Rising diesel costs are leading many farmers to consider changing their irrigation systems from diesel to electricity. The potential cost savings achievable by making this change will depend on the efficiency of your current system, the amount of water you pump, and the new electricity tariff. Within the Sunraysia, Goulburn [...]
Energy assessments of irrigation systems across the Murray Darling Basin have highlighted huge opportunities to improve irrigation energy efficiency. However, many farms still ask: How can I tell if my irrigation system is energy efficient? What are the likely costs and benefits of improving the energy efficiency of my system? [...]
Wednesday, 13 May 2026 Weekly Irrigation Requirements Northern Victoria Hello Irrigators, This is our final update for the 2025–26 irrigation season, wrapping up with forecast rain expected across the GMID over the weekend and into next week. Thank you for your ongoing support throughout the season. We look forward to reconnecting in August [...]
Welcome to the Irrigation Webinar Series recordings page Below you will find links to each recording as they become available. Webinar 18: 2025 Water Supply and Demand in the Southern Murray Darling Basin (April 2026) Webinar 16: New approach to delivery rights in Victoria: Place of take approvals framework Webinar [...]
Irrigation systems, in particular drip irrigation, will only operate properly if well maintained. By regularly monitoring and maintaining its components we can reduce blockages, deterioration of drippers, pressure irregularities, and impacts on tree health and yields. Here we highlight some management techniques that will help irrigators to retain maximum benefits [...]
Filtration is an essential component of some irrigation methods and a crucial part of drip irrigation systems. Besides being an expensive investment at first, it pays off by: Reducing debris and other contaminates entering the system. Avoiding blockages. Extending the life of the system. Lowering labour costs and work time. [...]
Fertigation is the application of soluble fertilisers and micronutrients to crops through an irrigation system, and drip irrigation systems are highly suited to support this process, generally used to supply the crop's nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and magnesium needs. Advantages Disadvantages - Less volatilisation as fertiliser is applied directly to [...]
There are two basic injection methods used to apply fertigation in drip irrigation systems: pressure differential and injection pumps. Many factors will influence which system suits your needs best and can be dependent on your management style, skill level, farm size, layout, costs, power supply, or crop sensitivity. In this [...]
The Maffra Agriculture Victoria irrigation extension team conducted a farm walk at a dairy farm near Sale in March of 2023. Local irrigators were afforded the opportunity to see a long-term installation of sub-surface drip irrigation under lucerne. Context in the MID Sub-surface drip irrigation is a network of pipes [...]
The Agriculture Victoria irrigation team were recently contacted by a couple who had just purchased 40 acres at Dawson, Victoria. They were completely new to farming and wanted to develop their business model with a strong emphasis on environmental sustainability. They were particularly interested in advice on pasture and tree [...]
