Fertigation Farm Walk

The EcoDose Fertigation team attended the McInnes’s Dairy Farm, Harrisville, Qld for a Fertigation Farm Walk on Thursday 25th January 2018.

The McInnes family have completed the first year of a fertigation trial, in conjunction with Dairy Australia and Queensland Dairyfarmers’ Organisation. Those attending the day heard from pasture and irrigation specialists as well as from the McInnes family, who ran the fertigation trial on centre pivots during last winter’s ryegrass season and currently on corn. The EcoDose team were on hand to talk about the AG225 EcoDose Pump and how simple it is to dial up the flow required (in this case in litres per hour) and how confident farmers’ could be in the precise and repeatable injection rates.

The Farm

  • 500 hectare dairy farm – mainly irrigated crops and pastures
  • Average milking herd: 500 cows/year
  • Pasture/ cropping types: ryrgrass, corn, barley, luceerne
  • Irrigation consists of 2 centrepivots with areas of 18ha and 12 ha, plus soft hose travellers

The Trial

Ryegrass was planted May 2017, and one quarter of the pivot area was fertigated (with Easy N liquid fertiliser) and one quarter was fertilised with broadcasted urea as a comparison. Pasture DM yield was measured pre and post grazing to compare the two systems.

Key Outcomes/Observations

  • The fertigation quarter was less labour intensive than the broadcasted quarter.
  • Irrigation scheduling is very important for determining how much and how often to apply fertiliser.
  • Buy in bulk – setting up bulk storage tank would be more cost effective than 1,000L shuttles

“By trialing the fertigation system we have saved on labour costs, we can just go down to the pivot and push a button instead of having to get the tractor, hook on the spreader, fill the spreader then fertilise.”

“We are now planning to install a fertigation unit on our second pivot, allowing us the flexibility to apply nitrogen fertiliser immediately after grazing and further reduce our labour costs.”

FERTIGATION FARM WALK EVENT DETAILS

Download the Case Study

If you would like more information from The Fertigation Farm Walk or would like further information on the trial, please contact Sarah Childs from Dairying Better ‘n Better, on 0459 989 102.

The Dairying Better ‘n Better project is funded through the Australian Government’s National Landcare Programme, and delivered by a joint initiative of Queensland Dairyfarmers’ Organisation and Subtropical Dairy. The project is supported by the Diary and Fodder Water for Profit program.

WHAT IS FERTIGATION?

Fertigation is the delivery of readily available nutrients and conditioners to the crop via irrigation systems to maximise yield. Visit our Fertigation Explained page for more details on the benefits of fertigation for your crop.

At EcoDose, we manufacture a range of fertigation units to meet your fertiliser flow requirements from 15.5 LPH / 4 GPH up to 1000 LPH / 292 GPH. See more details on our range and download our brochure here, or call us +61 73103 5199.

OTHER ECODOSE FERTIGATION PROJECTS

EcoDose have contributed to a number of Dairy Farm fertigation trials around Australia including in Tamworth as part of the Smarter Irrigation project. Read further details on that project here.