Cane grower David Fowler saved water , time , and money by installing an automated irrigation system on his 41-hectare farm at Osborne , on the Burdekin River .
CASE STUDY
DAVID FOWLER
Cane grower David Fowler saved water , time , and money by installing an automated irrigation system on his 41-hectare farm at Osborne , on the Burdekin River .
Since acquiring his family farm seven years ago , David Fowler has focused on improving his infrastructure to reduce energy consumption , improve water use efficiency and minimise surface and deep drainage irrigation loss .
“ At first I thought there ’ s got to be a better way to do this irrigation ,” David said .
“ It was so time consuming , and by over irrigating we were pumping a lot more water out from underground than we needed .
“ I had been looking to automate since I bought the farm , but when I first met with Steve Attard from Agritech Solutions , he said I needed to look at pump efficiencies , power costs , pipeline sizes and outlets . He put the data in a graph , which showed me all my inefficiencies , and the dollar cost .”
Agritech Solutions provided David with a comprehensive Automation Plan detailing the specialised technical and agronomic advice necessary when making this degree of investment .
“ We went through everything . It was a huge amount of work in the long run , and there was a lot of learning too . Now I ’ ve got all the information , it ’ s just easy .
“ My first priority was getting all my pumps running as efficiently as possible . Next was installing pipelines to the outlets and the last step was automation .”
HE SAID LONG-TERM PLANS TO INSTALL AN AUTOMATED IRRIGATION SYSTEM HAD BEEN ACCELERATED THANKS TO THE MAJOR GRANTS PROJECT UNDER THE LBWQP .
“ IT WOULD HAVE TAKEN ANOTHER THREE TO FIVE YEARS TO GET THERE , BECAUSE FARMS AREN ’ T THAT CHEAP , SO YOU DON ’ T HAVE A LOT OF MONEY TO SPEND STRAIGHT UP ,” HE SAID .
HOW IT WORKS
David opted for an automated system developed by local company Electrical and Automation Solutions ( EAS ), which had been installed on the farm he helps manage at Mt Alma .
He said he had the opportunity to see the system in action while working at Mt Alma and had been struck by its ease of use .
He worked closely with EAS to ensure the system was perfectly tailored to his needs , and he couldn ’ t be happier with the outcome .
He said the entire system was controlled from a screen in his shed via two telemetry networks — one high-speed Wi-Fi to remotely control the pumps , and a lower speed connection for the end of row moisture sensors , which inform him when water has reached the end of the furrow .
“ You push the moisture sensor in the end of your row , and as soon as it detects water it will send a message to the control network , which will change it to the next set or turn your pumps off ,” he said .