Nuffield scholar and Hagley farmer Greg Gibson has called for more work to be done in understanding the true cost of waterlogging to yield losses on-farm.
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Mr Gibson runs a cropping program consisting of alkaloid poppies, onions, processing peas, potatoes and an array of seed crops, as well as a lamb trading operation fattening 10,000 head.
Past yield losses of between 50-100 per cent on his property due to inadequate draining, prompted him to investigate the causes of waterlogging, and the variety of monitoring tools available worldwide.
“The importance of understanding how much waterlogging really costs agriculture in Australia cannot be over-emphasised,” he said.
He said waterlogging was a significant issue in northern Tasmania, where he manages his family’s 730-hectare intensive farming operation and was the focus of his 2014 Nuffield scholarship trip.
Mr Gibson said high rainfall zones like Tasmania and Victoria typically experience lost production due to waterlogging, and believes it’s a significant issue for many other farmers too.
