Irrigation Journal Summer 2015 sample by Annette

THE JOURNAL FOR IRRIGATION PROFESSIONALS

Fertigation and Soils and Irrigation Features

ISSN 0818–9447 PP 100002571

IRRIGATION ON GREEN ROOFS ORCHARD IRRIGATION: MICROJECT OR DRIP? READILY AVAILABLE WATER EXPLAINED EL NINO – HOW STRONG, HOW LONG?

W W W. IR R IG AT I ON. OR G. AU

IN THIS ISSUE:

THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF IRRIGATION AUSTRALIA LIMITED

SUMMER 2015 • VOLUME 31 NO 04

Irrigation Australia International Conference and Exhibition 2016 – call for papers

TANK FILL & MONITORING SYSTEM

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CONTENTS FEATURES FERTIGATION FEATURE Introduction Calibrating and maintaining fertigation equipment Is that fertiliser soluble?

12 13 16

SOILS FEATURE Effects of water quality on soil, plants and irrigation equipment eSPADE and eDIRT â&#x20AC;&#x201C; online soil resources for the NSW irrigation industry A peek into the future? Readily Available Water explained

20 21 22

FEATURE ARTICLES Australian water law and policy update Projects help almond grower save big on water Pilbara study to guide sustainable development Global initiative to help address global water scarcity What size pipe? Getting smarter with data on pastures

34 35 41 43 44 45

RETAIL DIRECTORY 2015

REGULAR ITEMS Chairman's Message

From the CEO

Irrigation Technology: Urban

Irrigation Technolology: Rural

Research

Contractors Corner

IAL News

The Big Issue

Professional Development

Smart Watermark

State Roundup

ICID Insights

Around Industry

Business Feature

New Products & Services

Bookshelf

ON THE FRONT COVER: Drip irrigation on red Ferrosol in northern NSW on a newly planted blueberry orchard. A trial has been established to evaluate the effects of compost and biochar on soil carbon, moisture, fertility, soil biology, temperature, greenhouse gas emissions, plant growth and berry yield. Soil amendments that add organic matter improve soil structure to aid water and nutrient retention. Photo: Justine Cox, NSW DPI.

51 SUMMER 2015

TECHNOLOGY: URBAN IRRIGATION ON GREEN ROOFS? A LOOK AT GREEN ROOF IRRIGATION FOR TRADITIONAL IRRIGATION PROFESSIONALS In this article, Todd Polderman from Hunter Industries explores some of the key differences in irrigation equipment and application compared to a traditional system that you’d find with open space, sporting fields or domestic gardens.

Green roofs have rapidly gained in popularity worldwide in the past decade. This is particularly the case in urban areas, where the benefits of slowing runoff, mitigating urban heat island effect, restoring habitat, improving natural surroundings and the concept of biophilia (this suggests that there is an instinctive bond between humans and other living systems) have supported this expansion. While Australia is one of the most highly urbanised nations in the world, it has been slower to adopt the concept of green roofs. This could in part be due to the lack of appreciation of the importance of green space in our built environment by some planners and municipal managers. It is, however, a different story in other countries, and recently the momentum for green roofs has gathered pace locally. In October this year it was announced by municipal authorities in New York City that the city would have an additional 2.3 million m2 of installed green roof by 2022. Perhaps spurred on by overseas development, things are starting to change in some jurisdictions in Australia too. As an example, last year Sydney City Council released a Green Roofs and Walls policy, the first of its kind in Australia, and the city is home to the world’s tallest vertical garden in a 33-storey high residential complex at Central Park in Ultimo. Wherever green roofs are being installed, irrigation is a crucial consideration to ensure healthy, durable plant material. Even in wet and cooler climates, plant establishment and drought protection make irrigation a wise investment. Soil The main difference in irrigating a green roof over a traditional system is the soil. The green roof industry calls it “growing media.” This growing media is specially formulated to be as lightweight as possible while having enough organic material to 4

support plant life. To achieve this, growing media suppliers engineer the soils to be many times more porous than sand. So the challenge for green roof irrigators is to apply the water to the growing media as slowly and as uniformly as possible. Typical drip irrigation has been largely abandoned because of the rapid vertical movement of water through the soil. This leaves the green roof designer to choose either overhead or below grade delivery irrigation methods to provide the best results. Green roofs, which have become more popular in urbanised environments, rely on well-designed and –installed irrigation systems. Photo courtesy Hunter Industries

Overhead delivery Water can be delivered overhead in the form of rotors or multi-stream, multi-trajectory (MSMT) nozzles such as Hunter Industries’ MP Rotator®. These devices apply water much more slowly than traditional sprays (from 10 to 20 mm/hr) and are designed to cut through the wind, which is common on rooftops. MSMT technology produces the most efficient overhead irrigation delivery option.

Below-grade delivery Because the growing media is so porous, providing irrigation below grade requires a mechanism for water to be moved horizontally, e.g. with an irrigation matting system. These systems are usually installed just below the optimal root depth of the plant material, putting water where the plant material can use it, aiding in horizontal water movement, eliminating overspray, and providing additional water-holding capability for lightweight growing media. This method also allows the application of nutrients directly to the roots by means of a fertiliser injector. In the absence of a system like this, subsurface installers rely on separate waterholding materials to keep moisture in the growing media. Control and accessories The brains of the irrigation system are the combination of controller and valve. Both can

be powered by AC or battery (DC) and some can even use solar power. There is no difference in the valves or controllers used in green roofs or traditional systems. On larger projects, many irrigation professionals are able to connect the green roof valves to the main irrigation system controller. Advanced features like cycle and soak, which are present in many modern controllers, can help with maximising water absorption in the lightweight growing media. Accessories help manage irrigation by providing the tools for maintenance and operation of the irrigation system. Weatherbased, or “smart” control, is today’s buzzword for efficient irrigation practices. Sensors should be added to a green roof system to provide onsite, weather-based, daily irrigation adjustment while providing rain and freeze shut-off protection just as they are used for landscapes on the ground. Remote controls make system tune-ups quick and easy.

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Green roofs are designed to provide many public and private benefits and healthy plants are integral to the success of most. Regardless of the location and climate of your green roof, a well-designed, properly installed and maintained irrigation system efficiently provides the water necessary to keep plants healthy, delivering successful benefits for many years. “Earthbased” irrigation professionals have all the tools and equipment they need to successfully irrigate a green roof. Note Todd Polderman is the Marketing Strategy Manager at Hunter Industries and is a certified Green Roof Professional. Information For information about green roofs and walls in Australia, go to Green Roofs Australasia www. greenroofsaustralasia.com.au Todd Polderman, Hunter Industries

RESEARCH IMPROVED SOIL KNOWLEDGE KEY TO IMPROVING YIELDS IN THE MURRAY Recent investigations in the Murray Valley by NSW DPI show that a better understanding of soil constraints is needed if yields of irrigated crops are to be improved. This is especially so for irrigated wheat crops sown immediately after a rice harvest. Yield and WUE – room for improvement Water use efficiency of irrigated wheat in the southern Murray-Darling Basin is low. While average wheat yields of 3 t/ha in 2006 achieved 10 kg/mm/ha, there is potential for improving water use efficiency to 20 kg/mm/ha if yields are 10 t/ha – a yield being achieved in variety trials and by some farmers. In the research, which used GIS data and satellite imagery covering the Murray Irrigation Ltd (MIL) area, individual rice paddocks were placed in one of six categories based on the combination of surface drainage (bay or contour) and internal soil drainage (fair, poor, very poor) characteristics. The area sown to rice under these layouts in 2012-13 and 2013-14 was determined, as well as the area within these layouts that had been sown to wheat straight after rice harvest. Potential yield was estimated by comparing mid-season normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) readings from satellite imagery in 2013 with header grain yields from some fields that were known not to have been water-stressed in spring. This is the first time wheat crop production and the effect of waterlogging on irrigated productivity, has been estimated across an irrigation district, using objective data. Assuming that 80% of potential yield is realistically achievable through better crop management, the possible improvements are shown in the table.

Don Griffin, NSW DPI, taking soil cores using a utemounted hydraulic corer in a maize paddock for assessing fertility.

On better soils classified as having fair or poor internal drainage (i.e. red-brown earths, transitional red-brown earths and self-mulching clays): • improving layouts to achieve better surface drainage may lift wheat yields by around 1 t/ha • better crop management may increase wheat yields by 2 to 3 t/ha in land-formed bays. On the poorest soils (i.e. non-self-mulching clays with very poor internal drainage): • Improving layouts to achieve better surface drainage may only lift wheat yields by 0.3 t/ha. • Better crop management can result in better yields if fields don’t become waterlogged. For example, autumn 2013 was dry and better managed crops yielded around 1.1 t/ha more (i.e. the yield gap) in both bay and contour layouts; in contrast, autumn 2014 was wet and better managed crops yielded 0.9 t/ha more than the median yield in bays (with better surface drainage), compared to only 0.6 t/ha in contours (poor surface drainage).

• Better surface drainage (e.g. through landforming) does not appear to improve growing conditions sufficiently in these soils (i.e. non-self-mulching clays) for high yields to be achieved. Waterlogging a hidden issue Waterlogging after surface irrigation and large rainfall events is a major cause of sub-optimal yield for crops on heavy clay soils, particularly if they are also sodic. Soil water monitoring in commercial wheat crops in 2014 showed that contour systems were waterlogged for between one and three weeks following irrigations and then rain in early September. A number of crops also had very wet conditions following sowing.

Table. Median wheat yields (t/ha) in rice layouts in the MIL districts and 80% of the estimated potential yield. Year 2013

2014

Field layout:

Bay

Contour

Internal soil drainage:

Fair

Poor

V. poor

Fair

Poor

V. poor

Median yield

3.5

3.2

2.9

2.3

2.8

80% potential yield

5.8

5.5

4.2

4.1

3.1

3.8

Yield gap

2.2

1.9

1.1

0.8

1.1

Median yield

3.6

2.4

2.3

2.1

2.2

80% potential yield

7.0

3.2

2.9

2.5

2.8

Yield gap

3.4

0.9

0.6

0.4

0.6

Note. Small discrepancies in the figures are due to rounding errors.

Bay

Figure. Yield and estimated crop water use of 15 commercial wheat crops monitored in 2014. The dashed line indicates a water use efficiency of 20 kg/ha/mm after allowing 110 mm for soil evaporation. One crop was waterlogged early and grew out of it (circled green). Waterlogging after irrigation did not affect yields in the two crops that were only irrigated once in spring (circled blue). One crop was affected by both waterlogging and water stress (circled red).

In the 15 crops monitored, 8 experienced significant waterlogging (the five green triangles plus the two circled blue diamonds and one circled red dot in the figure). Yield was affected in four of these fields, all of which had either poor surface drainage or were on non-self-mulching clays, or both. However, in a recent on line survey, only 8% of respondents considered waterlogging to be a major or severe constraint to productivity. This perception may be due to reasons such as regional water tables falling in the Millenium Drought, most surface layouts now having been land-formed, lower yields being attributed to “low fertility” rather than to waterlogging, or to a “poor season”. But this low recognition of waterlogging as an issue for non-rice crops has seen many new irrigation layouts in southern NSW being graded flat. This is despite a general understanding throughout the southern Murray-Darling Basin of the need for a minimum slope of 1:2000 on bays to ensure winter drainage. In the northern MurrayDarling Basin, the cotton industry promotes a minimum slope of 1:1500.

The bottom line Other key factors that affected wheat yields in the monitored crops were late season water stress, soil acidity, late sowing and inadequate fertiliser applications. Understanding soils and their effect the crops/pastures grown and their interaction with irrigation design and management is a high priority for improving irrigation productivity. For very poor soils in good layouts, the following principles should be applied to degraded soils: • Monitor soil chemistry o plan to lime soil when pH < 5.2 o apply gypsum to sodic and dispersive soils • For structurally degraded soils o De-compact any hard set layer o Preserve the desirable structure and prevent re-consolidation through: minimum till, retaining stubbles and controlling traffic o Increase biological activity – grow something and minimise fallow For all cropping soils in good layouts, adopt the following best management practices:

• sow on time; sow and fertilise at rates applicable to the water available to the crop; schedule irrigations; get water on and off bays in 10 hours or less • promote good soil physical health by retaining stubble, minimising cultivation and practice controlled traffic. Improve poorly drained layouts so irrigation water is on and off bays in ten hours or less by: • applying established design criteria for basin and border check systems • improving drainage, particularly for paddocks flatter than 1:1500 (e.g. use beds/hills, individual supply and drainage to bays). Information Sam North, NSW DPI Deniliquin P: 03 5881 9926 E: samuel.north@dpi.nsw.gov.au

Sam North and Peter Smith, NSW Department of Primary Industries

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FERTIGATION FEATURE In this feature we look at fertigation – what it is, advantage and disadvantages, and important considerations such as solubility of fertilisers and maintenance of equipment. Fertigation is the practice of applying fertiliser in a liquid form to a crop through the irrigation system. Using the irrigation system to apply fertiliser reduces the need to use mechanical operations and sometimes eliminates them altogether. Fertigation is becoming more popular, especially in horticulture, so that now some cropping systems receive 90 to 100% of applied fertiliser by this method. When combined with an efficient irrigation system, both nutrients and water can be manipulated and managed to obtain the maximum possible yield of marketable production from a given quantity of these inputs.

ADVANTAGES • Fertiliser can be applied directly to the root zone optimising plant growth • Nutrients can be applied any time during the growing season based on crop need • Highly mobile nutrients such as nitrogen can be carefully managed to ensure rapid crop uptake • Fertiliser can be applied quickly to address any deficiency issues • Minimal crop damage • Tractor operations are reduced, saving fuel, wear and labour • Well-designed injection systems are simple to use and suit automation • Smaller amounts of fertiliser are applied, which often results in reduced off-site impacts • Reduced loss of fertiliser due to unseasonal weather.

DISADVANTAGES • Relies heavily on the efficiency of the irrigation system’s distribution uniformity • Relies heavily on overall irrigation infrastructure design or layout (depending on injection point) • Potential issues during wet weather.

CONSIDER • • • • •

How and where to mix the fertiliser – will it be done at the shed or in the paddock? Is the right handling, mixing and transport equipment in place? Are occupational health and safety (OH&S) requirements in place? Is the system calibrated? Good calibration is essential for economical control. Install an anti-backflow check valve to prevent injected fertilisers from siphoning into the water source. • Install an in-line check valve at the point of injection into the main line to prevent flow of water from the irrigation system back into the mixing tank – and avoid overflow of fertiliser. • All systems should only commence injection after the irrigation system is pressurised. Acknowledgment. Thanks to Growcom for this article, which was taken from Fertigation. Case Study 2 – Australian Government Reef Programme

Calibrating and maintaining fertigation equipment Fertigation is the application of plant nutrition in the irrigation water. It is one of the key benefits of irrigated agriculture, and marketable yield and fertiliser efficiency can be greatly improved if done correctly.

PRINCIPLES OF FERTIGATION A key aim with fertigation is to place the nutrient in a place and at a time to ensure maximum take up by the plant. As such, effective fertigation is part of an overall irrigation strategy. There is no good fertigation without good irrigation. It is also important to understand the crop requirements throughout the growing season, and match the nutrition accordingly to achieve the desired results. For example, the corn plant has a very high requirement for nitrogen around 40 days after seedling emergence. Correct timing of this nitrogen application by fertigation can have a significant impact on yield. A general principle is that during an irrigation event, there is period of irrigating without fertiliser application before and after the dose of fertiliser is applied. This allows for the soil to be suitably moist when the application begins,

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and for the irrigation system to be flushed with clean water after the application. The exact timing of the application within the irrigation event depends on the root zone and the nature of the crop. There are various ways to inject fertiliser, i.e. proportional, bulk and spread. The method to use depends on crop, soils, growing systems and the fertiliser agronomistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s preference. Fertiliser injectors will need to be calibrated differently for each scenario. Below is a simple example for bulk injection. Fertiliser programs are commonly recommended in the measurement of kilograms per hectare. Soluble solids are common, though liquids or predissolved fertilisers are becoming popular. Depending on fertiliser type, a kilogram of fertiliser can be dissolved in 5 L of water, although sometimes it needs to be more diluted. If the recommendation is for 20 kg/ha/week, then for a 2 ha irrigation shift:

20 (kg) x 5 (L) x 2 (ha) = 200 L.

If the irrigation period is four hours, a possible injection scenario is shown in Figure 1.

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SOILS FEATURE Readily Available Water explained HOW MUCH WATER IS READILY AVAILABLE TO PLANTS? Not all water held in the soil is readily available to plants. Some water is bound so tightly to soil particles it cannot be used by plants. For irrigators it is useful to know how much water is readily available for plant use as a way of determining how much water to apply.

WHAT IS RAW? Readily available water (RAW) is the water that a plant can easily extract from the soil. RAW is the soil moisture held between field

capacity and a nominated refill point for unrestricted growth. In this range of soil moisture, plants are neither waterlogged nor water-stressed. Plant roots will continue to take water from the soil after the refill point is reached, but this water is not as readily available and the crop finds it difficult to extract. If the soil dries to the permanent wilting point, the plant can no longer remove any water from it: some water may still be present but is completely unavailable. The drier the soil, as shown by high tensiometer values, the more water needs to be added to bring the soil back to field capacity. These values are

WILTING POINT (approx. –1000 kPa for vines)

presented in Table 2 as millimetres of moisture available per centimetre of soil depth. The figures in kPa across the top of this table correspond to the figures that you would find on a tensiometer gauge. So, for a sand (S) at a tensiometer reading of –40 kPa, you would need to supply 0.36 mm of water for each centimetre depth of soil to bring the soil to field capacity. At –1500 kPa (much drier – beyond the values on a tensiometer gauge) you would need to supply 0.62 mm of water for each centimetre depth of soil to reach field capacity.

REFILL POINT –20 to –60 kPa

WATER AVAILABLE TO PLANTS

FIELD CAPACITY (full point) –8 to –10 kPa

RAW

DRY SOIL –1500 pKa

WATER NOT AVAILABLE TO PLANTS

DRAINAGE

SATURATED SOIL 0 kPa

FIGURE. Soil water content. Depending on the type of crop, RAW for horticultural crops is usually the amount of water held between field capacity (–8 to –10 kPa) and –20 to –60 kPa.

Soil texture

depth

TABLE 1. READILY AVAILABLE WATER (RAW) (–8 to –40 kPa) thickness of layer

mm/cm

calculation

RAW

Sandy loam

40 cm

0.59

40 x 0.59

23.6

Sandy clay loam

60 cm

20 cm

0.61

20 x 0.61

12.2

Clay loam

80 cm

20 cm

0.53

20 x 0.53

10.6

Total RAW 46.4 mm

TABLE 2. READILY AVAILABLE WATER (mm/cm) STORED BETWEEN -8 AND -1500 kPa. Soil water deficit Texture grade

-8 to -20 kPa

-8 to -40 kPa

-8 to -60 kPa

-8 to -200 kPa

-8 to -1500 kPa

Sand (S)

0.33

0.36

0.38

0.40

0.62

Loamy sand (LS)

0.45

0.52

0.55

0.58

0.87

Clayey sand (CS)*

0.55

0.60

0.64

1.00

Sandy loam (SL)

0.46

0.59

0.65

0.70

1.15

Light sandy clay loam (LSCL)

0.45

0.65

0.74

1.03

1.37

Loam (L)

0.69

0.84

100

1.43

Sandy clay loam (SCL)

0.39

0.61

0.71

1.01

1.44

Clay loam (CL)

0.30

0.53

0.65

0.73

1.48

Clays (SC,LC, LMC, MC)

0.27

0.46

0.57

0.66

1.49

Heavy clay (HC)**

0.25

0.41

0.49

1.20

* Interpolated value ** Samples from Kununurra, WA Source: K.G. Wetherby, soil survey and land use specialist. This table is the result of detailed field and laboratory studies on 360 samples from the Murray Mallee and Barossa Valley in SA.

in the rootzone to get the total rootzone RAW. This means that, in the example shown in Table 1, when irrigating with a full cover sprinkler system you should apply approximately 45 mm to refill the rootzone once your tensiometers have reached â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 40 kPa. Further sampling or soil moisture monitoring will refine this figure. When irrigating with a system that does not apply a full cover water application, the RAW figure is reduced to the approximate wetted area of the irrigation system, e.g. 1/3 to 1/4 for drip irrigation in horticulture

ACKNOWLEDGMENT Thanks to NSW Department of Primary Industries for allowing Irrigation Australia to reprint an edited version of this PrimeFact.

CALCULATING RAW

INFORMATION

To calculate rootzone RAW, multiply the thickness of each soil layer (in centimetres) by the RAW of that layer (Table 1). Then add the values for each soil layer

For information contact Jeremy Giddings, NSW Department of Primary Industries, phone 03 5019 8421, email jeremy.giddings@dpi.nsw.gov.au

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CONTRACTORS CORNER CONVERTING READILY AVAILABLE WATER TO LITRES FOR DRIP IRRIGATION Drip irrigation is common in modern orchards. For this method of irrigation it is easier to use litres rather than the more traditional unit of millimetres when describing readily available water (RAW) in the plant root zone. Using litres also allows simple calculation of irrigation time. This article by WA Department of Agriculture and Food explains what you need to consider when converting RAW to litres for drip systems.

Where irrigation water and plant roots are evenly distributed over the whole planting area, water storage and plant water use can be measured in millimetres. Drip irrigation distributes water over a small part of the whole block and roots follow this water distribution. In these cases, it is often easier to use litres to describe both water use and storage in the plant root zone. This also allows simple calculation of irrigation time as the discharge from drip systems is commonly reported in litres per hour.

RULE TO REMEMBER 1 mm depth of water = 1 L applied to 1 m².

Water held in root zone The volume of root zone that is wetted by the drip system will depend on the size and shape of the wetting pattern. Overlapping drippers. Where drip patterns overlap, assume that a wetted strip or sausage-shaped wetted pattern is produced (see photo). The volume of water held in the soil can be estimated from the width and length of the wetted strip and the RAW in the root zone.

If the crop root zone does not access the entire wetted strip, adjust the dimensions of the wetted area in your calculation. This is particularly important in young plantings where roots may have access to only a small portion of the wetted strip.

Irrigation time can be determined from the volume of water that can be held in the root zone wetted area and the discharge rate of the drippers.

Irrigation time (hours) = Volume RAW (L) ÷ dripper discharge rate (L/hr) EXAMPLES

Overlapping wetting pattern from in-line drippers

Non-overlapping drippers. Where wetting patterns do not overlap, calculate the wetted volume assuming a cylinder, sphere or cone-shaped wetting pattern (see photo). For example, if a root zone with a RAW of 14 mm is wet by a dripper with a cylindrical wetting pattern and a radius of 0.2 m, the volume of readily available water will be:

πr2 x root zone RAW (mm) (πr2 is the area of a circle where pi (π) equals 3.14.) 3.14 x (0.2 x 0.2) x 14 = 1.8 L/dripper. If there is more than one dripper per plant, multiply this figure by the number of drippers to get the total litres available to each plant.

Volume stored (L) = wetted width (m) x wetted length (m) x root zone RAW (mm) For example, for a width of 1.5 m wetted, 3 m tree spacing and root zone RAW of 14 mm, the volume of Readily Available Water = 1.5 x 3 x 14 = 63 L of RAW per tree.

CALCULATING IRRIGATION TIME

Example 1. Overlapping drippers with a RAW of 63 L per tree, 2 L/hr drippers spaced 0.5 m apart. Each tree has access to the full 3 m wetted length between trees. • 3 m wetted length ÷ 0.5 m dripper spacing = 6 drippers per tree • 6 drippers per tree x 2 L/hr drippers = 12 L/hr/ tree • 63 L/RAW/tree ÷ 12 L/hr/tree = 5.25 hours irrigation time. Example 2. Non-overlapping drippers with a RAW of 1.8 L per dripper and 8 L/hr drippers. • 1.8 L/RAW/dripper ÷ 8 L/hr =0.225 hours = 13.5 minutes (Multiply time in hours by 60 to determine the number of minutes.) Using RAW to determine irrigation time will give the maximum time you need to irrigate to refill the RAW. If the soil dries out beyond the moisture content that is considered readily available to the crop, irrigate for a longer period of time.

MEASURING DRIPPER DISCHARGE Although manufacturers specify the expected output of drippers, check actual output rates as the system may be operating at a different pressure or be affected by blockages and wear. Check discharge by digging a hole under the dripper and use a container to measure the volume of water emitted over a known period. Randomly check drippers across the irrigation system, including drippers close to and furthest from the mainline.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT Where the wetting pattern does not overlap, calculate the wetted volume assuming a cylinder, sphere or coneshaped pattern.

This article is kindly provided by the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia.

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BUSINESS FEATURE AUSTRALIAN CONSUMER LAW AND YOUR BUSINESS In January 2011, one national consumer law, the Australian Consumer Law, replaced the 20 different state, territory and commonwealth consumer laws that had existed till then. The effect of the law is that Australian consumers and businesses have the same rights and obligations wherever they are in Australia. Do you know what your right and responsibilities are under this law? It’s important that you do as it means you can look after your business and your customers. The key components of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) are outlined below.

• honouring consumer guarantees • ensuring the safety of products and services • complying with rules on sales practices, including those on prices, consumer information, lay-by agreements and unsolicited consumer agreements.

What are the benefits for businesses? One law. Businesses benefit from one law applying to consumer transactions across Australia. • Businesses that trade in more than one state or territory only have to comply with one law. • Regulatory complexity is often a deterrent for Good business behaviour businesses when they consider expanding. The You are entitled to expect every business you deal ACL removes a barrier to interstate expansion of with to honour its obligations under the Australian businesses. Consumer Law (ACL). Easy to understand. The ACL provides Businesses must not make false, misleading or businesses with a law that is easy to understand. deceptive claims about a product or service. As well, • Updated terminology, when compared to the all businesses are entitled not to be treated in an archaic provisions in previous laws, is more easily unconscionable way by other businesses. understood by businesses. • A law that is easy to understand will result in fewer Know your rights when purchasing disputes, as businesses and consumers can have a goods and services common understanding of the ACL. When making business purchases, the ACL provides Better enforcement. Businesses benefit from businesses with guaranteed rights. better enforcement of the ACL. When a business purchases a good of a value • Even when state and territory laws are similar, of $40,000 or less, for use within the business, the differences in enforcement approaches can lead to law guarantees the product must be safe, durable, additional compliance costs for businesses. free from defects, fit for purpose, acceptable in • Improved co-operation between regulators in appearance, match its description and match any applying the ACL gives businesses comfort sample or demonstration model. This does not that the law is being applied consistently across prevent extra warranties being offered to you. Australia. You also have these guaranteed rights when Clear obligations. Business benefit from clear buying road vehicles or trailers for use principally in obligations under the ACL. the transport of goods on public roads. • Previous laws imposed different obligations on businesses depending on where in Australia Be aware of your customers' rights a business or a particular part of a business is Every business has a responsibility to respect a located or where a transaction took place. customer’s rights under the ACL, and to honour its • The ACL imposes the same obligations on legal obligations. businesses across Australia, making compliance All businesses should remember they are required easier for businesses who trade in more than one to meet general standards of business conduct, jurisdiction. as well as comply with specific protections for Information consumers against unfair business practices. These For more information about the ACL go to include: Australian Government website • using standard form contracts that do not have www.consumerlaw.gov.au unfair terms 42

HOW GREEN IS YOUR OFFICE? The Fifth Estate, a group that publishes information about urban sustainability issues, has just released a handy guide to saving energy and money around the office. The guide answers many of the questions many business owners have about energy consumption in the office. How much energy are our computers and office equipment using? What effect does all that equipment have on our office cooling bill? What’s happening to all our old equipment? And how green are the data centres our business depends upon? It aims to help clear up some of these questions and provide some simple solutions to make sure your computers and communication technology (ICT) are running as efficiently as possible. Not only is efficient ICT good for the environment, it is good for the bottom line. It also opens up possibilities for transforming the office environment and boosting productivity, e.g. energy efficient laptops. The guide makes it clear that greening your office ICT doesn’t have to be an expensive pursuit, either. Indeed, some of the solutions are behavioural – as easy as putting someone in charge of making sure equipment isn’t left on overnight. Others, like moving servers into a purpose-built data centre or going fully into the cloud, are less straightforward, but nonetheless offer massive efficiencies that can lead to increased business competitiveness. You can download the guide from website http://www.thefifthestate.com.au/property/ commercial/it-book/75754

ARTICLE GLOBAL INITIATIVE TO HELP ADDRESS GLOBAL WATER SCARCITY At the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting held in New York in September, a consortium of partners announced the development of a comprehensive global groundwater data platform that unites historical big data and real-time information with onthe-ground reportage and public engagement. The partners include Circle of Blue, Qlik (a leader in big-data and visualisation), Twitter, Columbia University Water Center, Pacific Institute, and the University of California – Irvine. According to the partners, the dashboard will help inform important water decisions such as allocation, policy development, crisis response, and infrastructure improvements at a time when the need is urgent for clear, timely, relevant information on water resources. “We face a time when climate change is stressing our water, food and energy systems, causing billions of dollars of disruptions and testing human and ecological resilience globally,” said J. Carl Ganter, managing director of Circle of Blue and member of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Water. “In the current era of mass data streaming and unprecedented data flow, we simply cannot afford to keep the realities of today’s environmental challenges locked in static documents or silo’d collections.” According to The World Economic Forum Global Risks Report 2015, “water crises” rank as the global

risk of greatest urgency and are emerging as serious threats to people, business, the environment and peace across the world. Groundwater supplies in most of the world’s major aquifers are being used far faster than they are being replenished, which makes these dry, food-producing regions more vulnerable to drought, environmental stress and social disruption. The world’s demand for fresh water is growing while water scarcity is upending energy

production, triggering food shortages, hampering economic development, and threatening political stability. The often convulsive disruptions are felt from the United States, which lost a full point of GDP in 2012 due to severe drought, to Asia, the Middle East, and South America, where drought and floods triggered political unrest and civic upheaval. For more information go to website http:// h2ocatalyst.org/groundwater/

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ARTICLE WHAT SIZE PIPE? There are many criteria used to determine pipe sizing in irrigation installations. The trick is finding the key ones to apply when specifying for a job. IAL member, Rob Welke from Tallemenco, has recently developed an APP to make the task a bit easier, and he is making it available free of charge to the irrigation industry for a limited time before it is uploaded to Google Play and to Apple. Rob says that the APP, called HYDROPZ, optimises the pipe size for a particular irrigation installation application. “It optimises the pipe size based on the sweet spot between the falling energy costs and rising pipe supply and lay costs as the size of pipe is progressively increased for a given application. “The energy costs are based upon the energy costs to pump only through the pipe in question, and not the complete irrigation installation,” he said. To correctly determine a pipe size, the following parameters need to be considered and are therefore primary data entries for HYDROPZ: • electricity tariff • volume pumped/year • H&W pipeline friction coefficient • pipe length • flow rate • pump efficiency • motor efficiency • pipe supply and lay costs for a range of diameters. The key data required to determine optimum diameter are the pipe laying cost, electricity tariff, ML/year pumped and pipe flow rate.

Because pipe laying costs can vary quickly with PVC being anchored to global oil prices, a pipe supply/lay cost index is a feature of the APP, where all pipe supply/lay costs can be increased or decreased globally as a percentage variation without having to re-enter them all. When it comes to optimising pipe sizing, the life of the pipeline system plays a key part, often overlooked in conventional pipe sizing. HYDROPZ allows the user to choose between 10-year, 15-year and 25-year life optimised sizing. All input field lines are numbered for convenience and all required fields are highlighted in yellow. After inputting all required fields, the optimum pipe internal diameters are shown. It would be sheer fluke if the ID you required matched an actual pipe ID, so provision has been made to input the nearest upsize ID to the APP. Field data such as headloss, water velocity and annual electricity costs are then computed for your choice of pipe. A number of user guidelines appear below the data input fields. In recent times, the advent of Class 2 PVC pipe has filled in some rather large gaps in pipe IDs, so the combination of HYDROPZ, Class 1 and Class 2 pipe now means that choosing optimally sized pipe has never been easier or more accurate. To view the APP go to the Tallemenco website, www.talle.biz/hydropz.html

Tallemenco continues to develop state of the art energy efficiency software for the benefit of its “Advanced Pumping & Hydraulics” and “Advanced Pump Station Design” training programs and HYDROPZ is the latest in a long line of these software packages. Information Rob Welke, Adelaide SA M: 0414 492 256 E: rob@talle.biz

A new APP has been developed to take the hard work out of determining the optimise pipe size for a particular irrigation installation application.

Download an order form from the IAL website www.irrigation.org.au (go to the Bookshop tab under Publications) or contact IAL support office phone 02 8335 4000.

IRRIGATION AUDITING CATCH CANS AVAILABLE FROM IAL

Measure the application rate and uniformity of all types of pressurised irrigation – from handheld hoses to a centre pivot with the auditing catch can. Order your set now from IAL. Available in sets of ten. Price per set of ten catch cans is:

$70.00 (inc GST) for members $90.00 (inc GST) for non members plus postage

GETTING SMARTER WITH DATA ON PASTURES Researchers at the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA) are using sensors and autonomous technology to develop a system that not only tells irrigators when to irrigate their pasture, but then goes ahead and does it for them. Not only will the system automatically irrigate pasture, it will also apply variable volumes of water to the same paddock, which could save farmers time, water and money. Research and Development Team Leader at the TIA Dairy Centre and chief investigator on the project, Dr James Hills, said the end goal is an autonomous machine interface that collects information about the pasture, water use, soil and climate and then uses crop modelling processes to make decisions about when and where to apply water. The development of this autonomous system is part of a bigger, three-year project that is looking at the use of irrigation water in pastures by collecting data on water use, energy use and pasture production from five sites across Tasmania. Dr James Hills (left) and David McLaren from TIA are working technology that collects From the data collected at the five sites, the team will work with the farmers to information about pasture, water use, soil and climate and then uses crop modelling processes to make decisions about when and where to apply water. make changes to improve water use efficiency and will continue monitoring the sites to measure the success of these changes. Note. This article was supplied by TIA, a joint venture between the University James says gathering this benchmarking data is an essential step to getting the of Tasmania and the Tasmanian Government. most out of the new irrigation schemes. “Significant investment in irrigation infrastructure in Tasmania from both Federal and State Government provides the opportunity to increase our agricultural productivity, but we need to make sure we are doing it properly and in a way that is going to be sustainable,” he said. “To introduce management strategies that increase efficiency we really need that baseline data. We need to know the facts and figures for water use to know how you can improve on that use.” The five trial sites have been selected to give enough variability across different topography and soils that are likely to be irrigated. David McLaren, Project Officer at the TIA Dairy Centre, will be installing the sensors and data logging equipment at the sites and will also oversee the data collected in the field. “A big part of the project will be to visualise that data, so that when it comes to making management decisions we can very quickly know what to do through a visual display of data, and not have to interpret numbers,” he said. “The devices on site will have an interface that you can connect to from your smartphone or tablet so you can start to look at real-time values of pressure, temperature and energy without being physically on site, which is a real advantage.” In its third year, the project will trial an automation system at one of the sites to THE BEST GROWERS TRUST THE LEADER FOR A REASON No one sells more pivots than Valley . Lucky? Hardly. Smart see how this type of system could be used to save farmers time and effort. growers know the legendary quality and durability of The research team is very interested in how far they can go using a system with Valley pivots are second to none. From structural superiority a machine interface as opposed to a human interface. To do this, the team has to technical excellence, Valley quality spans acres—and linked with The National Centre for Engineering in Agriculture at the University generations. There are simply more reasons to choose Valley. of Southern Queensland, who have developed a control platform called VARIWise. The VARIWise system has been developed and tested in cotton, but this is the first time it will be applied to a pasture based system. Installation of the sensor and logging equipment on the five sites has just been completed. The project is supported by funding from the Australian Government valleyirrigation.com Department of Agriculture and Water Resources as part of its Rural Research and Development for Profit program, Dairy Australia and TIA.

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SUMMER 2015

NEW PRODUCTS REINKE REINKE INTRODUCES NEW PIVOTING LATERAL MOVE SYSTEM

Reinke has just announced its new pivoting lateral move system designed to combine the benefits of a centre pivot with those of a lateral move irrigation system. “This new system is the longest system configuration available in the industry, offers improved machine versatility and precision controls and really allows growers to get full control of their fields,” said Reinke Product Manager Cody Bailey. The system, which has integrated GPS guidance technology, is ideal for irregular-shaped fields, allowing growers to increase irrigated area and put under-utilised land to work. It can be readily programmed to perform a number of designs, including common path configurations such as outward and inward swings (180 degrees and 90 degrees), and can be set up to autonomously move between a pivot mode and a lateral mode. Programming the system is grower-friendly and uses the industry’s only pivoting lateral field

designer program and ready setup through Reinke’s touch screen control panel. The panel has been customised for the system and allows growers to import an image of their field and program the stages to cover every available hectare. With no limit on the number of possible stages to configure

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and with visual confirmation of what has been programmed, growers have complete control of how their system moves throughout the field. The Reinke pivoting lateral move system is now available through Reinke dealers. For more information, visit www.reinke.com.

Toro DC-Pro Series Battery Controller • 100% waterproof and submersible up to 2 metres • Battery powered to last an entire irrigation season • Compatible with normally closed wired rain sensors • Easy to use keypad programming with up to 4 daily start times • Manual run features for easy watering time extension

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*TERMS & CONDITIONS: offer valid until 31st January 2016. Online registrations must be received by midnight AEDST on Sunday 31st January. Your invoice must be attached to the online registration as a proof of purchase. Not exchangeable for cash. No further discounts, offers or promotions apply. For full Terms and Conditions see your local dealer or www.toro.com.au/promotions. Permit Numbers: NSW LTPS/15/08204 and ACT TP 15/07865.

Plus, you could WIN a portable Waeco CFX-50 Fridge/Freezer* when you buy a DC-Pro Series Battery Controller this summer. Ask us how on 1300 130 898 or visit www.toro.com.au/ promotions

Today’s forecast 100% chance of irrigation

When you can’t count on the rain, depend on John Deere irrigation power. John Deere gives you irrigation power choices ranging from 36 to 373 kW, on all irrigation equipment. When an entire crop is at stake, you’ll see why more farmers are choosing John Deere power for their irrigation units. To ﬁnd your nearest John Deere Power Systems dealer, call (02) 4654 5501 or visit JohnDeere.com.au.

NEW PRODUCTS POWER EQUIPMENT YANMAR POWERED GENERATOR DRIVES CUSTOM IRRIGATOR SYSTEM

Irrigating a long and skinny paddock provided a challenge which has been successfully met by Queensland Yanmar Dealer, Dover & Sons. With a Yanmar 4TNV98 at the heart of the system, crop farmer Bill Bowen is impressed with the efficiency of the new irrigation system. Until recently this paddock was watered with a side roll irrigator, a cumbersome and labour intensive system. The replacement specified by Bob Dover and his team was a single centre pivot irrigator 200 m long. A series of five concrete pads were installed in line and evenly spaced down the centre of the paddock, with a water feed line and hydrant run to each pad in series. The irrigation unit selected for the task is a US built Zimmatic four-wheel mobile pivot, ideal for Bill Bowen’s application where pivot points are arranged in a straight line, allowing the whole irrigator to be easily towed from one pad to the next. With the exception of the water supply, this is a completely self-contained irrigator. Mounted to the frame of the Zimmatic unit is a purpose built Yanmar Centre Pivot Generator (CPG) pack. This is supplied as a complete turn-key system by

the Australian Yanmar Distributor, Power Equipment. The Yanmar CPG unit installed at Glenroy comprises a Yanmar 4TNV98 diesel engine which drives a three phase Sincro alternator. The unit is rated at 16.5 kVA at 1500 rpm continuous. The four-cylinder Yanmar 4TNV98 diesel engine is a robust and durable water cooled diesel engine, which in “G” configuration is specifically configured for gen set operation. The CPG package includes a 400 L in-built fuel tank, radiator, Power Equipment’s EC150 Engine Protection System and weather proof canopy. The added benefit of the Yanmar CPG pack is that by simply undoing a few bolts, the whole unit can be lifted off the irrigator and used wherever there is the need for power on the property. This is a real added plus for the property owner. When the irrigator is started, the Yanmar CPG unit generates the electrical power that drives the motors which turn the wheels on the irrigator. Each tower on the irrigator has two ¾ HP electric motors which gradually move the irrigator through its 360° arc. There are four towers down the line. The fully programmable system allows Bill Bowen to specify the amount of water to be applied, typically 37 mm through Nelson low pressure sprinklers. At this rate, it takes the irrigator 2½ days to go through the 360° arc. The system has the capacity to pump up to 67,000 L of water an hour when required. With a rotation completed, the water feed line to the irrigator is removed from the hydrant and the entire system is towed 400 m down the paddock to the next concrete pad. The water line is hooked up to the hydrant and irrigation can commence watering straight away. It is a very simple and easy system to operate. For information go to websites www. powerequipment.com.au and www. doverandsons.com.au/

BUSINESS FOR SALE: IRRIGATION AND POOL SERVICER AND RETAILER

Long established business providing a comprehensive suite of pool and irrigation servicing solutions combined with a solid retail offering to a captured market with high disposable income. 48

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Rodney Industries has taken on the challenge of further improving its customer service and productivity, returning real benefits to its customers. Since adding the Marani hard hose irrigators to its range of irrigators almost ten years ago, a significant number have been sold in Australia in both the agricultural and mining sectors. Its popularity and durability has led the Marani hard hose irrigator to be the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading irrigator. With more than 40 different models, the Marani has one of the largest specific ranges of poly reel irrigators available in all markets worldwide ranging in size from 40 to 160 mm. And all models are fully galvanised to protect them from corrosion while adding durability and strength to the machines. The new generation turbine and gearbox design increase the machineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s efficiency and the use of the MA-RAIN computers and full hydraulic system available on the larger models gives even greater control over application rates.

When the hard hose is used in conjunction with Briggs low pressure folding booms, the result to expect is greater uniformity and reduced power consumption. Whether you invest in Marani hard hose irrigators, turbine, piston, boom or travelling irrigators, Rodney Industries offers a complete service, from finding the best irrigator to suit your requirements both financially and performance wise, right through to stocking all the accessories. The company also has the fittings, hose, guns, sprinklers and diesel pump sets for an entire project. Trained staff are available to assist with the commissioning new machines and once the machine is installed, they provide ongoing support, spare parts and after sales service. For more information on its range of irrigators, contact the Rodney Industries sales team, phone 07 3624 0300.

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SUMMER 2015

BOOKSHELF OPTIMISING OPEN SPACE MANAGEMENT BEST PRACTICE GUIDELINES In a first for Victoria, the irrigation and green space industries now have access to best practice guidelines for open space. The guidelines, in the form of a booklet Best Practice Guidelines for Functional Open Space, were released in September at picturesque Edinburgh Gardens in Melbourne. The booklet is the result of a project funded through the Smart Water Fund and managed by City West Water. IAL members were heavily involved in planning and developing the guidelines, including Geoff Connellan, who was mainly responsible for writing them, and Des Horton and Richard Dilena (steering committee). As well, advice was sought from industry professionals and companies such as Reece Irrigation, Netafim, Micromet, RainBird, Smart Water and ten Burren Irrigation Designs. City West Water Managing Director, Anne Barker, said the guidelines provide an important resource for organisations that manage open space and recreation venues and thanked all who contributed to the guidelines. “One major lesson from the drought was the impact of recreation and open spaces that were left unusable – this resource will help to improve the way water was managed for irrigation and ensure that these spaces can be irrigated effectively in the future,” Ms Barker said. “These guidelines have been developed with input from major sporting venues, local government, industry bodies and state government bodies to ensure best practice in turf and open space management.” The guidelines identify the key factors for effective functioning of functional open space and provide the knowledge and tools needed to achieve required performance. Thorough approach to producing guidelines The various individuals and organisations who planned and developed the guidelines were keen that they were technically sound and able to be applied by industry, hence the involvement of industry members form the start. Production was in two steps. The first was a review of previous projects and reports to do with turf, irrigation and open space management. This included a review of Smart Water Fund and wider academic literature, identification of water technologies, and consultation with industry experts. 50

Following this a draft report and white paper on current practices and identified gaps in the wider industry was prepared for consultation and review. The second step was the development of the Best Practice Guidelines for Functional Open Space. This process was guided by an industry working group made up of representatives from the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne and Olympic Park Trust, Sports Turf Association, Irrigation Australia, local councils, water industry and Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning. This working group guided the development of the guidelines with input from industry stakeholders including irrigation technology providers, irrigation designers, turf experts and sporting bodies. A key component of the guidelines is the inclusion of the business case for change. Since the guidelines were released in September, the working group has been looking to identify irrigated turf and landscape sites to implement and demonstrate best practice. Gary Andrews from Smart Water said that the guidelines are a practical resource that can be picked up and used by the irrigation industry. The guidelines can be downloaded from website http://clearwater.asn.au// user-data/research-projects/swf-files/bpgfinal.pdf

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IN THE NEXT ISSUE The Autumn 2016 issue of Irrigation Australia Journal will feature: EDITORIAL > Irrigation technology for efficiency > Serving clients better > Directory to certified members ADVERTISING FEATURES > Irrigation project showcase (on farm and system) CONFIRM YOUR ADVERTISING PRESENCE NOW! The open space industry in Victoria has welcomed the release of best practice guidelines. At the launch were (left to right): Gary Andrews, chair of IAL’s Melbourne regional committee; Damien Frankling, Project Manager, City West Water; Geoff Connellan, Principal Consultant for project; and Peter Todd, President of Sports Turf Association, Victoria.

Contact Brian Rault on 0411 354 050 or brian.rault@bcbmedia.com.au to receive advertising information.