Green Cane Trash Blanket with Chris Hesp
In this clip, Chris Hesp explains that the long rows and flat conditions of typical Burdekin farms makes it difficult to cut green and flood irrigate. Most of the farmers in his area have tried trash blanketing, however the cane tends to get waterlogged, and turns yellow from fertiliser loss due to de-nitrification. So the idea is to rake every second row and get the flood irrigation water through quicker.
Posted by Henry Thomas, 3 years ago on Thursday, December 18, 2008[ , Read more... ]
Centre Fed Lateral Irrigator with Chris Hesp
Chris Hesp describes his Zimmatic centre fed lateral irrigator. The centre fed design was chosen to reduce pumping costs, although the trade-off is the loss of 15m of production area for the channel. The lateral irrigator greatly reduces water usage compared to the flood irrigation in Chris's furrow block. It provides greater control over irrigation applications, has very little run-off or deep drainage recorded and can be used effectively on green cane trash blankets. The machine is 600 metres wide in 12 spans and travels 1.5km to cover a 100ha area. It can apply 14mm of water to that area in a 24 hour period. It is powered by a 150hp 6 cylinder motor, which drives a 6" pump, consuming 15.5 litres of diesel an hour.
Posted by Henry Thomas, 3 years ago on Thursday, December 18, 2008[ , 1 comment... ]
Trash Raking with Shane McNee
Growers in the Burdekin have been slow to adopt green cane trash blanketing because they believe trash causes problems for flood irrigation. Shane McNee demonstrates his inter-row trash rake. It clears the trash from every second furrow. Shane hopes this will let him cut green, without effecting his irrigation management.
Posted by Henry Thomas, 3 years ago on Thursday, September 18, 2008[ , 1 comment... ]
