Spring is the time to check your equipment and irrigation schedules are up to scratch for summer. Poorly operating irrigation systems cost time and water efficiency, not to mention the additional cost to production. You need to make sure your irrigation systems are operating as efficiently as possible to make the best of water resources. Here are some simple things that you can do.
1. CHECK YOUR FLOWS AND PRESSURES
These are often overlooked. They are generally affected by the wearing of pump impellers over time. Checking that your flow and pressures are within 10 percent of operating design is critical to application efficiency.
2. CHECK FOR LEAKS
Water not irrigating the right place is water wasted. This also applies to end gun settings and broken sprinklers.
3. DO A BUCKET TEST (IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY)
This lets you know how much water you are applying and how even your application is. Knowing how much water you are applying is critical for irrigation scheduling. Improving the uniformity of application will result in more of your irrigation being beneficially used.
4. INVEST IN SOIL MOISTURE MONITORING AND WEATHER FORECASTS
An efficient irrigation system is only as good as the scheduling of the irrigation. Knowing when to irrigate and how much to apply will save both time (irrigation days throughout the season) and money (pumping costs per day). Linking soil moisture monitoring with weather forecasts will allow any rainfall during the irrigation season to be taken advantage of.
5. MAKE A PLAN
With the experience of a few tough seasons behind us, now is the time to look at your seasonal plan. Does your consent have adaptive management conditions? How would this affect your irrigation scheduling? Identify your higher production areas and your lower productions areas. Does your system have the capability to isolate areas of lower performance if the season gets tight?
6. UPSKILL YOUR STAFF
If you have any new staff on board you need to provide training so they understand how to correctly schedule and operate irrigation equipment to ensure you optimise water use and avoid damage to expensive equipment. IrrigationNZ has a range of online and in person training options, click here to find out more.
Start-Up Checklists
Have a look at this checklist to make sure you're ready for the new season:
Sprayline (pods, long lateral, solid set)
Travelling Irrigators (boom, gun, rotorainer)