The Queensland Farmers’ Federation (QFF) has congratulated the Bundaberg Regional Irrigators Group for receiving the Best Agricultural Energy Efficiency Project Award at the National Energy Efficiency Awards 2020.
The Award, launched by QFF in partnership with the Energy Efficiency Council (EEC), recognises the vital importance of agriculture to our economy and celebrates the innovation taking place on Australian farms.
QFF CEO Dr Georgina Davis commended the Bundaberg Regional Irrigators Group and their project partners, the Cayley family and Bundaberg Sugar Services, for their productivity and efficiency-first approach to farm irrigation energy management.
“The project saw the replacement of over 500m of irrigation piping on the Cayley’s farm, combined with extensive weather and soil type analysis to determine optimal irrigation scheduling, resulting in a 42 per cent reduction in energy per tonne of sugarcane harvested,” Dr Davis said.
“The Cayley family are not the only ones benefiting from the success of the project, they are leading the way in knowledge sharing across the region, enabling increased uptake in energy productivity measures for irrigation.”
QFF also congratulated Websters Group for receiving the Highly Commended award in the Best Agricultural Energy Efficiency Project Award category for their integrated energy approach.
“Energy is such an integral part of running a farm business, we applaud Australian farmers demonstrating leadership and catalysing change in energy efficiency by implementing new technologies, optimising energy use and delivering financial savings,” Dr Davis said.