Irrigation New Zealand has joined forces with other specialists to help Canterbury farmers who have storm-damaged irrigators manage without water as the race to complete repairs continues.
About 800 irrigators from South to North Canterbury were damaged by the high winds last month.
Pressure has gone on the industry to get repairs completed quickly to avoid production losses in the event of a dry spring.
Irrigation New Zealand chief executive Andrew Curtis said repairs were well under way.
The crisis had mobilised ''the old Kiwi No 8 wire mentality'' when it came to repair work, he said.
He expected most of the RotoRainer equipment - where it was not ''completely terminal'' - would be repaired soon.
And rather than waiting on parts to arrive, repairers were ''cannabilising'' damaged systems to make one good system.
''There's a certain amount of creativity out there.''
But he said he wanted to remind all farmers pre-season checks of systems would be even more important this year as parts and labour would be in short supply due to the storm.
''Irrigators cannot afford for their irrigator to break down due to negligence as it will result in downtime.
''Basic checks like ensuring the pivot tracks are free from obstructions, tyre pressures are correct and so forth are a no-brainer,'' Mr Curtis said.
He said credit was due to insurance companies and the Government, which had assisted with progress.
Immigration New Zealand was helping with the formalities needed to bring in workers from overseas and now it was up to the irrigation companies to work with them, he said.
FMG Rural Insurance reported it had received more than 200 claims for irrigator damage totalling $6.5 million, but that number was expected to rise.
Most insurance companies had been ''quite flexible''. The vast majority had been ''great'', helping fast-track claims, Mr Curtis said.
However, a ''handful'' of systems which were not commissioned but were in the midst of ''handover'' from supplier to customer were uninsured, something which parties needed to guard against in future.
It was not a question of insurance companies reneging on responsibilities, he said.
Clients needed to be clear about when the installers' responsibility for insurance stopped and when they would need to pick up that responsibility.
''There is a need to have proper contracts in place.''
Irrigation NZ had a standard contract available for use which made specific reference to insurance, he said.
Mr Curtis said Irrigation NZ was also advising industry bodies and farmers about how best to mitigate more long-term effects from the water outage caused by the damage.
DairyNZ had been talking to its farmers about maintaining pasture production under limited irrigation and the Foundation for Arable Research was working closely with cropping farmers.
Irrigation NZ had also joined forces with dairy manufacturers, DairyNZ and Environment Canterbury (ECan) to issue advice to farmers about effluent disposal, he said.
''It has highlighted the need to have a back-up plan [for effluent disposal].
''If you have got effluent, you have got responsibilities.''
Last week, Irrigation NZ set up an online directory for irrigators and irrigation schemes wanting to fast-track repairs and access specialist advice at www.irrigationschemes.co.nz.
It has developed the directory with funding from the Ministry of Primary Industries to build a database of experts focusing on irrigation.
About 40 providers can be contacted through the website and Irrigation NZ expects the directory to grow as specialist providers and others come on board.
- by Ruth Grundy
Notice and advice for farmers with broken effluent irrigation systems, from IrrigationNZ, Environment Canterbury(ECan) and the dairy industry.
What you need to do: Advise ECan by calling 0800 324-636 so they have a formal record of the steps you have taken and the plan for temporary effluent disposal to ensure no enforcement action.
Irrigation system damage:
- If you use a pivot to discharge effluent and it is damaged, you will need to consider the volume of effluent you need to manage and look at temporary options for disposal.
- Consider ways to reduce the amount of effluent you have to deal with. Watch wash-down volumes.
- Keep a written record of any changes to your normal practices.
- Minimise the application of effluent to land in order to avoid ponding.
- Ensure no effluent gets into waterways.
- Talk to your provider about linking a small travelling irrigator; use a rotorainer, if you have one, or some plastic pods to get effluent out while you await pivot repairs. A coupling could be installed after the pump and before the mainline in many cases.
- Note that pods will need to be moved frequently to avoid overloading soils, causing ponding and avoid nitrogen issues.
- If you need a vacuum tanker to discharge effluent, give them as much warning as possible, as they are busy too.
- If only part of the pivot is broken, work with your supplier to disconnect what you can and use the spans that are operational.
- Many suppliers have loan equipment which you may be able to use; ask your neighbours, too.
- Determine where you sit in the priority queue for pivot repairs
- Divert to storage if you have no means of discharging effluent.
- Get a small petrol pump if you have limited electricity or generator space - it could help with shallow water takes, effluent discharge etc.
Planning:
- Discuss the action plan with your staff/ team and ensure they know what is required of them.
- Training will be important with new equipment, as the team may not have used it before.
- Safety is really important. Do not attempt anything you are not competent at. Call your service provider to help you if you are unsure.
- Consider supplementary feed stocks and purchase more if required to bridge the gap on what you predicted to grow under irrigation.
- Access to stock water: Farmers who are not able to provide normal stock water due to extreme weather can access waterways to keep their animals watered.
- Farmers should take all practicable steps to prevent damage to stream beds and banks if they need to water stock directly from streams: Consider the sensitivity of the waterway and avoiding those areas that are of highest value or most prone to damage; Minimise the length of bank or bed that stock have access to, Use other equipment such as tractor-driven pumps or tankers to deliver water from streams to stock on the farm, Use other options wherever possible to avoid damage to waterways.
Contact details for help:
- Go to the DairyNZ website www.dairynz.co.nz and search effluent farmfacts. Contact the Fonterra Sustainability Team at the Fonterra Service Centre on 0800 656 568. Synlait Environmental adviser: Jeremy Burgess (027) 839-0601. Westland Milk Products contact: Tony Watson (027) 705-6024.