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Cane farmers on Great Barrier Reef adopt irrigation automation to fix rising
groundwater, prevent run off

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CANE FARMERS ON GREAT BARRIER REEF ADOPT IRRIGATION AUTOMATION TO FIX RISING
GROUNDWATER, PREVENT RUN OFF

ABC Rural
/ By Lucy Cooper and Kallee Buchanan
Posted 17h ago17 hours agoWed 9 Nov 2022 at 12:18am, updated 6h ago6 hours
agoWed 9 Nov 2022 at 10:34am

Despite reducing the amount of irrigation, Mr Granshaw says there has been no
compromise in yield.(ABC Rural: Lucy Cooper)
Help keep family & friends informed by sharing this article
abc.net.au/news/cane-irrigation-automation-rising-groundwater-prevent-run-off/101590980
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For technology enthusiasts, automation is the future, but Queensland cane
farmers hope automation will solve a problem from the past and, in turn, protect
the Great Barrier Reef. 


KEY POINTS:

 * Farmers who don't have access to rivers and dams can pump water from
   groundwater to irrigate their crops
 * During floods and droughts, or if not managed properly, the groundwater
   systems can't replenish naturally and the water table rises, bringing with it
   salts that damage crops 
 * Automating irrigation allows for less water use and less run-off to the Great
   Barrier Reef



While not quite as convenient as saying, "Alexa, water my crops," growers
hope automating their irrigation can arrest decades of rising groundwater and
salinity issues, use less water and prevent runoff.

Steve Pilla farms at Giru, south of Townsville, where a combination of high cane
prices, expensive electricity and the worker shortage has made automation a
necessity.

"I've been away [and] at meetings and the pumps just run themselves," he said.

"I don't have to be up at two o'clock in the morning to change the set over."

Mr Pilla's 150-hectare farm sits in the Burdekin, Australia's largest
sugar-growing region. Here, thanks to good access to groundwater, cane has been
grown right alongside the Great Barrier Reef since 1875.

But just as the quality of water flowing into the reef has come under scrutiny,
so has the quality of the groundwater.


Giru farmer Steve Pilla has automated his entire 150ha cane farm.(ABC Rural:
Lucy Cooper)


LURKING BELOW THE SURFACE

Australia is the driest inhabited continent on Earth.

According to the National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training somewhere
between 30 and 60 per cent of the water used in farming, towns and industry
comes from underground.


GREAT ARTESIAN BASIN WATER IS SURFACING WHERE IT'S NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE

"Unique" springs emerge from the Great Artesian Basin across outback Queensland,
bringing potentially new species with them.


Read more

Groundwater forms by seeping into the spaces between soil and rock after rain.

Water flows in through aquifers, rivers and streams and some groundwater systems
— like the Great Artesian Basin — are estimated to hold water that's more than a
million years old.

However, historically, poor management of groundwater meant it was
over-allocated or overused.

This, combined with natural disasters like droughts and floods, meant the
natural replenishment of the groundwater was disrupted.

The result has been a rising water table, trapping salts closer to the surface
and creating a salinity problem for farmers and the environment.


PRECISE WATER USE

Bryan Granshaw manages technology for a sugarcane operation in Burdekin and has
been tasked with limiting the impact of rising water.

"It's been widely known for around 20 years that there's a district-wide issue
with rising water tables," he said.

On a 112-hectare trial paddock, he has implemented automated sensors that
measure the moisture in the soil and then determine the amount of water that's
applied to the crop.

Mr Granshaw said it reduced water use without compromising how much was grown.

"We have had a 30 per cent reduction in water to grow the crop, with a new
process of higher flow rates per furrow," he said.

"We've been able to maintain production and decrease the amount of irrigation."


Mr Granshaw says an automated irrigation system has reduced the amount of water
used for the cane crop.(ABC Rural: Lucy Cooper)


TRANSITION TO AUTOMATION

While farmers have been using automation to mitigate rising costs and
groundwater, for the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, investing in the technology
has been all about healthy corals.


AUTOMATION TO SHAPE THE FUTURE OF AUSTRALIAN FARMING

Robots are being used to commercially farm more than 405,000 hectares of
Australian farmland.


Read more

Executive director of projects and partnerships Theresa Fyffe said the
foundation recently entered a $1-million partnership with a beer brand to
automate 600ha in the Lower Burdekin.

"To have healthy coral reefs, you need to have healthy water that's flowing into
the reef," she said.

"By installing precision irrigation systems, you can reduce the amount of water
that you're using and reduce energy.

"But you also reduce runoff coming off the farm."

Agritech Solutions extension officer Cherrie Stockham says interest in water use
efficiencies has grown but warns the transition to automation takes time.

"These things don't just happen in three, six months," she said.

"The growers need support and ongoing advice and they need to be confident in
what they're doing.

"We can't expect them to just adopt something the farmer next door has done.
They need to see a business case and see that it's going to be viable for them
to do it."


Cherrie Stockham says Burdekin farmers are considering automation thanks to
higher cane prices.(Supplied: Cherrie Stockham)

Mr Granshaw agreed that educating farmers would be critical for continued
adoption.

"The process of understanding what's going on [with groundwater] really needs to
hit home," he said.

"Once you see the numbers — that you've actually gone out and measured on that
particular paddock — then [there] becomes an easier way to understand what the
way forward might be."


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Posted 17h ago17 hours agoWed 9 Nov 2022 at 12:18am, updated 6h ago6 hours
agoWed 9 Nov 2022 at 10:34am
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RELATED STORIES


 * BENEFITS FLOW FROM IRRIGATION VIA REMOTE CONTROL
   
   


 * WATER QUALITY FAILURE DESPITE HUGE GOVERNMENT SPEND ON GREAT BARRIER REEF
   
   


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