11 Jul Rookwood Weir – Landholders Support Program
As an integral part of the Rookwood Weir project, Sunwater and Advance Rockhampton sponsored a program which assisted landholders to assess how they may be able to purchase and utilise water from the newly constructed Rookwood Weir.
PeritusAg, in conjunction with irrigation design company Hydroplan, was one of the successful tenderers on the project.
In broad terms, the project required us to meet with landholders interested in purchasing a water allocation, reviewing their existing primary production activities and investigating the irrigation potential of their properties.
In detail, we visited and interviewed each landholder on the Program and undertook a property inspection. The objectives of the landholders for the development of their properties varied widely ranging from increasing the capacity of existing grazing properties via irrigated improved pasture through to the conversion of grazing properties to businesses growing annual or tree crops. Some landholders wanted to consider horticultural opportunities.
Agricultural Enterprise Reports
After the initial interview and property inspection an Agricultural Enterprise Report was produced for each landholder. Their reports contained details on:
• the irrigation opportunity for each property
• an estimate of the capital cost of the irrigation development
• a financial appraisal of the forecast gross margin
• return on investment and the payback period of the proposed development
Business Plans for each landholder
We then prepared a detailed business plan for each landholder designed to support an investment decision concerning the purchase of an allocation from the Rookwood Weir.
The key areas addressed in the Business Plan were:
• A detailed financial appraisal using discounted cash flow analysis,
• An economic appraisal to support potential future funding applications, and
• A detailed Action Plan designed to provide a pathway to realising the irrigation opportunity.
Outcomes
A number of the landholders that participated in this program have gone on to purchase water allocations from the Rookwood Scheme and are currently building and developing irrigation infrastructure on their properties.
Image source: Sunwater