WATER USE ON QUEENSLAND FARMS, 2006-07


Introduction
Agricultural water use
Irrigation water use
Water sources
Irrigation water management
Irrigation expenditure and assets
Further information


INTRODUCTION

The agriculture industry is a major consumer of water in the Queensland economy. The Water Account, Australia 2004-05 (cat. no. 4610.0) showed agriculture to account for 67% of all water consumed in Queensland in 2004-05.

This article presents estimates of agricultural water use, pastures and crops irrigated, sources of water for agricultural use, irrigation water management and financial data relating to irrigation. The estimates are compiled from data collected as part of the Agricultural survey for the year ended 30 June 2007. Volume of water in this article is expressed as either gigalitres, which is one thousand million litres, or megalitres (ML), which is one million litres. Application rate is the rate at which water is applied to an area or crop, measured in megalitres per hectare (ML/ha).

AGRICULTURAL WATER USE

In 2006-07, Queensland agricultural businesses used 2,084 gigalitres of water for agricultural production. This represents 24% of the national agricultural water use.

Of this total 2,084 gigalitres, 88% (1,840 gigalitres) was used for the irrigation of pastures and crops and 12% (244 gigalitres) was used for other agricultural purposes such as stock watering and the cleaning of dairies and piggeries. Volumes of irrigation water for crops and pastures declined by 21% from 2005–06, and volumes of water for other agricultural purposes declined by 4.6%.
IRRIGATION WATER USE

In Queensland, 29% of agricultural businesses reported using water for irrigation in 2006-07, a decline from the 31% reporting the use of water for irrigation in 2005-06. A total of 458,000 hectares was irrigated in 2006-07, a 15% decrease from that irrigated in 2005-06. The average application rate reduced from 4.3 megalitres per hectare (ML/ha) in 2005-06 to 4.0 ML/ha in 2006-07. After Western Australia (5.5 ML/ha) and South Australia (4.8 ML/ha), Queensland had the third highest application rate of irrigation water.

In 2006-07, sugar cane remained the major user of irrigation water, using 931 gigalitres, or 51% of the Queensland total. This represents a decrease of 5.8% from the total volume of water applied to sugar cane in 2005-06.

Of the 245 agricultural businesses engaged in the production of cotton, 88% reported using water for irrigation. In 2006-07, cotton used 194 gigalitres, a decrease of 68% from the 607 gigalitres used in irrigation in 2005-06. Cotton (5.5 ML/ha) had the highest application rate of pastures and crops irrigated in Queensland.

Pastures and Crops Irrigated, Queensland, 2006-07
		Agricultural businesses	Agricultural businesses irrigating	Area under pasture or crop	Area irrigated	Volume applied	Application rate
		no.	no.	'000 ha	'000 ha	ML	ML/ha
Pasture for grazing		na	1 772	na	^52	^142 586	^2.8
	Pasture for grazing dairy cattle	na	422	na	^15	^64 328	4.4
	Pasture for grazing meat cattle	na	^1 267	na	^36	^76 094	^2.1
	Pasture for grazing other livestock	na	^104	na	^1	*2 164	^1.6
Pasture harvested for hay (including lucerne), silage or seed		na	1 154	na	^31	131 873	4.2
Cereal crops harvested for grain or seed(a)		3 332	459	1 240	49	^142 857	2.9
Cereal crops cut for hay or for grazing or fed off		na	^434	na	^9	^20 585	2.4
Sugar cane		3 947	1 949	455	196	931 468	4.7
Cotton		245	215	44	35	193 757	5.5
Other broadacre crops(b)		1 092	^142	113	^9	^23 826	^2.5
Fruit trees, nut trees, plantation or berry fruits(c)		2 946	1 975	52	37	133 057	3.6
Vegetables for human consumption or seed		na	1 660	na	31	86 940	2.8
Nurseries, cutflowers or cultivated turf		719	675	4	4	14 501	4.0
Grapevines		^159	^114	^1	^1	^5 644	^4.7
TOTAL(d)		(e)30 650	(e)8 757	(f)143 871	458	1 840 252	4.0
^ estimate has a relative standard error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution
* estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution
na not available
(a) Excludes rice.
(b) Excludes sugar cane and cotton.
(c) Excludes grapevines.
(d) Totals include other pastures or crops not elsewhere classified.
(e) Total does not equal the sum as many businesses grow or irrigate more than one crop or pasture.
(f) Total includes area of all agricultural land. This does not equal the sum of area under pasture or crop as not all land on agricultural holdings is under pasture or crop.

WATER SOURCES

Nationally, in 2006-07, more water for agriculture was sourced from Government or private irrigation schemes than from any other source. This was similar in Queensland, where a total of 757 gigalitres, or 36% of the volume of water used for agricultural purposes, was supplied by Government or private irrigation schemes.

Surface water accounted for 33% of the total volume of water from all sources in 2006-07 for Queensland and groundwater accounted for a further 29%.



In 2006-07, 461 agricultural businesses (1.5% of all Queensland agricultural businesses) reported purchasing extra irrigation water on a temporary basis. The volume of extra water purchased on a temporary basis was 98 gigalitres at a cost of $8.5 million.

Only 119 agricultural businesses in Queensland reported selling water on a temporary basis. The volume of water sold on a temporary basis was 25 gigalitres for $1.2 million.

Note: Queensland data relating to the purchasing and selling of water on a temporary basis are based on estimates with an Relative Standard Error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution.
IRRIGATION WATER MANAGEMENT

In Queensland, hose irrigation was the most common irrigation method (2,316 agricultural businesses or 26% of all irrigating agricultural businesses) followed by surface irrigation (18%) and microspray sprinklers (18%).

Nationally, one in four (25%) irrigating agricultural businesses used above ground drip or trickle irrigation, while in Queensland this method was used by 15% or 1,339 agricultural businesses.




In 2006-07, the irrigation method covering the largest area of land in Queensland was surface irrigation, irrigating 193,000 hectares. Hose irrigators were used to irrigate 110,000 hectares, large mobile machine sprinklers 43,000 hectares, above ground drip or trickle irrigation 25,000 hectares and microspray sprinklers 24,000 hectares. Note: Queensland data relating to large mobile machine sprinklers is based on an estimate with a Relative Standard Error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution.

In Queensland, 4,043 agricultural businesses or nearly one-half (46%) of irrigating agricultural businesses, reported making one or more changes to their irrigation practices in 2006-07. Adoption of more efficient irrigation techniques was the most common change (44% of agricultural businesses that made one or more changes), followed by adoption of more efficient irrigation scheduling (37%) and reducing the area of irrigation (34%).

The most common changes to irrigation practices intended to be made after 30 June 2007 in Queensland were the adoption of more efficient irrigation techniques and the adoption of more efficient irrigation scheduling (reported by 1,431 and 1,090 agricultural businesses respectively).

In 2006-07, 6,801 Queensland agricultural businesses reported barriers to changing their irrigation practices. The most common barrier reported was lack of financial resources, reported by 56% of all agricultural businesses reporting barriers to change.
IRRIGATION EXPENDITURE AND ASSETS

In 2006-07, Queensland agricultural businesses spent $265 million on irrigation related expenditure. The largest expenditure reported was irrigation operating expenses other than the costs associated with the purchase of water ($104 million or 39%). Such expenses include pump running expenses, fuel, electricity, repairs and maintenance and other similar expenses. The purchase of irrigation equipment was the next largest irrigation expenditure ($60 million or 23%).

The value of irrigation equipment and infrastructure on Queensland agricultural establishments in 2006-07 was $2,389 million.
FURTHER INFORMATION

More information on this topic can be found in the following ABS publications.

Water Use on Australian Farms, 2006-07 (cat. no. 4618.0)
Water and the Murray-Darling Basin - A Statistical Profile, 2000-01 to 2005-06 (cat. no. 4610.0.55.007)