| 7 Irrigation » Barrhill Chertsey Irrigation “Agriculture has been at the bedrock of my career from the time I left school. I’ve been involved in farm advisory work and, on the regulation front, previously worked for Environment Canterbury.” Farmers up their game on water use Kim Newth Mid Canterbury farmers are ‘walking the talk’ on the environment and taking action to use water responsibly and sustainably, says Nick Daniels, CEO of Barrhill Chertsey Irrigation (BCI). He describes the environmental performance of farms within local irrigation schemes as “incredibly high”, with improved nutrient management bringing tangible rewards. “Some of the latest data we have for 2016-2020 shows there has been a 20 per cent drop in nutrient losses, so we can clearly demonstrate that actions of farmers are having a significant impact.” Mid Canterbury is a highly productive dairying and mixed crop farming district, with irrigation water being the lifeblood of this food production powerhouse. BCI is an important, farmer-owned irrigation scheme that delivers water to 23,000ha - equating to around 10% of the district’s total irrigated area – and also manages nutrient losses from farms within the scheme. Just over half of the land managed under the scheme is used for arable farming and horticulture. There are 140 BCI shareholdings on the scheme, which also supplies water to a further 50 farmers on the Acton Farmers Irrigation Co-operative (AFIC) scheme. Having taken up the role of CEO with BCI last year, Nick is excited about the opportunity it presents to make a valuable contribution to the rural sector. “Agriculture has been at the bedrock of my career from the time I left school. I’ve been involved in farm advisory work and, on the regulation front, previously worked for Environment Canterbury. To me, one of the real strengths of a scheme like this lies in its ability to leverage the benefit that comes from farmers working together.” Those benefits are many. Collaboration and support are key to achieving the goal of catchmentwide environmental outcomes, which relies on everyone playing their part. Additionally, with reliable production comes investment, in turn bringing growth in employment opportunities. At the same time, Nick recognises that climate change resilience is becoming an increasingly pressing challenge – “and we have an important part to play in adLIMITED Proudly supporting Barrhill Chertsey Irrigation Over 50 years experience in Electrical and Irrigation Solutions Solar Installs BCI Scheme Rakaia River intake downstream from Highbank. dressing that challenge too, through the delivery of reliable irrigation water.” Working alongside BCI and other local irrigation co-operatives, the Enviro Collective has a key role in supporting environmental performance across the district’s irrigated farmland. “The Enviro Collective team advises BCI on the development of our environmental programme, creates resources, develops workshops and field days, arranges Farm Environment Plan (FEP) audits, and assists farmer shareholders with all the scheme’s environmental requirements.” Nitrate loss to groundwater from intensive farming has long been the primary environmental challenge in Mid Canterbury, but Nick is confident that fast-changing farm practices are indeed making a difference. Farmers supplied by BCI must have up to date FEPs and meet caps on nutrients. Tracking of BCI/AFIC independent audit grades over recent years shows a massive rise in farmer shareholders achieving A grade audits, from just over 10% in 2015/16 to well over 90% in 2021/22. “It shows the impact of a lot of hard work, and the collective and incremental gains that shareholders have made over time.” Step by step progression has been steadily won through various means including improved irrigation maintenance; greater use of data to make more precise decisions on irrigation, fertiliser and effluent applications; improving feed utilisation; and integrating catch crops to mop up nutrients after winter grazing. BCI and AFIC farmers have consistently demonstrated the ability to evolve their on-farm practices to improve environmental outcomes, and are confident of their ability to rise to future challenges and build improved performance and resilience into their farming businesses. Hectares of irrigated land managed with our technology Of kilometres of canal automated Countries benefitting from our solutions Products produced worldwide
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=