![DairySA’s chairman James Mann and executive officer Verity Ingham are looking forward to results from the irrigation trials. DairySA’s chairman James Mann and executive officer Verity Ingham are looking forward to results from the irrigation trials.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-agfeed/2146527.jpg/r0_0_450_298_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
VARIABLE rate technology is already making wins in the horticulture industry and a trial is on to see if it can make a difference in dairy.
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DairySA chief executive officer Verity Ingham said other industries were finding considerable success with the technology.
She said the project was hoping to find if there were similar benefits for the dairy industry.
"We're looking to see if pasture has benefits, and whether is it cost-effective," Ms Ingham said.
The project involves three farms in the South East that already have pivot irrigation.
The technology can be retrofitted onto existing machinery, putting sensors and blockers along the pivot.
The project is in the early stages of a three-year timeline.
Ms Ingham said the first part of the project involved getting the three properties scanned using EM38 - electromagnetic scanning - to determine soil type.
This knowledge is then used to work out the requirements of different soils across the farm to tailor the output of the irrigator.
Scanning determines soil type, and variation across paddocks.
This information can then be used through irrigation scanners to manage variations and target specific needs of each part of the soil.
Apart from the horticultural industry, VRT has been used in conventional cropping systems, with a Grains Research and Development Corporation study estimating the economic benefits between $11 and $37 a hectare for several SA farms.
Ms Ingham said the trial would allow dairyfarmers to determine the cost-benefit of their operations.
"People can invest but is it going to give the production or profitability to make the investment worthwhile?" she said.
The project is one of four to get funding in the first round of grants from the SA Dairy Industry Fund, raised through sales of SADA Fresh milk.
It received $22,000 from the fund, alongside co-funding from DairySA, SARDI and the SE Natural Resources Management board.