108 | nzdairy DAIRY SERVICES » Irrigation New Zealand Some of the old and some of the new Karen Phelps New irrigation technologies must be balanced with good old fashioned farming techniques for best result, believes Irrigation New Zealand chief executive Vanessa Winning. “The question a lot of farmers have is how much do you rely on the data you are collecting compared with traditional techniques such as farm walks and on the ground inspections. A lot of farming and understanding of the land is based on generational knowledge. There are certain challenges that come with using data to completely replace intuition so many farmers are learning how to use both their existing knowledge and new technology together,” she says. One key is ensuring that the information that farmers are basing decisions on has been correctly gathered and interpreted. Vanessa says information needs to be timely in order to make good decisions rather than information that arrives too late or is inconsistent. Integration of data can help farmers make better decisions around water use ef ciency and land use but equipment has to be correctly speci ed and technology installed and calibrated correctly then constantly checked to ensure information is accurate. While more farmers are using things like drones and satellite technology, water measurement and nitrate sensors, hyperspectral cameras on pivots etc she says a lot of the newest developments are around software. Irrigation New Zealand is currently involved in a number of projects exploring the potential of such new technologies. One is a tool developed by NIWA and Perrin Ag called IrriSET, an irrigation strategy evaluation tool to future proof irrigation under a changing climate. It helps farmers to understand the economic viability and environmental ef ciency of various irrigation strategies and prioritise their irrigation investments. This tool currently focuses on pasture systems but proposals to further develop this system for other land uses is under consideration. The Aqualinc IrriCALC model uses long-term climate data such as rainfall and evapotranspiration to help model good water use for various crops that can support council processes to make allocation assessments on water use. It looks at what happened in the past to ensure good water allocation for our fresh water resources over time,” explains Vanessa. Another NIWA tool under development is Irrigation Insights, a model to calculate soil moisture, water use, and drainage for irrigation systems. It uses weather forecasting to project what will happen with soil moisture within the root zone over the next few days and help with irrigation scheduling decisions. Irrigation Insight, is a joint industry programme (NIWA, farmers, water user groups, regulators, industry and extension professionals) funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) to examine the effectiveness of using high-resolution weather forecasting, production potential and drainage estimations for on-farm water management. A selection of pastoral farmers from the Canterbury region have been involved in the pilot to look at how to use real-time data and weather patterns to predict how much water might be needed for the farming operation. Vanessa says participating farmers got a lot out of the project in terms of water ef ciency and risk mitigation. She says the biggest challenge with any of these projects is how to commercialise the technology to make it something viable for farmers to invest in and keep the databases they rely on up to date across the wide land use categories and geographic locations of New Zealand’s farming and growing enterprises. Vanessa says new technology is constantly coming out and it’s an interesting space. “At the end of the day it’s about working through the best solution for the farm and farmer. But I believe there will always be a place for traditional farming methods. I think we will see technology as being a support tool for better water ef ciency rather than a replacement tool.” IRRIGATE WITH CONFIDENCE · IRRIGATION SYSTEMS · REMOTE MANAGEMENT · PRECISION VRI
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