Bucket testing and irrigation compliance in New Zealand

Irrigation testing used to be something good operators did by choice. Increasingly, it's something you may need to show evidence of.

Where testing comes in

The rules vary by region, but irrigation performance often comes up in three places:

• Farm Environment Plans. Many farm plans include good management practice around irrigation, and auditors may look for evidence that you check your system is applying water efficiently.
• Consent conditions. Some water take consents and regional plans expect irrigation to be efficient, and may require evidence of it.
• Irrigation scheme requirements. Many schemes ask shareholders to test their systems and share the results as part of the scheme's own environmental reporting.

If you're not sure what applies to you, check your consent conditions and farm plan, or ask your scheme or regional council.

In Canterbury, for example, Environment Canterbury says that if a Farm Environment Plan is one of your consent conditions, your audit will look for evidence that your irrigation equipment is operating efficiently.

What makes a test record useful

An auditor isn't just looking for a number. A useful record shows:

• When the test was done and who did it
• Which irrigator was tested and where it is
• The method used, ideally the Irrigation New Zealand method
• The raw readings, not just the final result
• The calculated application depth and uniformity
• What you did about any problems you found

The trust problem

The weak point of bucket testing has always been trust. A result written on a sheet of paper can't show it was done properly, on the right irrigator, on the date it says. That's a growing issue as schemes and councils lean more on this data.

Act on the results

A test that shows a problem isn't a failure. An auditor is generally more interested in whether you found it and fixed it. Keep a note of repairs, nozzle changes and pressure adjustments, and retest afterwards to show the fix worked.

Try it: Use the free Uniform Ag calculator to work out your results. For records that stand up to scrutiny, Uniform Ag Pro confirms the irrigator's location by GPS and keeps a tamper-evident edit history on every report.

Sources: Environment Canterbury, More reasons than ever to be a smart irrigator · Environment Canterbury, Farm Environment Plans