Irrigating more costly under new scheme
Many farmers in stage one of the Central Plains Water scheme were already irrigating. So why join? HEATHER CHALMERS finds out.
Dairy farmers say they took a longterm view when investing in the Central Plains Water scheme, even though they already had access to irrigation water from aquifers.
Water started flowing in early September in stage one of CPW covering 23,000 hectares at Te Pirita and Hororata. Sourced from the Rakaia River at high flows, water travels down a 17km headrace canal before flowing into 132km of underground pipe which delivers irrigation water to individual farms. Many farms in this area, particularly dairy units, were already irrigating from wells, but have chosen to switch to the community scheme, even though in some cases it is more costly.
Hororata dairy farmers Graham and Adele Wells say they supported CPW from the start even though it did not stack up financially for them. As shareholders of CPW they pay a $750 a hectare annual charge to have water supplied to their farm, compared with $350/ha previously in energy costs to pump water from wells. ‘‘So economically it makes no sense as it is double the cost. But we wanted to continue to sustainably farm this land and this includes the long-term sustainability of drawing water from aquifers,’’ said Graham. ‘‘So it’s a long-term investment.’’
Adele: ‘‘It’s not all about today, financially or environmentally. You’ve got to keep farming for the future.’’
Originally from Northland, the Wells have farmed the property, which bounds the Hororata and Selwyn Rivers, for 12 years.
The couple milk 850 cows on 205ha, producing 2080kg of milksolids a hectare and 508kg a cow using a low-input grass-based system with some supplementary feeding of grain. Before CPW, this was irrigated by two deep wells and one shallow well. The 100m wells, which drew water at 60m, were reliable, but the shallow well was affected by climate.
As CPW is delivered by underground pipe, there is little obvious physical change, though the Wells had to upgrade their main water pipe to handle the difference in flow and pressures.
Since CPW was first initiated, the Wells have bought two neighbouring dryland blocks, both about 80ha; one a former forestry block and the other previously carrying sheep. With water now available to these blocks through CPW, the Wells have spent a busy last few months installing centre pivot irrigators, electricity, a laneway, stockwater system and underground piping as well as sowing new grass.
‘‘When we first supported CPW we didn’t have the dryland blocks,’’ said Graham. ‘‘Morally it required a few of us to invest and back the scheme to enable it to get underway.
‘‘When the dryland blocks came on the market, the CPW scheme made it profitable to buy and farm these more intensively.’’
The Wells will retain their current milking platform and use the two additional blocks for grazing of young stock, wintering of dairy cows and growing silage, making their dairy operation selfsufficient.
The Wells were pleased that CPW would enhance food production and the economy in the region. ‘‘It’s made a lot more of Canterbury productive. These farms will produce more crop, milk, sheep and beef which is good for the whole economy. It’s not just helping farmers make money. Country money flows right into town.’’
Leo Donkers, general manager of Camden Group, which has dairy farms at Te Pirita, said that joining CPW removed reliance on deep well pumping and big electricity costs.
‘‘It means we are investing in a community scheme that will one day be owned by the shareholders.
‘‘It allows the collective to work with Environment Canterbury to adopt sustainable measures for irrigation use and nitrate leaching across a large area of irrigated land in Canterbury. It also takes away the requirement to renegotiate our deep well consents when they come up for renewal.’’
At Te Pirita, more recent wells were 200m deep, with a static water level of 80m to 100m. ‘‘There is a huge advantage to us in having pressurised water at the farmgate, as opposed to keeping deep well infrastructure operating.’’
Electricity pumping costs were ‘‘horrendous’’ at $650 to $900 a hectare a year depending on the season and were comparable to the charge to have water supplied by CPW. Meanwhile, electricity line charges would only continue to rise.
‘‘It allows us to irrigate some of our dryland and we have updated some irrigators to more efficient short-return centre pivots.’’
Camden Group had a farm east of State Highway One, outside the CPW catchment, which would continue to pump from wells. ‘‘We expect to see a benefit in water level rise there, because of the stopping of water extraction higher up the plains,’’ said Donkers.
Not all existing irrigators had joined CPW, he said.
Darfield-based dairy shed builder Nigel Hodges, of Rural Building Solutions, said he knew of six dairy conversions which had started production this season in response to CPW, including some of his own builds. Dairy did not cover as much of the central Canterbury plains as some people thought.