Dairy feedbase stategies to offset rising pumping costs

Pat Daley, Mark Callow

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Presentation Northern Australian Dairy Industry

Objective of Study

Methodology

Results

Summary

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Northern Australian Dairy Industry

Milk production occurs all year round

Subtropical environment; high evapotranspiration, variable rainfall

>60% of farms irrigate pastures and crops

Irrigated ryegrass pasture important source of feed during winter

Milk price has remained stable but energy costs are rising

Installation of new irrigation systems

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Objective of study

1. Analyse energy consumption used for irrigation on dairy and lucerne farms

2. Evaluate the effect of increasing ryegrass production and water use efficiency on pumping costs

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Methodology Compare calculated pumping costs within irrigation systems;

Low pressure (<35 psi; centre pivots and lateral moves)

Medium pressure (60 psi; solid set, side roll, fixed boom soft hose)

High pressure (>95 psi; big gun soft and hard hose)

WUE increased linearly by 0.25 t DM/ML for every 2 t DM/ha increase

Pumping costs ($/ML) were calculated assuming;

Power cost $/Kwh = $0.20

Energy consumption to pump 1 ML to 1 m of head (Kwh/ML/m) = 6.7

Kwh/ML/psi = 6.7/1.42 = 4.71

6Acknowledgement to Southern Cross Pumps for this performance chart

5.8L/S @114Mh

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Results

KWh/ML/Mor

Units of energy/ Water volume/PressureThe average for the state is 6.7 KWh/ML/M

@ $0.20 per KWh this is $1.34/ML/MThe top 10% for the state is 4.5 KWh/ML/M

@ $0.20 per KWh this is $0.90/ML/M

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Results

1. Analyse energy consumption used for irrigation on dairy and lucerne farms

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Pum

ping

cos

t ($/

ML

@ $

0.20

/kw

h)

Top 10%AverageLowest 10%

Low pressure (<35 psi)

Medium pressure (60 psi)

High pressure (>95 psi)

Centre pivot & lateral

Solid set, side roll & boom soft

hose

Big gun soft & hard hose

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Results

2. Evaluate the effect of increasing ryegrass production and water use efficiency on pumping costs

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

4 6 8 10 12 14 16Ryegrass yield (t DM/ha)

Pum

ping

cos

ts ($

/t D

M) Low

HighMedium

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Summary

Energy costs can be reduced by,Improved irrigation hardware design and

installation

Improved agronomic management

Thank YouKMSI is the Knowledge Management Sys tem for Irrigation, developed by the National Centre for Engineering in Agriculture with funds provided by the Queensland Government

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Pumping Energy App 6.7 4.5

•Centre Pivot 95% $46.90 $27.00•Lateral Move 90% $67.00 $36.00 •Solid Set 85% $69.00 $36.00•Side Roll 75% $74.15 $40.50•Hand shift 65% $78.40 $49.50 •Boom Soft hose 75% $78.56 $40.50•Big Gun soft hose 60% $98.50 $58.50•Big Gun Hard hose 55% $116.58 $81.00•Flood (Control) 50% $26.80 $18.00•Micro spray 75% $40.20 $27.00

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Fuel/Energy

• Electricity 3.6 MJ = 1 Kwh 85 to 95%eff• Diesel 40 MJ = 11.1 Kwh 30 to 33%eff• Bio Diesel 35.1 MJ = 9.75 Kwh 30 to 33%eff• Ngas 39 MJ = 10.8 Kwh 40 to 48%eff• Ethanol 23.5MJ = 6.52Kwh 25 to 35%eff