ON FARM WATER USE CALCULATOR FOR TURF

It is common knowledge that in turf production, the three areas that are paramount are ‘Water, Soil and Sun’. Over time water availability continues to be the major issue confronting turf producers in this state and in recent times Queensland had 80% of its state drought declared indicating this variability from month to month. The certainty is that water is our most valuable tool in turf production and that dry weather will increase.

Due to this ongoing water demand placed on our turf production facilities as a result of our variable climate across Queensland, your Association, Turf Queensland, has investigated the availability of an easy to use “Ready Reckoner Reference Tool “for the use in identifying seasonal water demand in mega litres/hectare based on a range of set criteria such as:

• Industry
• Turf Grass Species (Some species unavailable at this time)
• Irrigation System
• Soil Types
• Location (Some locations unavailable at this time)

This tool is known as “IRUSTIC” and is available now for your use online as a Turf Queensland member.

“KMSI” is the Knowledge Management System for Irrigation, developed by the National Centre for Engineering in Agriculture with funds provided by the Queensland Government Department of Natural Resources and Mines as part of the South East Queensland Irrigation Futures project over more than eight years of which your association Turf Queensland is a partner. This database reference tool is available free of charge to Turf Queensland members directly online (see attached hyperlink below).

This is well worth your time (very quick and simple) and after populating the database (approximately 2 minutes) it will identify the seasonal water demand in your area to suit the turf species selected. Unfortunately some species and locations have not yet been included in the calculator software but is being regularly updated when information becomes available. Available locations can be approximate and cover most areas in  SEQ.

For example:

IRUSTIC LINK

http://irustic.nceaprd.usq.edu.au/

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Turf Queensland is still investigating the efficiency benefits to turf farmers by installing new technology and innovation such as Centre Pivot’s or Lateral Irrigation, Fertigation, Soil Moisture Monitoring, Soil and Crop Health Mapping, GPS and Variable Rate Irrigation are some examples. The effect of this on farm usage of water and energy are subject to current programs being undertaken by your Association, Turf Queensland in conjunction with the Queensland State government.

A software program called “DAMAE$Y” was developed through the Queensland Government Rural Water Use Efficiency Initiative, CSIRO and a number of Sugar Industry organisations. We will need to identify any modifications required for the turf industry. We are not sure if this is still available and are undertaking the appropriate investigations to see if it can be modified to suit turf production.

The target for this updated project would be to understand the specific needs of the turf producer in various areas based on the availability of water in different climatic zones over the past 40 or 50 years for example. This would assist the turf producer in understanding the sustainability of the farm based on their water storage capacity or water availability in the medium to long term. Across the state of Queensland we are consistently hit with a variety of climatic events including drought, bushfires, floods and cyclones for example, and the development of a program to identify the need would support the “IRUSTIC” tool and provide Queensland turf producers with an excellent knowledge base. We believe DAMAE$Y software is still available and we are attempting to identify its availability and source for our members.

We will advise when more information is available on the appropriate software package to identify the actual water balance on individual farms. The issue of benefits to turf farmers of water savings and efficiency gains by utilising innovative equipment is currently being investigated by Turf Queensland through the Rural Water Use Efficiency Irrigation Futures program funded by the Queensland state governments Department of Natural Resources and Mines. Obviously there is a return on investment calculation required and currently and fortunately in the short term the low prices of turf grass does not support heavy investment. The turf industry has some strong economic decisions to make on its sustainability.

DamEa$y-LaunchBrochure