James Clyne owns and manages a 320-hectare high input dairy and milks around 1,000 cows in the Macalister Irrigation District. He’s one of nearly 30 farmers to benefit from improved farming efficiencies and water savings thanks to the Newry pipeline we completed in February 2024.
Nearly two years on, we caught up with him to see what life looks like on the other side of our Phase 2 modernisation program.
How has your life changed since the pipeline?
I now get a lot more sleep, which is nice! We’re saving upwards of around 35 per cent of water and I’ve got at least another whole irrigation. But the biggest change is the amount of time I can spent with my family thanks to the automation I’ve been able to install with the build of the modern pipeline.
Tell us more about your water savings.
Since the pipeline was installed, I've been able to save anywhere from 0.3 to 0.5 megalitres per hectare per irrigation and that's been consistent since the pipeline opened. These savings mean that with our 100 percent high reliability water shares, we can do at least one more irrigation of the whole farm in spring or summer.
Have you been able to save on farm labour?
Yes. We’ve removed the old on-farm Delva channels that enabled us to deliver water to pastures and installed more than 170 automated pipe and riser outlets. This means we’ve been able to save at least 100 hours of labour in Delva spraying and another 20 hours a year in maintenance.
What other benefits are you now realising?
Now that all our channels have been decommissioned that land is now being irrigated and it’s added around 17 hectares back into production.
Have you got any other plans in the pipeline?
We plan to invest in finishing the automation and then covering the areas that aren't watered at all yet. Right now, 90 percent of the farm has been automated, so we want to finish the job and get the 20 hectares currently unirrigated into production in the next few years.
Are you optimistic about the future?
I'm extremely optimistic about the future of agriculture in this region. However, there are challenges and opportunities we need to embrace.
The biggest challenge in the future is climate change and how it's going to impact grass growth. The recent modernisation program helps to make farmers more drought resilient and continued investment in the region’s irrigation infrastructure will secure its long-term agricultural success.
I also think we need to keep engaging younger farmers and helping them be able to enter the industry and stay in the industry.