Grey water
‘Grey water’ schemes help both farmers and townies
Kev Mischke expects that using grey water will improve the productivity of the family sugarcane farm by up to twenty percent.
Kevin and his son Lindsay were among the first to sign up for the Gold Coast Water’s Recycled Water Scheme which was launched last month. This scheme is the latest in a growing number of recycled water initiatives springing up in regional Queensland, with two well established facilities at Hervey Bay and Bundaberg, and a further scheme in the pipeline at Mackay.
The schemes are a win-win for growers and the community. Local government areas are able to dispose of their effluent and farmers can access cheap water for irrigation – a boon in recent dry years.
The trend towards drier climatic conditions was one of the deciding factors influencing the Mischke family to sign up for recycled water.
Lindsay, a third generation cane grower whose family has been in the Beenleigh area south of Brisbane for about 60 years, says that the scheme has removed one of the greatest unknowns in farming – a reliable supply of water.
“Luck has now been replaced by reliable and innovative recycling of wastewater. Having recycled water available means that we have greater certainty of a stable, constant sugarcane crop each year – whether it rains or not.”
He believes that recycled water irrigation will also help overcome the acid sulfate soil problem, which is an issue for farmers in the area. The Mischkes have seen many changes in the area, and in their 60 years have been involved in the local Council’s drainage scheme and acid sulfate soil trials.
“The environmental benefits of using recycled water also appealed to our family. We are keen to embrace any innovation that will help our crop and keep us in the fields doing what we love,” said Kevin.
“We want to use the trials on our property to help spread the good news – in years to come recycled water will more than likely be a key element in profitable and sustainable farming practices.”
On a property spanning 250 hectares, a large tract of the Mischkes’ land consists of maintained headlands and drains, which support the remaining 115 hectares of cane. With access to an annual allocation of 190 megalitres of recycled water from the reclaimed water scheme, Kevin and Lindsay can now flood irrigate their entire sugarcane growing operation.
“We have set up three kilometers of underground mains serviced by a series of hydrants. Our flood irrigation system lays flat across the edge of the cane block, and through nozzles spaced at every second row, is able to deliver two litres of water per second to our cane,” says Lindsay.
Cost Savings & Productivity
Like many cane growers across Queensland, the Mischkes are always on the lookout for more profitable and sustainable ways of farming. One of the ways they can reduce run-off and improve soil structure is to carefully manage the trash blanket on their cane fields. Strong advocates of quality rather than quantity of trash when it comes to optimising soil health, they believe this is one of the main reasons they have virtually no weeds to contend with when they plough out and replant.
“Someone said to me that we could sell our soil for fertiliser it is that good,” laughs Kevin.
“We have been using less and less fertiliser each year, and when we do need to go the extra step, we ensure we put on the right amount of the right fertilizer at the right time. This is particularly important as the new fertilizer for trash blanketing is quite expensive – and we want to get the most from our investment.”
“Because each property is different you have to farm with these differences to get the best out of your land,” says Kevin.
