Adoption of centre pivot irrigation in the irrigated dairy industry of south-eastern Australia

This paper reports on a study to answer the research question; why do dairy farmers adopt (or not adopt as the case may be) centre pivot irrigation (CPI) in the Central Goulburn Irrigation District (CGID) of southeastern Australia? Twenty-two dairy farmers were interviewed. Ten of these farmers had adopted CPI, four were considering adopting, and eight of the farmers were not planning to adopt CPI. The farmers interviewed represented the range of irrigated dairy farm sizes and production practices found within the CGID. The interviews were conducted and the data analysed as per the methods developed by Kaine (2004; 2008). We found that dairy farmers in the CGID only adopted CPI if their farm context (the farm‘s physical characteristics, the farmers‘ mix of skills and existing practices) meant that CPI would provide a relative advantage over alternative irrigation options. Therefore, CPI was only adopted when a farmer: required additional cattle feed; wanted to grow crops in a ̳cut and carry‘ system to meet these requirements; and had access to undeveloped, physically suitable land. These findings suggest that rather than the adoption rates of CPI in the CGID being low, the market for CPI within the CGID is small. This is useful information that will enable realistic targets for adoption to be set, and guide research and extension in the CGID.