Wednesday, 30 September 2026 Weekly Irrigation Requirements Northern Victoria This provides reference evapotranspiration (ETo) information to assist with irrigation scheduling for improved yields and higher water productivity. This information can also be viewed at ExtensionAUS Irrigating Agriculture where an interactive map provides live daily ETo data for any Victorian location. In [...]
Soil assessments are performed to determine the characteristics and water holding capacity of particular soils. This in turn assists in working out what to plant. In the below video Maxine Schache from Agriculture Victoria in Irymple demonstrates a soil pit assessment. Resources from the video can be found below. *Placeholder [...]
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? [...]
Maximising the return on investment for any solar installation requires using as much of the power as possible, at the time it is generated, or selling excess power at a reasonable price. Feedback tariffs have steadily declined and are now down to around 2-5c per kWh, so feeding (selling) back [...]
Context: Leathorn Dairies in Newry, West Gippsland, demonstrated just how important basic maintenance can be in improving irrigation efficiency. Over a two-year period, Agriculture Victoria performed two irrigation efficiency assessments on one of their centre pivot irrigation systems. One assessment was conducted before and one after machine maintenance was carried [...]
Accessing soil maps for your farm in the Goulburn Murray Irrigation District (GMID) or Sunraysia irrigation area just became a bit easier. If you have Google Earth or Google Earth Pro loaded on your computer you can directly download the maps for your area. How to access the maps If [...]
On a large dairy farm in Denison, a farming family has spent years developing their irrigation system. Their goals were to improve water use efficiency and reduce their labour requirements. An irrigation farm plan was completed, which mapped out their current infrastructure and identified opportunities for improvement. The farm's soil was [...]
A recent irrigation farm plan application from beef farmers in Stratford triggered an in-depth extension process which resulted in positive outcomes for the irrigators, the environment and cultural heritage values. Agriculture Victoria developed a concept plan as part of the normal farm planning process which outlined a significant area of [...]
A truffle farmer near Stratford was concerned about the recent rise of saline groundwater and the possible effects on his newly developed truffle farm. Agriculture Victoria Irrigation and Horticulture staff visited the grower to talk through tree husbandry, salinity in the Macalister Irrigation District, groundwater recharge and movement, as well [...]
