Dairy feedbase stategies to offset rising pumping costs Pat Daley, Mark Callow

2 Presentation Northern Australian Dairy Industry Objective of Study Methodology Results Summary

3 Northern Australian Dairy Industry Milk production occurs all year round Subtropical environment; high evapotranspiration, variable rainfall >60% of farms irrigate pastures and crops Irrigated ryegrass pasture important source of feed during winter Milk price has remained stable but energy costs are rising Installation of new irrigation systems

4 Objective of study 1.Analyse energy consumption used for irrigation on dairy and lucerne farms 2.Evaluate the effect of increasing ryegrass production and water use efficiency on pumping costs

5 Methodology Compare calculated pumping costs within irrigation systems; Low pressure (<35 psi; centre pivots and lateral moves) Medium pressure (60 psi; solid set, side roll, fixed boom soft hose) High pressure (>95 psi; big gun soft and hard hose) WUE increased linearly by 0.25 t DM/ML for every 2 t DM/ha increase Pumping costs ($/ML) were calculated assuming; Power cost $/Kwh = $0.20 Energy consumption to pump 1 ML to 1 m of head (Kwh/ML/m) = 6.7 Kwh/ML/psi = 6.7/1.42 = 4.71

6 Acknowledgement to Southern Cross Pumps for this performance chart

7 Results KWh/ML/Mor Units of energy/ Water volume/Pressure The average for the state is 6.7 $0.20 per KWh this is $1.34/ML/M The top 10% for the state is 4.5 $0.20 per KWh this is $0.90/ML/M

8 Results 1.Analyse energy consumption used for irrigation on dairy and lucerne farms

9Results 2.Evaluate the effect of increasing ryegrass production and water use efficiency on pumping costs

10 Summary Energy costs can be reduced by, Improved irrigation hardware design and installation Improved agronomic management

Thank You KMSI is the Knowledge Management System for Irrigation, developed by the National Centre for Engineering in Agriculture with funds provided by the Queensland Government

12 Pumping Energy App Centre Pivot95% $46.90 $27.00 Lateral Move 90% $67.00 $36.00 Solid Set85% $69.00 $36.00 Side Roll75% $74.15 $40.50 Hand shift65% $78.40 $49.50 Boom Soft hose75% $78.56 $40.50 Big Gun soft hose 60% $98.50 $58.50 Big Gun Hard hose 55% $ $81.00 Flood (Control)50% $26.80 $18.00 Micro spray75% $40.20 $27.00

13 Fuel/Energy Electricity 3.6 MJ = 1 Kwh85 to 95%eff Diesel40 MJ = 11.1 Kwh30 to 33%eff Bio Diesel35.1 MJ = 9.75 Kwh30 to 33%eff Ngas39 MJ = 10.8 Kwh40 to 48%eff Ethanol23.5MJ = 6.52Kwh25 to 35%eff