Tuesday 13 October 2015

Good Old Spring Weather

In the past seven days we have had a bit of everything, 10 to 29 degree days, 100km per hour NW winds, rain through to hail and bitterly cold southerly winds reminding us that spring is upon us!


Whilst forecasters don’t always get the rainfall amounts correct, they are pretty accurate when it comes to predicting strong winds.  After the wind on Sunday, it only took two minutes after leaving home to see some damage caused by the strong NW winds.




With a long dry irrigation season predicted, a broken irrigator can take a long time to fix leading to reduced yields in crops and lost dry matter in pastures. This can be avoided by having a simple plan in place for windy conditions, whether it be securing pivots to a heavy roller or parking a Rotorainer in a sheltered position on the farm.

Rainfall
Measuring and recording rainfall through the season is also key, rain gauges are cheap and may help save valuable water, especially in the shoulder seasons.  Turning irrigators off for a couple of days here and there may not seem like it making a big difference at the time, but those days all count at the end of the season if water allocations are getting tight.



Weather forecasts
The forecasters are predicting cold and wet weather on Tuesday this week, perhaps an opportunity to save a round or two with the pivot if they are correct.

Happy Irrigating!

Mark Fitzgibbon
Hydroservices