Graham,
Slight tangent but, I'm intrigued.. I do not have any real personal experience in the agriculture industry so won't pretend that I know a great deal about it....
I have however, seen evidence first hand (particularly in the riverland , albeit some time back) of farmers who seemed very stuck in their ways.. doing things the way OlGrandpappy did it..
I have some involvement in the sugar cane industry here in Cairns & indeed see many cane farmers who are extremely innovative in their approach towards gaining the best from their land.. including rotating in crops to be ploughed in to replenish the soil from what their main crop takes out...
I myself use drip feed to the majority of my plants in my garden, but only because I learned through experience & willingness to experiment that this actually developed stronger, hardier plants that don't push my waterbill to areas I can't afford...
How do we get those few diehards (& I genuinely think they still exist but, am willing to be proved wrong) to change their methodology to something more suited to our environment... do we incentivise them? Do we punish them.. do we just keep trying to educate them or, do we just wait them out, til the new, 'smarter' generation takes over..
Genuinely curious.. because clearly there is still a problem with some of our methods or perhaps our crop choices? Since lack of irrigation water seems to be a big issue right across this country, not just limited to the Murray Darling basin.. despite media appearances...
Regards monitoring.. I know rural & remote connectivity is pitiful in this country.. but, do you think remote/wireless monitoring of water useage, or any other regulated resource is the future.. or do we need more boots on the ground?
Surely there sensible & practical solutions to the issues & challenges involved...
Quote:
Originally Posted by GrahamL
Having been involved in agriculture for almost 30 years , water usage is always an issue that comes up over and again , simply put if you halve your water usage by better irrigation methods you double your cultivated area any notion corporate producers or any large water users think otherwise is not probably true.
Monitoring I have always found to be exclusively paper compliance
Not once has anyone come and checked pumping stations or read required meters .
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