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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 56(1)

Phosphorus export at the paddock, farm-section, and whole farm scale on an irrigated dairy farm in south-eastern Australia

K. Barlow A C D , D. Nash B and R. B. Grayson C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Primary Industries Research Victoria (PIRVic), Department of Primary Industries, Rutherglen, RMB 1145, Chiltern Valley Road, Rutherglen, Vic. 3865, Australia.

B PIRVic, Department of Primary Industries, Ellinbank, RMB 2460, Hazeldean Road, Ellinbank, Vic. 3821, Australia.

C CRC for Catchment Hydrology and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Vic. 3010, Australia.

D Corresponding author. Email: kirsten.barlow@dpi.vic.gov.au

Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 56(1) 1-9 https://doi.org/10.1071/AR04166
Submitted: 15 July 2004  Accepted: 1 December 2004   Published: 31 January 2005

Abstract

Phosphorus (P) exported from agricultural land contributes to the eutrophication of inland water systems. Although P export has been extensively researched at the paddock scale, our understanding of farm-scale export is limited. This paper presents the results of a 3-year monitoring project that investigated P export at the paddock, farm-section, and whole farm scales on an irrigated dairy farm in south-eastern Australia. Annual average concentrations of 2.2–11 mg P/L, and annual loads of 2.5–23 kg P/ha were measured at the paddock and farm-section scale over the 3 years, with the quality of irrigation water applied having no significant effect on P export in surface runoff. At the farm scale, effective management of the water reuse system significantly reduced phosphorus export by up to 98%. During the 3-year period, P concentrations and loads exported in surface runoff consistently decreased between the paddock and farm-section scales (e.g. P-28 exported 13.8 kg P/ha, whereas S-4 exported 6.7 kg/ha in 2001), with the decrease in P export described using a scaling factor. Our results suggest that data on paddock-scale P export can rarely be proportionally assigned to predict section- or farm-scale export, at least on irrigated dairy farms in south-eastern Australia.

Additional keywords: spatial scale, nutrient, surface runoff, overland flow.


Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dairy Australia, GippsDairy, Department of Primary Industries (DPI), and the University of Melbourne for their financial support. The authors also thank the Macalister Research Farm Cooperative Limited, especially Karen Atkinson and Kane and Melinda Stephens, who worked to accommodate the monitoring systems on an operating dairy farm. Finally, the authors thank the Soils and Water Team from DPI.


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