Wealth from Water Agriculture in Tasmania $1.683b farm gate 2009/10 - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Wealth from Water

Agriculture in Tasmania

• $1.683b farm gate 2009/10
• 6% GSP farm gate
• c$5.38b FDE (x3.2)
• c18% GSP FDE (c7%)
• c17,500 people directly employed
• 7% state employment (3%)
• c16% state employment FDE

Value of Agriculture ($m)

200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600 1,800 2003/2004 2004/2005 2005/2006 2006/2007 2007/2008 2008/2009 Agriculture Aqua & Fishing Total

Our competitive advantages

• 0.9% of Australia’s land mass; 14% of the

nation’s fresh water;

• highest ratio of arable land to population in

Australia;

• most usable sunshine;
• some of the world’s most skilled farmers and

researchers.

Why irrigation on farm

Diversify Drought Proof Stabilise Income

Economic Environmental Social

1 2 3 4 5 $- $200,000 $400,000 $600,000 $800,000 $1,000,000 $1,200,000 $1,400,000 $1,600,000 $1,800,000 $2,000,000 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Gross Farm Turnover Number Of Employees

Pre Irrigation

Increasing Irrigation

capacity Drought

Annandale Gross Farm Turnover 1999 to 2010

• Enterprise Suitability Mapping: soils, climate and

crop “rules”

• Market and Business Opportunity: tools and

information

• Extension: irrigation technology, practice and

transfer

What is Wealth from Water?

Facilitation, information exchange & collaboration

• Basis in Tasmania’s Economic Development Plan
• Aims to assist farmers and potential investors to develop their

irrigation businesses and help make the transition to growing the high-value crops best suited to their area

• The pilot is pioneering new ways for providing soil, climate

and enterprise suitability information, as well as market and business planning support

• Help accelerate the change: good information on potential
• pportunities

Soil Attributes

Digital Soil Mapping: DSM provides greater detail vs a traditional soil order map Meander East Irrigation District

Climate Surfaces – Modelling Local Climate Risks

T

• ols: Enterprise Suitability Mapping

OLIVES *

Rules:

• Geology (1:25,000 to

1:250,000), selecting Jurassic Dolerite & Triassic Sandstones

• Slopes 5 to 15 %
• Elevations below 450m
• Private Agricultural Land
• Northerly Aspects

Enterprise Suitability = Soil Attributes (Digital Soil Mapping) + Climate Risk + Crop Suitability Rules

* Theoretical example only

Olive Suitability – a guide for further on- farm investigations

Rules:

• ‘Nil risk’ of waterlogging

(olives cannot tolerate saturated soils)

• Non acidic
• ‘Moderate or less’ salinity

rating

• Slopes greater than 8% to

ensure lower risk of waterlogging

• Northerly slope aspects for
• ptimum growing conditions
• 1:50,000 scale maps

* Theoretical example only

T wo case-studies: 1) Meander Valley Irrigation Area ~45,000ha 2) part Midlands Irrigation Scheme ~25,000ha