Aaron Linton knows a thing or two about water. The Burdekin cane farmer not only relies on irrigation to grow his crop, he recently won the 2015 Taser Nationals off Townsville sailing with his haul-out driver, Jamie Jochheim, as crewman.
The pair did their fitness training around the farm at Kirknie and took to the water when they could around the demands of 100 hectare property.
Aaron and his wife, Amy, decided on the land upstream from the Clare Weir to raise their family. They bought the property in 2010 and Aaron has put a lot of labour and capital in to transforming what was a rundown farm into a modern and viable enterprise.
“When we took it on it was producing 3500 to 4000 tonnes of cane, now we’re up to around 9000 and I’m pretty sure we can get better,” Aaron said.
“The key changes have been weed control and getting the planting right but the biggest improver of our yield has been the drip system installed on 42 hectares.”
The computer-controlled drip tape irrigation system has been in operation for three years and a detailed assessment is now being undertaken to determine if the boost in tonnage and water use efficiency gains deliver an overall farm efficiency dividend when compared with the furrow irrigation systems most commonly seen in the Burdekin region.
Aaron has his computer linked up to all of his irrigation sets, the pump and variable speed controller for saving energy. It means he can monitor the farm anywhere in the world using a smartphone.
The farm is divided into two main sections with blocks on one side under furrow irrigation using water pumped from the Burdekin River. Once paddocks are flooded, runoff is channelled into a recycling pit which supplies water to the pump station driving the trickle tape system on the opposite side of the road.
A fertiliser tank allows nutrient to be added to the water which goes directly to the roots of the plants under drip irrigation. A system of valves, linked to the pumping shed via radio control, manages the flow of water and nutrient to the cane.
It’s a system that not only provides substantial gains in water use efficiency, but eliminates nutrient runoff from the farm. The absence of moisture at ground level also minimises weed germination, meaning less need for herbicides.
The $250,000 system was made possible with partial funding from the Australian Government Reef Program.
It is already delivering strong environmental dividends for a farmer who, as a champion yachtsman, understands better than most the importance of protecting the Great Barrier Reef catchment.
