{"id":7446,"date":"2022-06-24T02:48:25","date_gmt":"2022-06-24T02:48:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/terrain.org.au\/?p=7446"},"modified":"2022-06-24T02:53:05","modified_gmt":"2022-06-24T02:53:05","slug":"vegetated-cane-drains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/terrain.org.au\/vegetated-cane-drains\/","title":{"rendered":"Mossy cane drains improving water quality"},"content":{"rendered":"[mk_page_section bg_image=”https:\/\/terrain.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/aerial-landscape-dore3.jpg” bg_position=”center center” bg_repeat=”no-repeat” bg_stretch=”true” enable_3d=”true” min_height=”500″ js_vertical_centered=”true” padding_top=”” padding_bottom=”” section_id=”donate” el_class=”donate-1″ sidebar=”sidebar-1″][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”70px”][mk_fancy_title font_family=”none” align=”center”]MOBILISING THE MOSSMAN AND MURRAY PROJECT[\/mk_fancy_title][mk_padding_divider size=”67″][\/vc_column][\/mk_page_section][mk_page_section section_id=”great-1″ sidebar=”sidebar-1″][vc_column width=”1\/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1563789112768{padding-right: 36px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}” el_class=”great_header_left”][mk_padding_divider size=”100″ visibility=”hidden-nb”][mk_padding_divider size=”15″ visibility=”visible-sm”][mk_padding_divider visibility=”visible-tl”][mk_fancy_title size=”28″ letter_spacing=”4″ margin_bottom=”0″ font_family=”none” el_class=”terrain-title-2″]VEGETATED CANE DRAINS TO ACT AS DENITRIFICATION TREATMENT SYSTEMS ON MOSSY FARMS[\/mk_fancy_title][mk_padding_divider size=”60″ visibility=”hidden-nb”][mk_padding_divider size=”20″ visibility=”visible-nb”][vc_column_text el_class=”sub-head” css=”.vc_custom_1656027621500{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]24 JUNE 2022[\/vc_column_text][mk_padding_divider size=”5″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1656030561175{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Mossman farmers are adding vegetated drains to their toolbox of practices that are improving the quality of water leaving farms. Seven new farm drainage improvement projects are being implemented in the region and will treat almost 200 hectares of cane farming land.<\/p>\n

Mossman Ag\u2019s Rebecca McHardie explains that vegetated drains are shallow channels that have primarily been designed to move water off a farm, and are then retrofitted to enable nitrate removal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith slight modifications to their drains, farmers are essentially getting them to also function as a man-made wetland<\/strong><\/a>. As happens in natural wetlands, nitrate is removed from the water through a microbial process and released back into the atmosphere as harmless nitrogen gas.\u201d<\/p>\n

To effectively remove nitrate, drains need to be shallow, have water in them for most of the year, and have the right density of vegetation in the drain. Modifications for each site varied depending on the landscape characteristics, but generally involved earthworks to reshape and reprofile, and then planting native grass species.<\/p>\n

Rebecca said that one project is also planning to vegetate the edges of the drain to transition it into a riparian zone.<\/p>\n

\u201cDrains and creeks with vegetated banks have additional benefits for water quality. It acts like a buffer strip that reduces soil loss or erosion.\u201d<\/p>\n

The use of vegetated drains as a farm treatment system is relatively new. The concept was first trialled as part of a reef water quality project in the Tully and Johnstone regions which ended in 2021. The project was able to demonstrate the effectiveness of, and quantify the amount of nitrate removed from, vegetated farm drains when they met the right criteria.<\/p>\n

The drainage improvement projects in Mossman were made possible through a Prod180 small grants round that was designed by Mossman Ag with input from local growers.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1563789122720{padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 34px !important;}” el_class=”great_header_right”][mk_padding_divider size=”206″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][mk_padding_divider size=”50″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][mk_padding_divider size=”50″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1656031855009{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]\"Growers\u201cMossman growers are really enthusiastic about the project benefits, which are mainly about reef water quality improvements,\u201d said Rebecca. \u201cBut vegetated drains also help to stabilise drains, which means farmers don\u2019t need to spend as much time excavating them, and they no longer need to spray them out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prior to the grants round opening, an initial workshop outlined different modification options and site requirements, so that growers could then put forward project applications that worked for their particular site characteristics. Mossman Ag ran further workshops and site visits with the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, and Australian Wetlands Consulting so that growers and their contractors could access expert information and get on ground advice for their projects.<\/p>\n

Prod180 is about boosting cane productivity in the Mossman region and progress toward Reef 2050 targets. It is part of a larger project, Mobilising the Mossman and Murra<\/strong><\/a>y, which is funded by Terrain NRM through the Australian Government\u2019s Reef Trust.[\/vc_column_text][vc_separator][\/vc_column][\/mk_page_section][mk_page_section el_class=”grean-btn-sec” sidebar=”sidebar-1″][vc_column][mk_padding_divider size=”47″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][mk_button dimension=”outline” url=”https:\/\/terrain.org.au\/what-we-do\/murray-and-mossman\/” align=”right” el_class=”green-btn” outline_skin=”custom” outline_active_color=”#175137″ outline_active_text_color=”#ffffff” outline_hover_bg_color=”#175137″ outline_hover_color=”#ffffff”]Read More[\/mk_button][mk_padding_divider size=”100″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][\/vc_column][\/mk_page_section][mk_page_section section_id=”great-1-blog” sidebar=”sidebar-1″][vc_column][mk_padding_divider size=”105″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][mk_fancy_title size=”28″ letter_spacing=”4″ margin_bottom=”0″ font_family=”none” align=”right” el_class=”terrain-title”]RELATED NEWS[\/mk_fancy_title][mk_padding_divider visibility=”hidden-sm”][\/vc_column][\/mk_page_section][vc_row fullwidth=”true” fullwidth_content=”false” id=”post_grid_filter_1″][vc_column][vc_column_text el_class=”grid_greate_3″ css=”.vc_custom_1598408950187{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]\n

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