Riverina farmers improving
on-farm efficiency &
sustainability
Iva Quarisa
Irrigation Officer, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Griffith
IN A NUTSHELL
z A workshop on improving farm efficiency and sustainability presented some innovative and progressive
measures underway on Riverina farms.
z Converting to a no-till system (which coincided with installing drip irrigation) has reduced CO2 emissions by
more than half for a grape grower. Installation of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels has further reduced farm
emissions and offset electricity costs.
z Composting on a broadacre cropping farm has reduced nitrogen fertiliser application by 10% (with no yield
reduction), increased fungi in the soil and improved “in season” breakdown of organic matter.
z Following forecasts on a daily basis and looking for trends in weather patterns helps make better farm
management decisions about crop area and crop type to plant, water budgets and water purchasing.
Australian farmers are an adaptable and inventive lot,
always looking for ways to become more efficient in their
farming operations. A number of such farmers shared their
experiences with others in a series of workshops held in
June, across the Murrumbidgee and Lachlan valleys.
The series of workshops was organised as part of the project
“Climate Change — Farm Efficiency & Sustainability”, which is
being conducted by High Security Irrigators. The workshops
provide an opportunity for local irrigators, advisors and
researchers to present practical opportunities to improve
farm efficiency and sustainability, and meet the challenges
of a changing climate. The project is funded by the Australian
Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
under FarmReady, part of Australia’s Farming Future program.
Reducing carbon use
Rod Gribble has been growing grapes on his Bilbul property
since 2005 and in that time he has made a number of changes
to his farm and its management to improve the bottom line.
“Our aim is to provide the market with highest quality wine
grapes … with a carbon footprint and water footprint in mind,”
Rod said.
After seeing a carbon footprint label on goods sold in
supermarkets in the United Kingdom, Rod decided to determine
what the carbon footprint of his own farming operation was.
Rod performed an audit of his vineyard to determine “where
our carbon emanated from”.
The audit involved the development of a Carbon Calculator,
which uses existing data and components from sources in
Canada, the United States of America and Europe.
Rod found that the largest sources of carbon in his farming
enterprise were also the areas with the largest production
costs. So taking action to reduce the largest carbon sources also
helped to reduce production costs and in the end, improved his
bottom line.
Converting to a no-till system (which coincided with installing
drip irrigation) reduced CO2 emissions by more than half. The
following year the installation of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels
further reduced his farm emissions and offset his electricity
costs!
Calculating carbon emissions is a very inexact science and Rod
acknowledges that his calculator may not be 100% correct.
Workshop presenters, Rick Storrier (left) & Rod Gribble discuss the
value of good levels of organic matter in the soil.
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“I welcome others to take a look at it and pick it to pieces, that
way we can make a better tool,” he said.
IREC Farmers’ Newsletter – Large Area No. 185: Spring 2011
knowledge
efficiency & sustainability
“I think, in the future, there will be a marketing advantage
in knowing your carbon footprint as more and more major
retailers are becoming more environmentally demanding of
their suppliers.
“There is one message that should be at the forefront of
everyone’s mind and that is: everyone and everything that has
an input into the production of food, has a carbon component.
“We have to be very careful that if we reduce one component
or input into the vineyard/farm (food production) with the
obsessive focus on cutting the carbon footprint, we could well,
and most likely will, cut overall production. Production and
profit keeps us in business and provides the food for the world.”
Building up soil carbon
Hillston farmer Rick Storrier has also been thinking about
carbon, but in his case it is soil carbon and using compost to
build it up.
After studying a range of different composting techniques, Rick
has found one that suits his family’s farming system and is
working on refining it.
Rick’s aim is to increase fungi in the soil.
“I feel when it comes to breaking down stubble, fungi are much
more efficient than bacteria”, he said.
With this in mind, Rick is focussing on producing fungi-rich
compost and does this by altering the ratios of input products
(straw, manure, clay and minerals) to the compost.
Although it’s only early days on his farm, it looks promising.
“We have had very encouraging results so far, with a 10%
reduction in applied nitrogen-based fertilisers, with no yield
reduction.”
Rick makes compost between October and April and it takes
8–12 weeks to cure. The compost is spread with a manure
spreader prior to rain or a tillage operation, at a rate of 3.0 t/ha.
Rick has observed an increase in the amount of fungi in the soil,
as well as “in season” breakdown of organic matter.
“Compost should be used as part of a biological farming system
where the soil is the most valuable resource we have. Every
effort should be made to improve that resource,” he said.
Returning organic waste to the soil
Ex-Darlington Point farmer, Kim Russell, followed on with
a related topic. Kim presented the work which Zero Waste
Australia has been performing in recent years, with the aim of
returning waste organic material back to agricultural soils.
“Australia spends $4 billion per year handling 44 million tonnes
of waste, more than 50% of which is organic. At the same
time our agricultural soils have less than 1% organic material
in them,” Kim said.
A domestic organic waste collection and composting trial was
run in the Goulburn Shire as part of the City to Soil/Groundswell
program — with amazing results. After the success of that trial,
Zero Waste Australia is hoping to set up a similar program in the
Murrumbidgee region.
Gaining energy efficiency
Daryl Gibbs, the Regional Coordinator – Murrumbidgee/
Coleambally Environmental Champions Program, reported
on the efficiencies gained in the rice industry with the use of
the Greenhouse Inventory Scorecard and renewable energy
sources. The original scorecard was developed back in 2003.
“But it was revised and updated in 2009, to align with current
greenhouse accounting methodologies and take into account
the changes to land management practices undertaken by
irrigation farmers,” Daryl said.
“The input data into the scorecard is based on production
data, energy consumption, fertiliser use, crops grown, livestock
produced and management methods (stubble, water). The
scorecard calculates the greenhouse gas emissions, provides
a summary of the emission sources and emission efficiencies.
This allows growers to assess the effectiveness of changes to
management practices.”
From left, workshop convenor Satvinder Sandhu, and presenters Kim Russell, Dan Fox, Rick Storrier, Daryl Gibbs, Rod Gribble and David Cattanach.
IREC Farmers’ Newsletter – Large Area No. 185: Spring 2011
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knowledge
efficiency & sustainability
Reducing energy consumption
As the Environment Sustainability Officer with Griffith City
Council, Dan Fox was very well qualified to talk about renewable
energy sources and energy efficiency.
In the workshop, Dan gave an overview of the various renewable
energy technologies available including solar, wind, tides and
geothermal heat. He provided more in-depth information on
the various forms of solar panels, including mono-crystalline
(12–15% efficiency), poly-crystalline (11–13% efficiency)
and where the industry is headed — thin film (up to 11.2%
efficiency).
Dan also suggested some easy ways of reducing energy
consumption around the farm and in the home, including
installing variable speed drive pumps and compressors, and
power factor correction capacitors, as well as turning off
electrical appliances and performing energy audits to identify
high use areas.
Watching the weather
The final presentation was from Coleambally farmer and Nuffield
Scholar, David Cattanach, on various climate monitoring tools
and weather information.
David explained the key drivers of our weather patterns and
which signals to keep an eye on when making farm management
decisions, such as crop area and crop type to plant, as well as
water budgets and water purchasing.
David advised the best signals to keep track of to better
understand short and medium-term weather prospects.
Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies (SSTA) are shown as
maps indicating if the sea surface is warmer or cooler from
normal for that time of year. Air and moisture will rise from the
red (warmer) areas and be deposited over the blue (cooler)
areas. The SSTA maps are provided weekly and should be
looked at weekly to observe cooling or warming trends.
Rick Storrier produces compost, using the compost turner pictured, to
increase organic matter levels in his cropping soils.
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ENSO, El Niño/La Niña signals also look at the surface
temperature of the Pacific Ocean around about where the
International Dateline and the Equator intersect. If the ocean
temperature is warmer compared to long term average, it is said
to be El Niño occurring. If the ocean temperature is cooler then
long term a La Niña event is predicted.
Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) is a relatively new signal being
looked at in relation to the weather in south eastern Australia.
It looks at the difference in temperature of the Indian Ocean
between the east coast of Africa and the north west coast of
Australia. A negative IOD is when the western Indian Ocean
(Africa) is warmer than the eastern Indian Ocean (Australia)
and is associated with above average rainfall in south eastern
Australia. A positive IOD (warmer temperatures off Australia)
means below average rainfall across eastern Australia.
“The key to effective decision making on weather is following
forecasts on a daily basis and looking for trends,” David said.
Further information
For more information about the project or to obtain a CD copy of the
presentations, please contact
Satvinder Sandhu, Project Manager
High Security Irrigators –Murrumbidgee
T: 02 6964 2420
E: [email protected]
If you would like a CD with the updated Greenhouse Inventory
Scorecard please contact
Darryl Gibbs
Ricegrowers’ Association
T: 0429 982 507
E: [email protected]
Daryl Gibbs tested the theory that good compost has a good earthy
smell. Use of the compost has reduced nitrogen fertiliser inputs.
IREC Farmers’ Newsletter – Large Area No. 185: Spring 2011