Murrumbidgee Irrigation is upgrading and installing new metered farm outlets so they are automation ready, as part of the outlet automation program.
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This will allow remote operation and monitoring of outlets, which will in turn benefit Murrumbidgee Irrigation (MI) customers through:
- Greater flexibility in water delivery
- Lower fixed charges
- Consistent flow rates
- Workplace health & safety advantages due to reduced manual labour
- Lower maintenance and operational costs resulting in cost savings that MI can pass on to customers.
MI first trialled automated farm outlets in early 2017 in co-operation with the Irrigation Research & Extension Committee (IREC) and irrigators in Gogelderie.
IREC chairman Rob Houghton said a number of other suitable automation sites across the MIA were identified off the back of this successful trial. “This project has been a real game changer for many farmers in the region,” he said.
Through MI’s outlet automation program, Goolgowi irrigators Murray Robertson and his son Harry have replaced three of their 15-megalitre outlets with a single 60-megalitre.
Murray said like all farmers they are looking to get the most out of the water available and “chase the return per megalitre”.
“The new larger outlet is great and has exceeded my expectations,” he said. “This program has given us the opportunity to reconfigure outlets to get the flow rate most suited to our farming needs.”
