Converting Flood Irrigation to Overhead Machines

Craig Doyle Rural Holdings (CDRH) was one of the successful applicants from Round 1 of the Healthy HeadWaters Infrastructure project. As part of this project they applied to convert 1680 ha of flood irrigated country into 1353ha of overhead irrigation with the installation of 8 lateral moves and 2 centre pivots in two applications.

The motivations for this change for CDRH are clear, the ability to save water and hence irrigate a larger proportion of their cultivated area each season, whilst also saving on labour. The timing of the HHWUE was also very appropriate as they were already looking to make these upgrades and this project allowed them to implement these changes in a faster and more streamlined timeframe.

Doyle Group Case Study

The written case study outlines the project works, benefits, agronomics and economics surrounding this upgrade, whilst the video features CDRH Pastoral Manager Jeff Carter talking through the project and the changes made.

Growers Guide to Centre Pivots and Lateral Moves Released

There has been increasing interest in recent years in overhead irrigation systems within Australia. This has been in response to the potential water and labour savings of these systems compared to existing irrigation systems.

Graham Harris, Queensland Government Agri-Science, said that “There is a significant capital outlay in the purchase of these systems so it is important to get it right. Growers need to learn new management skills to get the best from these systems and minimise the delay in achieving good crop production and returns”.

To assist irrigators and their consultants our More Profit per drop team has recently completed production of the Growers Guide to Centre Pivots and Lateral Moves DVD. This provides a valuable resource for irrigators with these irrigation systems or those considering their purchase in the future. It is a collection of information and experiences from growers, suppliers, manufacturers and industry professionals across Queensland.

Growers Guide to Centre Pivots and Lateral Moves DVD

The Growers Guide provides an overview of these systems and examines:

• Planning
• Purchasing
• Design
• Management
• Maintenance
• Troubleshooting

The production of the DVD has been funded through the Australian Government’s Water for the Future initiative and the Queensland’s Government Rural Water Use Efficiency 4 Program through the Cotton Catchment Communities CRC. Through this support the DVD is available free to Australian residents.

To order the DVD please download the attached order form below:

CPLM DVD Order Form – Use ‘Adobe Reader’ to submit

You can submit using the “Send via email” button or return to Graham Harris, PO Box102, Toowoomba, Q. 4350. Please save the order form to your desktop and use ‘Adobe Reader’ to complete the details.

You can also access each section of the DVD online from the video below:

Too spend or not to spend? Upgrading a Centre Pivot

It is often difficult to know whether or not to put money into repairing old overhead irrigation systems as there is no guarantee that you will achieve sufficient improvement in the irrigation system to payback the cost of the upgrade or repair. Rob Carter, Scott Smith and Matt Finch of “Struanville”, Bowenville faced this dilemma, and with the assistance of Pat Daley of Daley Water Services, they were able to identify areas to focus on which would give them the best return for their dollar.

In November 2011, Pat together with the More Profit Per Drop team and the “Struanville” team, conducted a full evaluation including assessing the pump, water and power supply, and the machine itself. From this assessment, Pat identified a number of areas that could be improved and detailed these for the “Struanville” team. Matt Finch said that “without hard evidence it was hard to justify spending any money on it (the centre pivot) until we knew where we were standing with it”. As a result of Pat’s recommendations the “Struanville” team installed a new sprinkler package with regulators, fitted spreader bars on the overhang and last four towers, and ordered a filter to be fitted.

Immediately they noticed a difference with irrigation appearing to be much more uniform. This was confirmed with a follow up evaluation which determined the uniformity of the irrigation had improved from 74% to 92%. As a result, the “Struanville” team believe it was money well spent on the machine as they anticipate achieving better yields in future with more efficient use of their water and energy resources.

Click below to watch Pat Daley, Matt Finch and Phil Bell (Lindsay Zimmatic) discuss the assessment and improvements made to the machine.