Burdekin Irrigation Project

AT A GLANCE

• 63 growers managing 6987ha.
• 18,363 kg/year reduction in DIN (modelled using the Paddock to Reef Projector Tool)
• 5320 hrs/ year of delivery team engagement with growers
• 62 participants at training events
• 50 baseline irrigation system assessments delivered to growers
• 29 irrigation automation plans developed
• 40 irrigation management plans were delivered to growers with 21 automated irrigation systems installed (technology level 3)

Wilmar Sugar and Renewables is lowering energy and water costs by embracing practice change that also delivers improved environmental outcomes.

Wilmar is a large grower in the North Queensland sugarcane industry, with around
7,300 hectares in production across four districts – 3,900 hectares of which are spread across multiple farms in the Burdekin region.

Through joining the Burdekin Irrigation Project (BIP), Wilmar staff worked closely with Sugar Research Australia (SRA) and a range of other local partners to improve irrigation efficiency on a 130-hectare farm in the Upper Haughton region.

Wilmar Farms Group Manager Chris Scovazzi

Chris Scovazzi, Wilmar Farms Group Manager, said joining the BIP made sense on multiple levels from a production and environmental standpoint.

“At Wilmar, we are acutely aware of the groundwater issues in the Burdekin River Irrigation Area (BRIA), and the potential it has to reduce sugarcane productivity,” Chris said.

“Joining the BIP was a chance to lead by example and reduce our impacts, particularly losses to deep drainage, while incorporating innovative technologies to save time and cost.”

Practices adopted included installing an automated irrigation system, varying flow rates, and fitting end-of-row sensors to detect when water reached the end of furrows.

Establishing a baseline

As BIP participants, Wilmar staff received ongoing support from SRA, as well as local industry providers Agritech Solutions, who provided technical irrigation design and installation support, and Burdekin Bowen Integrated Floodplain Management Advisory Committee (BBIFMAC), who undertook regular on-ground monitoring for water, nutrient, and pesticide runoff.

SRA’s Burdekin District Manager, Terry Granshaw, said assessing current irrigation practices and quantifying losses to deep drainage and runoff was key to determining the best plan of action.

“At the start of the project we spent about a month with Wilmar observing how they irrigated, and taking measurements, which gave us a baseline to work from,” Terry said.

“Irrigation sets were running 24 hours per day on a seven-day cycle, at a flow rate of one litre per second.

“In the first year, we doubled the flow rates on the trial paddocks to two litres per second, while continuing existing rates on control paddocks.

“When you increase flow rates, you increase the risk of losing more water out the end of the furrow, if you don’t turn the water off at the right time.  This is where the automation and end-of-row sensors came into play.

“We also placed advanced sensors every 150m down the field so we could measure how quickly the water was advancing from stage to stage. And what’s really good about that is we ended up finding soil constraints in the middle of the farm that we didn’t know were there.”

Multiple benefits of automation

Chris said while it was early days in the project with only one year of data, installing the automated irrigation system had shown multiple benefits to the farming operation, saving time and money, while minimising runoff.

“We have reduced the volume of water applied from the recycle pit and channel by 35 per cent as well as prevented 2 megalitres per hectare being lost to deep drainage,” Chris said.

“Irrigation time was reduced from 24 hours to as low as 5.2 hours, with the number of irrigation events per year decreasing from 24 to 15.

“We can now change irrigation sets using smart phones or tablets when our irrigators are away from site, which saves time and allows us to redeploy staff to other jobs.

“We have seen reductions in energy use, with less runoff into the recycle pits meaning these pumps aren’t running as often. This also reduces carbon emissions, in keeping with Wilmar’s Vision 35 target.

Ross and Lisa Parker’s 110ha cane farm is typical of the Burdekin Delta, where sandy soils are prone to high water infiltration and deep drainage. Years of prior planning and infrastructure investment, including upgrading their pipe network, meant they were ready to take the next steps to improve irrigation efficiency, with support from the BIP.

Ross and Lisa were keen to keep water, nutrients, and pesticides on their land. They also wanted to improve their work-life balance by installing an automated irrigation system so they could spend less time checking on irrigation sets and maintaining records.

“We had a plan from the start to get more efficient, although we didn’t know whether we would be able to afford it,” Lisa said.

“We want to be economically sustainable by increasing profit and reducing expenses, but it’s also important for us to farm in an environmentally sustainable and responsible way.

“We’ve got little kids, and we want them to be able to enjoy the Great Barrier Reef in the future.

“And then there’s the investment in our quality of life and giving us more family time, which you can’t put a price on.”

Support received

Lisa said the couple met with local company Agritech Solutions early in their journey to discuss their plans to automate.

“Steve Attard from Agritech told us there was a lot we had to do first, so we did tariff and pumping assessments, and replaced a heap of pipeline and that really helped us with the BIP application,” Lisa said.

Ross said Sugar Research Australia then supported them to select the most appropriate block to trial different irrigation practices, such as surge irrigation.

“The automation makes this possible and everything is automatically recorded,” Ross said.