Over half of Australia’s dairy farmers use irrigation and farms in some regions rely totally on irrigated water. ‘Smart irrigation’ can provide big efficiency benefits after years of dry conditions and high-water costs. The new project, Dairy Australia has launched aims to increase average farmer profits by $20,000-$40,000 annually.
As part of its contribution to the ‘Smarter Irrigation for Profit Phase II’ project, the dairy industry has established 17 research and learning sites in dairy regions in Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania and New South Wales, including the subtropical border area with Queensland. Dairy Australia is helping to manage many of these sites.
Dairy Australia is investing $1.7 million in the project, part of an overall dairy investment worth $7.7 million made possible by the support of Agriculture Victoria, the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture and University of Southern Queensland. The total investment by all partners in the Smarter Irrigation for Profit project is $22 million, maximising the combined funding of levy paying farmers.
Smarter Irrigation for Profit phase II is supported by funding from the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment as part of its Rural R&D for Profit program.
More information can be found on the project website at https://www.crdc.com.au/smarter-irrigation-phase-2
