Overview
Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment are the sole authorised Valley Irrigation Master Dealers for Mackay & Whitsundays. The Dowdens agricultural irrigation sales team has over 125 years of combined agricultural and irrigation sales experience to help our customers improve their farm’s productivity & lower their overall operating costs.
Valley Irrigation is the worldwide leader in precision irrigation. The Valley brand of center pivot, linear, and corner equipment provides solutions for conserving water and meeting the growing demand for food. The centre pivot is much more than an irrigation machine. Sharing the intelligence between connected field devices, the pivot, and the integration of data science and machine learning lets you detect and receive critical information to improve crop precision, which results in greater returns – all while using fewer inputs and resources.
Pastega Holdings have various sugar cane farms located in Eton southwest of Mackay. The family have been progressively taking their farming practices into the 21st century and moving their irrigation to Valley pivot systems allowing water, time and electricity savings. They believe that personal time with their families is very important so having a fully automated irrigation system that can be operated via their phone from anywhere in the world with phone access was a huge benefit.
The Problem – Replace existing 140×400 Poly Reel Irrigators
“Irrigation electricity tariffs in Queensland have risen a minimum of 136% over the past decade, and for some more than 200%.” – Qld Country Life – Feb. 2018.
Power Costs per Irrigation Cycle
Existing 140×400 Poly Reel Irrigators, which used 37Kw for 480 hours watering a total of 25mm per irrigation cycle.
Average power cost *$4972 + GST per irrigation cycle
Labour Costs
It takes on average 18 hours of the farmer’s time to shift the Irrigator per irrigation cycle.
Labour Cost 18 hrs x *$35/hr = $630 per irrigation cycle