Establishing a process to improve irrigation automation

Product Information

Irrigated dairying is a major farming activity in the Murray Valley Irrigation Area (MVIA), in north-east Victoria, contributing greatly to this State’s economy. Most of the dairy farmers in this area flood irrigate their pastures. For better pasture quality and quantity, efficient irrigation is vital. The project entitled "Establishing a Process to Improve Irrigation Automation," realising the importance of irrigation for the dairy industry, has defined some key best irrigation management practices for the area. The practices followed by farmers in regard to these locally identified best irrigation practice benchmarks were assessed during 1995, before the implementation of the project and again re-visited during 1998, after the implementation of the project.

The comparative results during the two study periods are presented below. The changes recorded during these two study periods are not solely due to the implementation of this automation project as there were other irrigation related activities being carried out in the study area such as those related to whole farm planning and dairy effluent management. However, this study could provide a measure of the general trend in irrigation management practice change by farmers in the area.

During 1995, 83 farmers in the MVIA were chosen at random and were personally interviewed. During 1998, 76 of these 83 farmers again provided their responses.