“ We also placed advanced sensors every 150m down the field to measure how quickly the water advanced from stage to stage . We ended up finding soil constraints in the middle of the farm that we didn ’ t know were there .”
MULTIPLE BENEFITS OF AUTOMATION
Chris said that , while it was early days in the project , with only one year of data , installing the automated irrigation system had shown multiple benefits to the farming operation , saving time and money , while minimising runoff .
“ WE HAVE REDUCED THE VOLUME OF WATER APPLIED FROM THE RECYCLE PIT AND CHANNEL BY 35 PER CENT AS WELL AS PREVENTED 2 MEGALITRES PER HECTARE BEING LOST TO DEEP DRAINAGE ,” CHRIS SAID .
Chris said that irrigators on other Wilmar farms had started manually making changes to their practices based on what had been learned from the BIP site .
SHARING RESULTS WITH THE COMMUNITY
Chris said the project team shared findings with a range of internal and external stakeholders .
“ Environment Protection Agency staff came out to take a look and it was good to show them the sugar industry is becoming more sustainable ,” he said .
“ We held meetings with other community partners , including staff at the mill . We also hosted our Senior Leadership Team on site , and it was refreshing to show them that the farms are leading the way in the technology space . They have shown a lot of interest in the trial , and it has been an eye opener .”
“ Irrigation time was reduced from 24 hours to as low as 5.2 hours , with the number of irrigation events per year decreasing from 24 to 15 .
“ We can now change irrigation sets using smart phones or tablets when our irrigators are away from site , which saves time and allows us to redeploy staff to other jobs .
“ We have seen reductions in energy use , with less runoff into the recycle pits meaning these pumps aren ’ t running as often . This also reduces carbon emissions , in keeping with Wilmar ’ s Vision 35 target .
“ The project was estimated to have achieved a 53 per cent reduction in DIN loss , meaning more fertiliser available for the crop . Despite the reduction in irrigation volume , there was no loss in yield or CCS on the trial site compared to the control site .”
EMBRACING THE CHANGE
Terry said Wilmar ’ s irrigators looked forward to adopting ag-tech to make their job easier .
“ The irrigators have been fantastic , taking on board a completely new irrigation practice ,” he said .
“ One told me he used to come back three or four times to check the bottom end of the farm when he was irrigating . Now he only does it once .”
“ Technology allows people to try things that are out of the box , and that they wouldn ’ t normally do . That ’ s been the eye opener . There is less fear of using tech now compared with 10 years ago .”
PLANS TO EXPAND
Chris said comparing early trial data and control sites had provided the evidence to secure a commitment from senior management to automate a further 240ha of land on Wilmar ’ s Stockham Road farm .
This project is part of the Lower Burdekin Major Grants Program , which aims to support participants in the BIP and other projects within the Lower Burdekin Regional Water Quality Program to maintain momentum and achieve further efficiencies .
“ AS SOON AS WE SAW THE FIGURES AFTER HARVESTING THE CANE WE WERE VERY SURPRISED – IT WAS A NO-BRAINER AND GAVE US THE JUSTIFICATION WE NEEDED ,” CHRIS SAID .
“ We calculated the new project will pay itself off in under two-and-a-half years .
“ Ideally , we ’ d like to roll out automation on all our farms in the Burdekin and then further south to Proserpine . This project is giving us confidence it can be done .
“ WITHOUT JOINING THE BIP WE WOULD STILL THINK WE WERE DOING A GOOD JOB WITH OUR IRRIGATION . YOU DON ’ T KNOW WHAT YOU DON ’ T KNOW . EVERYONE WANTS TO DO THE RIGHT THING , AND NOW WE HAVE THE DATA WE CAN PUT OUR HAND ON OUR HEART AND KNOW WE ARE DOING THE RIGHT THING .”