Irrigation costs?

Expensive but needs must.

Not too far from here that video was taken. I wouldn't be sure of the costs but it must be €100 an hour plus vat at least?
I'd imagine you would need 9k gallons per acre over 3 consecutive evenings to have any impact. 27k gallons an acre in say an hour would cause major run off defeating the purpose.
I don't think I'd bother doing that but needs must for some I suppose
 
I've a premier league training ground over the way and they have been irrigating for the last six weeks,they use a rain gun,I'd be looking at something similar onto the spreadbar at least you could reduce wheelings.

@Blackwater boy where are they getting the water from?
 
Best bet would be to spike the field first?

But it could end up drying it out worse!
 
I've a premier league training ground over the way and they have been irrigating for the last six weeks,they use a rain gun,I'd be looking at something similar onto the spreadbar at least you could reduce wheelings.

@Blackwater boy where are they getting the water from?
Rivers as far as I know but I haven’t actually seen anyone at it just heard about it. Only a few rivers big enough to do it around here. I’m not so sure how impressed the county council or regional fisheries would be tho
 
I'd be bothered about sucking up stones into the pump,very big rivers on my ground I farm on two of them but I'd go to my pond 1st,it's water level hit the highest I've know in 38 years of being here and it's still high.
 
A farm beside me here have had an irrigation system for near on twenty years now and are not afraid to use it come any dry spell, used on grazing ground only. The local smart fellas and nay-sayers all totally dismissed the idea saying ah sure he is only greening the grass, the same smart fellas managed to get 2017’s second cut made about 8 weeks ago now.

The plate meter on the grass tells a different story though and proves the benefits of the irrigation system, I must find out more about it from him the next time I am down, we have a new parlour to put up for him in three weeks time, 180ft x 130ft
 
130' wide building?

Single span?

No he was originally going to go single span but the due to the layout he didn’t need to so saved quite a bit by putting in the supporting posts. I must try to remember to take plenty of pictures of this one, it’s something I always forget to do.


On the irrigator, it has been running 24/7 Nearly constantly since the first warm spell a while back, maybe only stopped for a week at the most.
 
No he was originally going to go single span but the due to the layout he didn’t need to so saved quite a bit by putting in the supporting posts. I must try to remember to take plenty of pictures of this one, it’s something I always forget to do.


On the irrigator, it has been running 24/7 Nearly constantly since the first warm spell a while back, maybe only stopped for a week at the most.
Is it a rotary?
The video you had up scoff a picture of those lads made the front of the Irish farmers version of the sun tabloid paper, no mention of who they were spreading for yet again, the farmers doing it must be afraid of getting in trouble with fisheries or council etc
 
Is it a rotary?
The video you had up scoff a picture of those lads made the front of the Irish farmers version of the sun tabloid paper, no mention of who they were spreading for yet again, the farmers doing it must be afraid of getting in trouble with fisheries or council etc

If I was pumping out of the river I wouldn't be making a video,only have to fart near the river and the local fishing club will report you.
 
If I was pumping out of the river I wouldn't be making a video,only have to fart near the river and the local fishing club will report you.
A big river flows through our home place, it’s full of fishermen, fisheries authorities, department of wildlife and many more authorities that I’m not sure what they do or how they even put down the day really so we wouldn’t get away with it either
 
The spud boys round here draw from rivers but need a license to do it. Limited to how much they can draw and it's getting harder to get the license.
 
my father was telling me during the week about some time in the 50's, 56 I think, every evening after school for a few weeks they took a cart with 3 barrels down to the stream and had some sort of hand pump to fill them, the barrels were plumbed into a dribble bar of sorts and you walked the horse at a snails pace up drills of beet, covered about an acre in the evening. Everyone said his father was mad for trying it but they had better beet than anyone else that year by miles. they did a few acres of grass even but I dont think it responded as well as the beet.

he was advocating with modern kit up to 3k gallons to the acre would be a real help spread at night
 
Don't think it is exactly illegal but a lot of land by big rivers is special area of conservation so you could draw fierce hardship on yourself
You need an abstraction licence as far as I know. But can take up to 20k litres a day without

But don't hold me to that!
 
You need an abstraction licence as far as I know. But can take up to 20k litres a day without

But don't hold me to that!

You do indeed need an abstraction ticket to take water from a river or indeed use a stream divert say to fill an existing irrigation pond,
Our irrigation lake is filled from our beef yards winter run off , goes through three reed beds/settling ponds,
We're putting on 15mm of water a day on the spuds, the gun is running all day and half the night, 7 days a week, tiz "expensive" but hey needs must, it helps yeild and certainly helps skin finish,
 
You do indeed need an abstraction ticket to take water from a river or indeed use a stream divert say to fill an existing irrigation pond,
Our irrigation lake is filled from our beef yards winter run off , goes through three reed beds/settling ponds,
We're putting on 15mm of water a day on the spuds, the gun is running all day and half the night, 7 days a week, tiz "expensive" but hey needs must, it helps yeild and certainly helps skin finish,

Have you lots of water left in the lake?

I was surprised to see our local reservoir that feeds the local villages and town is only 1.7m below this time last year,it is 194ha though.
 
Have you lots of water left in the lake?

I was surprised to see our local reservoir that feeds the local villages and town is only 1.7m below this time last year,it is 194ha though.

There's plenty left thus far,we've dropped the level by around .5 - .75 of a meter , just keep banging it on
 
So was talking to the neighbour who is at the irrigating, his milking herd is just about holding its own, they are putting an inch of rain per acre per day onto the grazing ground, plus he has also got the local umbilical slurry outfit dumping water on ground for him.
His own irrigation costs him £100 a day in diesel alone, never mind any other costs and contractor on top of that.
He is really worried about the rest of the animals though that he is carrying, young stock etc, they are not irrigating their feed as it is all out farms and they are fast running out, he is buying anything that can be considered feed, hay, bales, wholecrop, anything. He also would be considered one of the best dairy farmers around. His neighbours are feeding away at this years first cut taken 7 weeks ago and not that bothered.

We are starting the new parlour on Monday.
 
So was talking to the neighbour who is at the irrigating, his milking herd is just about holding its own, they are putting an inch of rain per acre per day onto the grazing ground, plus he has also got the local umbilical slurry outfit dumping water on ground for him.
His own irrigation costs him £100 a day in diesel alone, never mind any other costs and contractor on top of that.
He is really worried about the rest of the animals though that he is carrying, young stock etc, they are not irrigating their feed as it is all out farms and they are fast running out, he is buying anything that can be considered feed, hay, bales, wholecrop, anything. He also would be considered one of the best dairy farmers around. His neighbours are feeding away at this years first cut taken 7 weeks ago and not that bothered.

We are starting the new parlour on Monday.

There seems to be an attitude of "we'll be alright" locally,maybe I'm just cautious but I can possibly see a crisis earlier,I won't need to open 1st cut till mid/late September as despite the long winter I had a large carry over,to say I'm worried though would be an understatement.
 
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