JACO Pauer is breaking new ground in the horticulture and irrigation industry, leading to him being awarded the Sustainable Irrigation Management Award.
The award was part of the 2022 Zimmatic Trailblazer Sustainable Irrigation Awards, which recognise and celebrate farmers who are at the forefront when it comes to responsible irrigation, innovative water management and environmental stewardship.
As farm manager of the Pye Group site at Parilla, Mr Pauer helps manage the production of potatoes, carrots and onions, as well as managing the company's livestock, export hay and dryland cropping operations.
"We do about 2500 hectares of spuds, about 600ha or 700ha of onions and then probably the same as carrots," he said.
"Then we do broadacre dryland cropping, and then we've got livestock, with sheep and beef."
After dedicating time to improve irrigation practices, Mr Pauer ensured the correct amount of water was applied to all areas of each pivot.
"We used soil moisture probes, a fixed wing drone and aerial imagery," he said.
"We used NDVI imagery to pick-up stress on plants, that we can feed back and treat and put into our irrigation plan for the next scheduling of water.
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"We used satellite imagery also."
Mr Pauer said the Pye Group aimed to incorporate more technology use onto the property.
"We're probably at around 60 per cent of our pivots are converted to variable rates," he said.
"We're trying to achieve 100pc of variable rates if we can.
"It's an expensive after-market fit, so every year we do three or four pivots."
Due to the Pye Group having a dune swale landscape they can maintain good moisture levels, Mr Pauer said.
"With the dune swale landscape with sand hills and loamy flats we can maintain a good moisture level across the pivot site," he said.
"We apply water more efficiently in the right areas."
Mr Pauer said the award recognition was unexpected.
"It was a privilege to get some acknowledgment in the industry, for the irrigation that we're running," he said.
"I think we're sort of market leading in the irrigation systems we run and the depth of technology we're using."
The Pye group has two flagship potato varieties, Mr Pauer said.
"One is called Spud Lite that we market in all the big chain groups, like Woolworths, Coles and Aldi," he said.
"The other one's called Daisy Chippers, that's sort of more for wedges and chips."
Since the Pye family moved to Australia from New Zealand in the 1990s, dryland farming has been a big part of the mix within the Pye Group.
Wheat and barley are the two main dryland crops grown, with lentils and lupins also added into the mix.
Mr Pauer said while the Pye Group had a focus on producing big yields, their main interest was on growing quality produce.
"We're always chasing yields, but to grow good quality produce is more of a priority for us," he said.
Mr Pauer said the Pye group largely used a zero-till approach on their dryland seeding practices.
Summer weeds can be a challenge for the Pye Group, depending on the rainfall levels, Mr Pauer said.
"Usually we don't get much rain in the summer, but we'll get the odd thunderstorm," he said.
"We tried to use the herbicides at a minimum, but sometimes we just need to use herbicides to keep the summer weeds under control."
Mr Pauer said the Pye Group used a combination of fertilisers, but mainly liquid fertilisers.
"We use granular and then liquid on the horticulture stuff, we use a lot of liquid that we can put through the irrigation systems," he said.
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