage treatment plant project with Burdekin Shire Council and it is currently being trailed by Sydney Water.

Potential to treat agricultural runoff Pacific Bio is now focussed on treating agricultural runoff to reduce the enormous volume of nutrients entering the aquatic environment via this route.

Executive General Manager Kevin Patrick says, “We have no doubt that the RegenAqua technology will be applicable to agricultural runoff. There are some challenges because it’s different to other proven markets. With a wastewater treatment plant, we have a point source. We can take the full load of the treatment plant through our process and deliver the bioremediated water to the discharge point.”

However, agricultural runoff can be more complicated because of the varying flows in waterways. “Flow capture is the big challenge,” Kevin says. “For the process to be effective we must be able to capture a significant portion of the flow on a regular basis. But with varying flows in waterways, particularly when there is low flow, we need a way of drawing from the waterway in a manner that doesn’t impact the downstream ecosystem.”

The technology requires nutrient-rich water, so if the nutrient level is low at different times of the year, it can be easily increased by manipulating the flow. The RegenAqua system also prefers water with a low sediment loading, so simple filtration might be needed when treating agricultural runoff.

USING MACROALGAE TO TREAT AGRICULTURAL RUNOFF – WHAT DO WE KNOW? Several local projects are looking at the use of macroalgae in treating municipal wastewater, but it is not yet known how feasible or effective it will be to treat agricultural runoff.

One laboratory trial investigated the use of macroalgae to treat irrigation tailwater from sugar cane. This included adding diuron (photosystem II inhibiting herbicide) as might be present in sugarcane runoff/tailwater to test its effects on the macroalgae.

The algae trialled (Oedogonium sp.) survived, with reduced productivity, when diuron concentrations were 10 µg/L; however, diuron concentrations of 30 μg/L were lethal [1].

Full-scale agricultural trial underway Pacific Bio is currently looking at using the RegenAqua technology to treat agricultural runoff in a full-scale trial at their North Queensland facility. Water will be diverted from a nearby creek to 130 m long raceways, stripped of harmful nutrients and returned to the creek, ready for discharge into the Great Barrier Reef Nature Reserve. Pacific Bio plans to have this set up as a large-scale demonstration site later this year.

Information. For more information, visit the Pacific Bio website.

• The cost-effectiveness of algae treatment in removing the target pollutant/s needs to be considered relative to other treatment structures.

• The system requires access to power for pumps and harvesting, and must not be in a flood-prone area.

• These systems are designed for continuous operational wastewater flows rather than unpredictable environmental flows. There is limited capacity to manage flood events and heavy sediment loads.

• Logistical and regulatory issues remain to be solved around the transport, processing and reuse of biosolids, particularly in the quantities that would be produced in agriculture.

The key challenges for using macroalgae in agriculture include:

[1] Lawton, R (2015), Reduction of nutrient loads in sugarcane runoff water through algal bioremediation, MACRO — the Centre for Macroalgal Resources and Biotechnology, James Cook University, Queensland.

• Regular flows must be available, and the system must be appropriately designed with a high flow bypass for storm flows.

Source. The Queensland Government Department of Environment and Science website, accessed 9 February 2023.

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STATE ROUNDUP FUNDING TO HELP GROWERS PROTECT THE GREAT BARRIER REEF

The NSWIC says that almost all land holders would be keen to do more to manage their wetlands, but are limited by a lack of resources, time, or knowledge of exactly what to do.

The Council is asking for a funding package of measures to support landholders to be part of the solution for wetlands.

This might include, for example, free environmental science extension services and cultural knowledge, to advise farmers on managing wetlands on private property, alongside funding for landholders to act on their recommendations.

NSWIC also called for improved monitoring and evaluation of wetland inundation.

Source. NSW Irrigators Council website.

The Queensland Government will invest $20.75 million in the next three years to help farmers reduce harmful run-off, improve productivity and protect the Great Barrier Reef. This funding forms part of the government’s five-year $270.1 million Queensland Reef Water Quality Program.

The funding will enable the continuation of the Grazing Resilience and Sustainable Solutions (GRASS) program and the agricultural industry’s Best Management Practice (BMP).

GRASS is aimed at improving land condition with a focus on increasing ground cover to reduce harmful run-off impacting the Great Barrier Reef.

The BMP programs are voluntary, industry-owned and led programs designed to support farmers to identify practices that can improve the long-term profitability and sustainability of their business while contributing to improved water quality in the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.

More than 40 per cent of Queensland’s sugarcanegrowing area is now independently accredited in the Smartcane BMP program, which allows growers to become accredited and be independently recognised for their management of soil health and nutrients, irrigation and drainage, and weeds, pests and diseases.

Source. Queensland Government website.

PRIVATE LANDHOLDERS KEY TO MANAGING WETLANDS The New South Wales Irrigators Council (NSWIC) is calling on Basin ministers to better support landholders in looking after wetlands on private land.

Claire Miller, CEO of the NSWIC said that with 93 per cent of the Murray–Darling Basin’s 30,000 wetlands on private property, partnerships with landholders are vital to restore and protect these vital habitats.

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WATER OFFENCES IN NSW In NSW, the most common offences dealt with by the Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR) from July to December last year related to taking too much water or not having a compliant water meter.

More than half of alleged water law offences uncovered were for illegal water take or metering breaches. The next most common offence was unlawful actions on waterfront land (controlled activities), which accounted for 21 per cent of offences.

The NRAR more than doubled its compliance inspections across NSW during spring and summer, including by desktop audits and by on-site visits. The NRAR is focusing on water metering and the regulatory priorities for this fiscal year and urges landholders not to leave it until the last minute to install compliant meters.

The NSW Government has extended the metering compliance deadline by six months for the Southern Inland of NSW and by 12 months for Coastal NSW to give water users a reprieve as they deal with the aftermath of widespread flooding. The new compliance dates are 1 June 2023 for the southern inland and 1 December 2024 for coastal areas.

View NRAR’s regional compliance breakdowns to see how your area compares.

Source. Natural Resource Access Regulator website.

NRAR officer inspecting a pump. © State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment).

HUGE FINES FOR NSW IRRIGATOR A Moree Plains irrigator will pay fines totalling $353,750 after the company pleaded guilty to and was convicted in the NSW Land and Environment Court of four offences under the NSW Water Management Act. The Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR) brought the prosecution against Henry Payson Pty Ltd, which operates 1500 ha Binneguy Station in northern NSW including 152 ha of crops irrigated from the Gwydir River.

NRAR alleged the company knowingly took water while its metering equipment was not working and built and used a 610 ML dam without approval. The offences occurred between 2016 and 2018.

The full judgment can be read here.

BASIN PLAN REPORT CARD The latest assessment of progress to implement the Murray– Darling Basin Plan has found only minor movement in the past six months, with important elements at risk or unlikely to be achieved by the June 2024 deadline.

The ninth report card provides a clear picture of the status and progress on five areas of the Basin Plan: water resource plans, water recovery, Sustainable Diversion Limit (SDL) adjustment mechanism measures, Northern Basin initiatives and the delivery of water for the environment.

Water resource plans for Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory are accredited and in operation. However, in New South Wales, 16 of the 20 water resource plans need further work.

Some projects under the Sustainable Diversion Limit adjustment mechanism are also lagging. Of the 36 supply and constraints projects, 22 are likely to be operable, eight are on the cusp of delivery and six will not be delivered by 30 June 2024.

Some of the northern Basin toolkit measures in the northern Murray–Darling Basin are running behind schedule, with one measure in particular highly unlikely to be delivered on time.

Source. Murray–Darling Basin Authority website.

Source. Natural Resources Access Regulator website.

IN THE NEXT ISSUE The Winter 2023 issue of Irrigation Australia Journal will feature: EDITORIAL > Urban design > Irrigation water sources - rainwater harvesting, pumped aquifer, recycled water ADVERTISING FEATURE > Rainwater harvesting CONFIRM YOUR ADVERTISING PRESENCE NOW! Contact Brian Rault on 0411 354 050 or email brian.rault@bcbmedia.com.au

AUTUMN 2023

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BUSINESS WHAT TO DO IN A WORKPLACE EMERGENCY While it’s not something we like to think about, having an emergency plan in place for your business could help you deal with a natural disaster or other emergency, should the worst happen. This article from the Australian Government Business website, business.gov.au, outlines what to do during and after an emergency.

What to do in an emergency If an emergency happens, your first priority is the safety of you and your employees. Then you can look at protecting your business and assets. There's a range of support available to help you get your business back up and running.

Find out what to do in an emergency, how to keep up-todate, and how to get help.

Natural disasters and emergency situations can strike without warning. It’s important to be ready for all sorts of emergencies, whether: • natural – such as floods, drought, fire, landslides and storms • human caused – such as crime, terrorism or riots • technological – such as explosions, building or bridge collapse.

Follow these steps to help keep you, your employees and business safe.

1. Follow emergency procedures When faced with an emergency, in addition to following your business’s emergency procedures, you may wish to use the take action checklist that can be downloaded as a Word document from here.

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2. Think safety first Be guided by emergency services personnel. It's important to listen to their advice if you need to evacuate.

If you do evacuate, take your emergency kit and ensure everyone is accounted for and in a safe location. Check in with the people on your emergency contacts list.

Depending on the emergency, you may have time to: • switch off electricity, gas and water • board up windows • sandbag entryways.

3. Know the emergency risks Be aware of any immediate emergency risks by following government social media channels and websites such as the: • Department of Home Affairs' Emergency management • Bureau of Meteorology • state or territory emergency services for local warnings and updates.

If you can, listen to your local radio or television for updates. Ensure you and your staff are aware of all emergency warning systems in your area.

4. Assess the impact on your business If a natural disaster impacts your business, the business recovery checklist can help you check what to do. You can download this from business.gov.au. Use the checklist and your business emergency management plan to: • assess the impact on your business • prioritise your efforts in your business recovery

• understand what you need to consider before you can return to business.

• Download the Business recovery checklist.

Chase up your debtors. Contact as many debtors as you can and explain your current financial situation. Chase up any money owing to you.

5. Decide what to do with your business

10. Get financial help

Once you have assessed the impact on your business, you'll have to consider what it will take to recover your business. If you're not sure your business can recover, it's a good idea to seek advice from an accountant or business adviser.

If there is no option but to close your business, the Australian Government provides information on closing your business here.

The level of assistance available may depend on the severity of the disaster and where you’re located.

Natural disaster funding. Urgent financial assistance from the Australian Government may be available to disaster-affected communities. This is delivered through state and territory governments. You can find information on the local government areas eligible for assistance and the types of assistance available on the Disaster Assist website.

Check the website regularly – it is updated as disasters unfold.

Financial counselling services. Go to the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) MoneySmart website for a list of free financial counselling services.

You may be eligible for financial counselling services through the Rural Financial Counselling Service. Find out more on the Rural Financial Counselling Service website or by calling 1800 686 175.

Tax and lodgement help. Visit the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) website for information for businesses dealing with natural disasters- external site. For help deferring outstanding taxes or reconstructing your tax records, call the ATO emergency support information line on 1800 806 218.

Having trouble paying? If you're a company having difficulties with lodgements, notifications, and fee payment, speak to ASIC. You can also speak to ASIC if you lose or damage your company records. Contact ASIC on 1300 300 630 or through the ASIC website.

6. Help your employees If a natural disaster affects your business, it’s likely to affect your employees too. You and your employees can get help from personal counselling services, and may be eligible for the Australian Government's Disaster Recovery Allowance (DRA). The DRA provides short-term income support to people with a demonstrated loss of income as a direct result of a major disaster.

7. Re-establish your business You may need to relocate your business to a temporary location such as: • a temporary business centre • hotel • someone's home • an office provided by a service provider.

Consider arranging a virtual office service such as: • a telephone answering service • mail forwarding • a remote secretarial service.

Arrange a start date with employees. Consider arrangements so they can work from home or a temporary location while you rebuild.

8. Seek advice to boost your recovery A range of small business services can advise you on business recovery. These are listed here.

11. Protect your business online To protect your business from scams after an emergency, visit the SCAMwatch website and learn how to protect yourself from scams.

For detailed advice and tips on how to protect your business online, visit the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC).

9. Improve your cash flow There are a range of ways to improve your cash flow.

Make an insurance claim. Make a claim as soon as possible, so the insurance company can process it quickly. If you aren't the only person affected, expect additional delays as your insurance company processes numerous claims. Talk to the Financial Ombudsman Service if there is a dispute about your insurance claim.

Talk to your creditors. Explain your current financial situation to your creditors. Your bank or building society may agree to freeze your loan or offer you an interest only arrangement until you're able to recover.

12. Consider counselling Lifeline Australia provides free, confidential and anonymous, 24-hour telephone counselling for business owners needing emotional support. Call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit Lifeline Australia's website.

Source. The Australian Government Business website. © Commonwealth of Australia 2020, reprinted with minor amendments from original under Creative Commons Licence 3.0.

BOOKSHELF EIGHT-PART ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SERIES FOR AUSTRALIAN RURAL INDUSTRIES AgriFutures Australia recently published a series of short reports for primary producers, outlining eight ready-for-market renewable energy solutions with a step-by-step guide on how to begin the process of integration into on-farm practices.

On track to net-zero goal While the AgriFutures Australia research acknowledges economies of scale within agriculture can be a constraining factor, the potential benefits are a strong motivator. Alternative energy is expected to create an average of 34,000 new jobs annually to 2035.

Information. To download these reports, visit

https://agrifutures.com.au/.

The estimated annual cost of energy is already approximately $5.85 billion for the Australian agricultural sector, but this is set to soar as electricity prices double by 2024, according to a recent federal government forecast.

Over the next two years, primary producers will be forced to make significant changes to their energy consumption practices to remain profitable and attainable for consumers. The ability of agricultural businesses to stay globally competitive will also be heavily dependent on the proportionate cost of energy.

On-farm renewable energy systems are being touted as a significant solution for farmers from a long-term cost-saving perspective, but they will also play a seismic role in our national transition towards net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Since 2000, energy consumption from renewable sources in Australia has increased from 270 billion joules to 420 billion joules, consumption is relatively low (at 7 per cent) in the context of Australia’s total energy consumption (6,000 billion or 6 trillion joules).

Up until now there have been very few resources developed to identify suitable alternative energy solutions for a broad range of agri-businesses, and their return on investment.

Eight steps to an alternative future The eight short reports, published by AgriFutures Australia, focus on: • solar panels • wind power • bioenergy • hydro power • battery storage • hydrogen The reports outline key pathways to adopting alternative energy and include case studies from rural industries across Australia and information on its affordability. Crucially, the research highlights the sector-wide opportunity for change.

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SIXTH EDITION OF AUSTRALIAN PUMP TECHNICAL HANDBOOK OUT NOW Pump Industry Australia’s Pump technical handbook is written for people who work and are associated with the pump industry, such as manufacturers, distributors, educators, designers, operators and users. It is easy to understand with a basic knowledge of physics.

The sixth edition has undergone a complete review and update. The review and update included: • the addition of a suction specific speed section.

• a complete rewrite of the chapter on slurry pumping.

• a complete rewrite of the chapter on efficient operation of pumps • the old Installation, Commissioning, Operation and Maintenance chapter has been split into three separate chapters called: Pump Installation, Pump Commissioning and Operation & Maintenance. Each chapter has been expanded and updated from the content of the original single chapter • the Pump Testing Chapter has been upgraded due to a change in the pump test standard.

In addition to these changes, each chapter has been reviewed to ensure that the content is up to date.

Information. For more information, visit the Pump Industry Australia website.

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IRRIGATION AUSTRALIA OFFICE PO Box 13, Cannon Hill, Queensland 4170 T 1300 949 891 or 07 3517 4000 F 07 3517 4010 W www.irrigationaustralia.com.au CEO: Dave Cameron E dave.cameron@irrigation.org.au EDITORIAL Editor | EVE WHITE E evewhiteediting@gmail.com ADVERTISING BCB Media | Managing Director | Brian Rault T 0411 354 050 E brian.rault@bcbmedia.com.au DESIGN & PRODUCTION Uber Creative | Director | Annette Epifanidis T 03 8516 4717 E annette@ubercreative.com.au

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No special consideration will be given to any advertisers as far as editorial content or front cover material is concerned. Decisions about editorial content and the front cover are the prerogative of the editor and the National Board of the IAL. Irrigation Australia Limited takes no responsibility for the technical accuracy of article content.