Overview of the irrigated dairy industry in Australia

Bethune, Matthew; Armstrong, Dan P.

doi:10.1071/ea03148

Cited by 15 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…According to the State of the Environment report (2011), large areas of Australia, both urban and rural, are using groundwater above a sustainable level ( 26 ) . High use of irrigation can lead to shallow water tables, salinity and water-logging ( 27 – 29 ) . Water is used in other parts of the food system, for example in cleaning and washing while processing the food product or as an input into the final product ( 30 , 31 ) .…”

Section: The Relationship Between Environmental Change and The Food Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards healthy and sustainable food consumption: an Australian case study

Friel

Barosh

Lawrence

2013

Public Health Nutr.

112

117

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Objective: To articulate a healthy and sustainable (H&S) diet; outline key health and environmental sustainability principles that can be applied in the selection of foods for inclusion in such a diet; and describe a methodology with which to assess the availability and affordability of a H&S food basket. Design: We synthesized publically available evidence on the environmental impact of different foods from academic, government, industry and non-government sources and constructed a hypothetical H&S equivalent of the typical Australian diet. Based on this, we constructed a weekly H&S food basket for a household of two adults and two children. Setting: Australia.

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Section: The Relationship Between Environmental Change and The Food Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards healthy and sustainable food consumption: an Australian case study

Friel

Barosh

Lawrence

2013

Public Health Nutr.

112

117

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“…Irrigated perennial pastures were the dominant forage system for the dairy industry in the region and occupied around three-quarters of the milking area on most farms until the late 1990s [13,14]. However, since then, the proportion of perennial pastures has declined and the area of annual pastures and other forage crops has increased as a response of climate and water reforms leading to a series of years with lower water allocations [28].…”

Section: Perennial Foragesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Perennial pastures require a year-round supply of water to meet plant growth requirements [14] while annual pastures are irrigated from March/April to October/November. The area of each of these forages varies from year to year depending on the season, the availability and cost of water, the potential value of that forage, the suitability of the forage to the farm system and other economic factors such as the cost of supplements and the milk price.…”

Section: Species Performance Under Full Irrigationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Irrigated forage systems for the dairy industry are based on pastures that are generally border-check irrigated, where water is flooded over a graded irrigation bay [13,14]. This irrigation method suits the clay, and clay loam soils of the region because there is minimal loss of water below the rootzone to groundwater, particularly when underlying water tables are high (1-2 m) [15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Forage Options for Dairy Farms with Reduced Water Availability in the Southern Murray Darling Basin of Australia

2017

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Abstract:The dairy industry in the southern Murray Darling Basin region of Australia is a major consumer of irrigation water because rainfall is low relative to evapotranspiration and the industrys relies heavily on irrigated temperate pastures and fodder crops. Water reforms, and potential climate change scenarios for this region suggest that there will be an overall decline in rainfall and water available for irrigation in the future. For the irrigated dairy industry to remain economically viable, there is a need for dairy farmers to improve the water productivity (WP) of their forage systems and to be able to respond to year-to-year, and within year, variation in water availability. Researchers and dairy farmers are evaluating strategies to increase WP. These include: (i) selecting better-adapted species for current and predicted climatic conditions; (ii) using species that can survive and still be productive under reduced irrigation and then recover when full irrigation is restored; (iii) modifying irrigation strategies to reduce water use whilst maintaining WP; and (iv) grazing management strategies that facilitate the survival during, and recovery after, periods of moisture stress. This review will examine these strategies and discusses their potential to optimise forage production from irrigation water inputs so that the dairy industry in the southern Murray Darling Basin remains viable in the future.

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“…Large water losses through runoff and drainage are possible if the flood irrigation system is not well designed and managed (SA EPA 2008). In some locations in Australia, flood irrigation is the preferred irrigation method because of its low capital and energy costs, and soil salinity reduction benefit (Bethune and Armstrong 2004;O'Kane 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pollutant Loads Returned to the Lower Murray River from Flood-Irrigated Agriculture

Mosley¹,

Fleming

2010

Water Air Soil Pollut

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Pollutant concentrations and loads returned to the lower Murray River (South Australia) from flood-irrigated agriculture were monitored over a period of 2 years at six locations. This monitoring programme was designed to provide a baseline prior to environmental improvements being undertaken to reduce pollutant loads returned to the river. Pollutant (Escherichia coli, total nitrogen, oxidised nitrogen, total phosphorus, filtered reactive phosphorus and total organic carbon) concentrations were significantly (p<0.01) higher in the drainage water than the river water and increased during the irrigation season. Salt concentrations were also significantly (p <0.01) higher in the drainage water than the river inflow water but decreased during the irrigation season because of dilution of the saline groundwater inputs. Pollutant loads exported to the river were significantly higher (p<0.01-0.05) during the irrigation season for all water quality parameters except oxidised nitrogen. Levels of oxidised nitrogen, filtered reactive phosphorus and E. coli increased in the river downstream of the where the agricultural pollutant inputs begin. Load calculations indicated that this increased water pollution is likely due to the pollutant contributions from the flood-irrigated areas and biogeochemical processing of dissolved nutrients in the river.

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Overview of the irrigated dairy industry in Australia

Cited by 15 publications

References 0 publications

Towards healthy and sustainable food consumption: an Australian case study

Towards healthy and sustainable food consumption: an Australian case study

Forage Options for Dairy Farms with Reduced Water Availability in the Southern Murray Darling Basin of Australia

Pollutant Loads Returned to the Lower Murray River from Flood-Irrigated Agriculture

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