Irrigation Development a Win Win for Burbury Ag

Campbell Town farmer Richard Burbury has one of the biggest years of change ahead.

Seven years ago, he attended a meeting with other local farmers to discuss the possible development of an irrigation scheme in the Northern Midlands.

Four years ago, he agreed to take on the role of Irrigator Representative Committee (IRC) Chair of the Northern Midlands Irrigation Scheme (NMIS).

Next year, Richard will attend the official opening of the $217.9 million project that will deliver 25,500 megalitres of highly reliable water to the region.

And, at home, he and his wife Georgie will take delivery of 2,250 megalitres of water from the scheme to underpin their investment in a further 500 hectares under pivot.

“This is a massive project for the Northern Midlands and our whole community is eagerly awaiting the first water to flow, hopefully by the start of the next growing season in October next year,” Richard said.

“It has been a long wait, but landowners are incredibly heartened that construction is progressing on schedule and excited about how much good this project will deliver to our community.”

Richard and Georgie currently run 14,000 breeding ewes and have 1,000 hectares under pivot on their 5,200-hectare property, growing poppies, grass seed, potatoes, peas, vegetable seeds, seed oats and fodder.

He said the NMIS had given them the confidence to invest in irrigation infrastructure, expand their lamb finishing operation, and engage additional employees and contractors.

“We are operating in a high-cost environment so it’s too risky to make this level of investment without guaranteed water,” Richard said. “We are all very excited about increasing our on-farm irrigated footprint and boosting the surety on existing operations.”

Richard said Chairing the Irrigator Representative Committee has given him a unique insight into the level of compliance required to design and construct an irrigation scheme of this magnitude.

“It’s been seven years since our first meeting so it’s fair to say that there has been a level of frustration about how long it has taken to get to this point,” he said.

“But it has certainly been interesting to learn about all the steps required as part of the approvals and consultation process. We have had some very good meetings with Tasmanian Irrigation and posed lots of questions about how stakeholders can get the best out of the project.

“The IRC process is a great opportunity for farmers to have their say on the scheme and also water delivery functionality.

“There’s no doubt that there is a lot of positive sentiment in the Northern Midlands community at the moment – largely due to the development of this irrigation scheme.”

The Northern Midlands Irrigation Scheme is jointly funded by the Australian Government ($108.98 million) through the National Water Grid Fund, the Tasmanian Government ($72.26 million) and Northern Midlands irrigators through the purchase of water entitlements on the Scheme ($36.72 million).