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| SA Drought E-News, 11 Oct 2007 |
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| River Murray continues to be impacted by drought |
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The latest River Murray Water Resources Report, issued by the Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation, says that below average rainfall over the past three months has significantly impacted on inflows into the River Murray as well as storages.
Inflows for the June to September 2007 period were about 1 230 GL, which is higher than the entire 2006-07 water year at 935 GL, but still well below average.
Murray-Darling Basin storage volumes at 8 October 2007 were 2 130 GL (23% capacity) compared to 3 330 GL (35% capacity) at the same time in October 2006. This current low storage position continues to highlight the severity of the current drought.
The full report, due out on Friday, 12 October, can be viewed at: www.dwlbc.sa.gov.au/murray/drought/index.html#RiverMurrayWaterResourcesReports
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| Business planning to help irrigators |
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Irrigators are being urged to look seriously at their business options and make crucial decisions to help maintain the viability of their business.
With water continuing to be a major concern, irrigators will need to make sound business and financial plans to protect their assets as best they can until there is sufficient water available.
While these decisions are difficult to make, irrigators will need to look individually at their patches and determine whether it is best to keep plantings in the ground, either in production or mothballed, or pay for it to be redeveloped.
To assist irrigators, a ‘Business Decision Making Tool’ is available as part of a free electronic ‘Irrigators Toolkit’.
The specific needs of growers vary widely so the model is designed to be flexible. Specific focus has been given to six key crops: winegrapes, citrus, almonds, stone fruit, olives, and vegetables.
More information: www.service.sa.gov.au/drought.asp
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| Using the latest weather data to improve irrigation |
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To assist local water users to access and incorporate the latest weather data into their irrigation management practices, the SA Murray-Darling Basin NRM Board is offering a free workshop.
The NRM Board’s automatic weather station network collects hourly data at Mypolonga and Caurnamont together with a stand-alone rainfall collection site at Woods Point.
The workshop will be held on Wednesday 31 October at the Mypolonga Sports Club from 10 am to 1.00 pm and will cover:
- How to access on-line data
- Summary of available data
- Data definitions
- Calculating irrigation requirements
- Crop co-efficient values (for irrigation scheduling) for local crop types e.g. vines, citrus, stone fruit, potatoes, onions, dairy pasture
- Interaction with River Murray Irrigation Annual Reporting
- Bureau of Meteorology presentation: web based resources to assist with irrigation management.
A field session to view the automatic weather station will also be included, along with a light lunch, a workshop manual and a Certificate of Attendance.
To register or for further information please contact Michael Cutting at the SA MDB NRM Board Strathalbyn Office on 8536 4979, michael.cutting@samdbnrm.sa.gov.au.
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| Free consultations for Lower Murray and Lakes farmers |
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Lower Murray and Lakes farmers can receive free individual consultations with a nutrition and farm business adviser, thanks to feed.FIBRE.future, a program funded through Dairy Australia.
These 90-minute ‘1-on-1 sessions’ enable farmers to identify what their current position is, explore feasible options and develop an action plan. Farmers will leave with a plan specifically designed for their individual situation.
For more information please contact Kirsty Flower, DairySA (08) 8765 9043.
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| Looking after your health through drought |
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Country Health SA, in partnership with a number of stakeholders, has developed a range of preventative promotional resources for those suffering the affects of the drought.
These resources are designed to help people look after their mental health during these tough times.
‘Managing the Pressures of Farming’, is an easy to use online tool, which can help identify the pressures you, your family or your business may be facing and how to deal with them. Visit www.aghealth.org.au/pressures and click on the SA version. The tool is also available as a CD, pamphlet and booklet.
For general information regarding drought resources contact Geoff Cook, Country Health SA on 8226 7215, http://www.countryhealthsa.sa.gov.au.
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| Free drip irrigation workshop |
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The SA Murray-Darling Basin NRM Board is holding a free irrigation workshop on Thursday 8 November at the Langhorne Creek Bowling Club, Murray Rd, from 9.00 am to 1.00 pm.
The workshop will assist growers in getting the most out of their irrigation systems and will cover:
- Evaluating drip irrigation systems
- What to measure
- Equipment needed
- Measuring pressure and flow rate
- Evaluating drip system performance
- Calculating field data.
Morning tea and lunch will be provided along with a workshop manual and a Certificate of Attendance.
To register or for further information please contact Michael Cutting at the SA MDB NRM Board Strathalbyn Office on 8536 497 or michael.cutting@samdbnrm.sa.gov.au.
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| Growers to have their say on future drought support |
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The SA Citrus Industry Development Board (SACIDB) with assistance from PIRSA has recently engaged Fruit Doctors at Loxton to undertake a phone survey of 100 SA citrus growers, to obtain critical information about how growers are currently dealing with the water crisis.
The survey is being used to obtain grower feedback on topics such as tree removals, grower drought management practices, estimated crop reductions, water sales and or purchases, horticultural crop priorities and details about additional support needed by growers to assist them through current difficult times.
Once analysed, the information will help with forward projections and assist in the development of immediate and future strategies to assist citrus growers. The information will also play an important role when discussions occur between industry and government.
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Drought E-News is a regular newsletter updating the State Government’s drought response. If you’ve been forwarded this E-News and you would like to subscribe, click on the link below, complete the details and you will receive drought E-News in the future.
Feedback is always welcome, email Drought News.
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