Dr James Hills on Beyond Water Smart: Advancing Dairy Irrigation System Performance

Dr James Hills from Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture talks about the optimised irrigation sites that are part of the Smarter Irrigation for Profit 2 program. The sites are looking at technology to gain a better understanding of what is happening in terms of irrigation, so producers can optimise irrigation practices and improve productivity. One of the primary messages is; measure so you understand.

James highlights the importance of scheduling, or lining up water being used by the plant with water inputs. Big increases in productivity can be achieved by optimising scheduling. Technology such as soil moisture probes, weather stations for local evapotranspiration, weather forecasts, and scheduling tools that bring all the data together help producers improve their irrigation performance.

Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA is a joint venture of the University of Tasmania and the Tasmanian Government)