increase font size
South Canterbury farmer and Irrigation NZ chair Nicky Hyslop discusses the benefits of irrigation to Grasslands Conference-goers at a field day on her South Canterbury property.
The Opuha Dam irrigation project is bringing $126 million annually into the South Canterbury region, says local farmer Nicky Hyslop.
Hyslop, who is the chair of Irrigation New Zealand, and her husband Jonty, farm the 227ha Levels Estate, a few km northwest of Timaru, where they hosted a field trip visit by attendees of the annual Grassland Association conference.
One of the first farms in the district to get border dyke irrigation, the farm now has 208ha irrigated, mainly with two centre pivots and a long linear irrigator along the main road frontage.
The Hyslops trade lambs and cattle including dairy heifers, grow up to 20ha of spring feed barley and 4ha of specialist seed crops, and lease 20ha to a potato grower.
Emphasising the diversity and vitality irrigation has brought to the district, Hyslop says the local school had only 200 pupils when they moved in in 2003, but now has 300.
Under border dyke irrigation, pre-Opuha, the farm produced 280kg carcase weight/ha and 280 tonnes of grain, for a gross income of $1683/ha, and supported one family.
Post-Opuha, between 2013 and 2015, and even with the severe restrictions imposed by drought in the latter part of the period, it recorded 740kgCW/ha, 400t of grain and a gross income of $3976/ha.
It is now supporting two families, with five pre-school and school-age children, she says.
Guest speaker during the visit to the Hyslop farm was Craige Mackenzie, a Methven dairy and cropping farmer and founder of the precision agriculture company Agri-Optics.
He advocates electro-magnetic mapping of farms to understand their underlying soil characteristics, continued monitoring with technology such as soil moisture probes, and using spatial application of fertilisers and irrigation to maximise efficiency.
“Every individual sprinkler down those irrigators is individually controlled. Then depending on the sprinkler spacing, and how intense your soil changes are, you can control that – if you’ve got probes in each zone – down to each individual dropper.”
Mackenzie says that even on non-irrigated land, monitoring soil moisture allows farmers to decide when to destock.
IrrigationNZ submitted a briefing last month to the new Government this week on how water capture, storage, and efficient use can grow economic prosperity, support New Zealand's exports, and ensure long term regional resilience. Here's part of what Vanessa Winning, chief executive of IrrigationNZ, said:
Most vineyards require irrigation at some point. Deciding when and how much is required is a powerful management tool that directly affects fruit production, disease pressure, and even operational passes.
IrrigationNZ has released its election manifesto, calling for policies that secure water for growing food.
The first two bills in the RMA reform package simply are not good enough.
A wetter than usual irrigation season has hindered data collection efforts for Canterbury dairy grazers Gary and Penny Robinson.
'A lot of interest and positive responses' appears to be the way farmers are viewing the Government's initiative to hold a series of woolshed meetings around the country.
A Southland farming leader wants the regional council to delay a proposed regional rates hike, much of which is intended to fund flood protection works.
Rural Women New Zealand (RWNZ) says access to personal banking services in rural communities is fundamental to promoting outcomes that benefit Kiwi consumers.
A group set up to boost education and promotion of wool says it has made positive strides during the first year of its three-year strategy.
Meat processor ANZCO Foods says despite a challenging business environment, it has posted a net profit before tax of $61 million for 2023.
Horticulture NZ chief executive Nadine Tunley will step down in August.
OPINION: Readers of this column will know that your old mate has been a long-time critic of $55 million of…
OPINION: The Hound reckons school teachers like nothing better than to complain constantly about how tough things are for them…
