Making water management profitable

A key aim of the project is to demonstrate water management systems which not only protect the environment but also save time, money and generate profits. Mismanagement of water on the farm costs farm businesses time and money where profit margins are already tight and time in short supply, especially with part-time farmers. These can often be ‘hidden’ costs to the farm business, such as time and diesel costs in hauling dirty water out to land for spreading, loss of nutrient from soil as opposed to it being utilized for grass/crop growth, loss of soil itself, dosing for waterborne disease in livestock such a liver fluke resulting from contaminated drinking water to name but a few.  There are also the ‘up-front’ costs such as needing to increase dirty water storage facilities, increased fertilizer costs to replace lost nutrients, and, in the worst-case scenario, pollution fines and legal costs that result from pollution prosecution proceedings.