The couple have installed a subsurface drip irrigation system on an 18-hectare block which is part of a 260-hectare farm in Maniototo, Central Otago, to complement their trial site at Cust.
The Robinsons are participating in a project which examines how the next generation of farmers are using innovation to improve their farming practices.
Waimakariri Landcare Trust and Waimakariri Irrigation Ltd have partnered with the Ministry for Primary Industries for the project, with support from MPI’s Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund, along with Environment Canterbury, Ballance and DairyNZ.
After a wet summer last year scuppered plans to collect data from their trial block, the couple were delighted when their partner Carrfields approached them for an installation opportunity in Maniototo.
Mr Robinson says the site is an ideal location for installing subsurface drip irrigation.
"Part of it is a corner of a pivot on existing grass and the rest is worked up land.
"It contains two different soil types so it will be interesting to compare how the subsurface drip irrigation performs on those soil types and then we can also compare that to our trial block in Cust.
"It goes dry down there in Central Otago, so we are hoping to fetch some good data."
During the installation process several neighbouring farmers visited the Maniototo site to learn more about subsurface drip irrigation.
They expressed interest in trialling the system if the data gathered from the system proves the benefits.
With less water potentially available for irrigation in the future and stricter regulations regarding nitrogen run-off into streams and rivers, Mrs Robinson says the economic and environmental benefits are clear.
"Subsurface drip irrigation provides water directly to the root zone, so you use less water more efficiently, when compared to a traditional irrigation system.
"There is zero leaching of nitrates as you don’t apply a lot of water because you are not saturating the soil from the top down but slowly and steadily from the roots of the plant."
Measuring the quality of the yield of the crop or pasture produced using subsurface drip irrigation is also an important aspect of data gathering.
The couple plan to mow patches of pasture in the trial block and compare the amount of dry matter per hectare with another block without a subsurface drip irrigation.
"Obviously, we want increased yield but not increased yield of poor pasture," Mrs Robinson says.
"We are looking for increased yield of high metabolisable energy pasture."
The Robinson were finalists in the recent Irrigation New Zealand Innovation in Irrigation Award.
They will host a field day at their trial block in February for local farmers and industry partners to learn more about subsurface drip irrigation.
By Gina McKenzie
