Irrigation Expert Visits Wairapapa

A Canterbury irrigation expert recently gave a group of about 70 Wairarapa farmers a lesson on how to get the best out of their precious water.

The field day, held on a South Wairarapa property last Wednesday, was organised by the Wairarapa Water Users Incorporated Society and included members from the dairy, sheep & beef and cropping industries.

Dr Tony Davoren of HydroServices was the Canterbury expert. He specialises in irrigation management, irrigation requirements, soil and soil water assessment, and surface and groundwater water resources.

One of the organisers of the workshop was South Wairarapa sheep, beef and cropping farmer Mark Guscott of the Wairarapa Water Users, and he said the experience was most beneficial to farmers like himself.

He says Davoren’s advice was a commonsense approach to looking at soil properties and how water is applied and absorbed, and it got attendees to pay attention to their own onfarm situation.

‘‘A lot of us on farm are trying to do the right thing and you’ve got the right equipment, but we’re not using it properly,’’ he says.

After Davoren’s hour-long session in the three-hour field day, Harvest Electronics’ Peter Munn and a farm manager spoke about monitoring the environmental conditions on the farm and in the soil.

‘‘That was quite useful because we got to see some of the practical stuff about the gear they are using and what they actually do on farms,’’ says Guscott.

Wairarapa News, Masterton Wairarapa
02 Apr 2014, by Piers Fuller

Proposed Land and Water Regional Plan

ECan have notified a new Land and Water Plan that will supersede the NRRP. There are a number of policies and rules that will affect farmers in the future. It is strongly recommended that farmers download a copy of the plan, go to the index and read the policies and rules that might affect them. Click here to read the proposed plan.

Farmers should also consider making a submission on anything that they take issue with, but it needs to be done in a constructive manner.

The procedure for making a submission is outlined in the downloadable newsletter.

Submissions on ECan's proposed Land and Water Regional Plan close on Friday, 5 October 2012. Download a submission form here.

Tony Davoren is available to discuss any queries or questions that farmers may have. Tony can be contacted on 03-341 0970 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Institute of Directors Governance Essentials Training

Tony Davoren attended the Governance Essentials Training Course held in Methven during May.

IrrigationNZ is running governance essentials training aimed at developing better boards. These courses are being run in partnership with KPMG and Goodman Tavendale Reid with presenter Richard Westlake, Fellow, Institute of Directors.

The training sessions are open to operating and developing scheme board members, companies and aspiring future leaders. IrrigationNZ is planning to run a course in the North Island before the end of the year with more planned nationwide into next year.

"Tune in, tune up, turn off, focus on the business at hand" as a board member when you sit around the board table, was the clear and direct message delivered by Westlake.

Westlake told the group.

"They need to look at the opportunity to grow and improve. Just because a board may have high-performing individuals it doesn't necessarily mean that it will be a high-performing board."

Photo and quotes from Irrigation NZ News, Winter 2011

Variable Rate Irrigation in Action

Download the Variable Rate Irrigation in Action report.

Tony Davoren is available to discuss any queries or questions. Tony can be contacted on 03-341 0970 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.