At their meeting the Stewart PIT also discussed initial data from the 5 Observant capacitance probes installed on the Stewart farm. Throughout the project the PIT farmers have had numerous discussions on the value of moisture probes and how to use them most effectively. Soil moisture probe take home messages Look for the decline in daily water use and ground truth what the cause is. Is it moisture stress or another factor? Set your own refill and full point management lines.

Recently both PITs have had technical sessions on the value of moisture probes. Rob O’Connor and Dale Board, both from DEDJTR, have been talking to PIT farmers about the benefits and challenges of using soil moisture monitoring tools. A summary of Dale’s previous research into these tools in the region can be found here: http://irec.org.au/farmer_f/pdf_186/Soil-moisture-monitoring.pdf Soil moisture monitoring provides a tool that enables irrigators to make more informed decis

The Stewart PIT spoke at length about the data that could be collected on the farm to inform some key management strategies for the group. In the first couple of meetings the watering strategy utilised on the farm, in particular the longer irrigation intervals that Kelvin and Don use, were of particular interest to the other farms in the group. Some felt that the longer intervals might be causing a yield penalty where others were keen to know if they could implement a longer