Irrigated cotton growers stand to make substantial savings in fuel and greenhouse gas emissions in tractor operations if appropriate tractor engine and ground speeds are used and tillage depth is kept to the shallowes

Lifting and moving water around farms with pumping systems for irrigation consumes plenty of energy as water is a heavy liquid. Every litre of water has a mass of one kilogram.

A pump efficiency trial at Goondiwindi has highlighted the importance of testing individual pumping set-ups to identify the optimum operating point to achieve maximum efficiency.

Water pumping is 46% to 75% of the total direct energy use as large quantities of water are pumped for irrigation. How efficiently this happens depends on the efficiency of the pump stations.

Excessive wheel slip and engine speed can waste fuel.