Project overview

This project focused on developing and demonstrating IrrigationIQ™, an integrated water management and decision-support dashboard for cotton growers. The platform combines near-real-time irrigation data, weather information, and crop growth insights to support more efficient and sustainable water use. 

IrrigationIQ™ aims to improve visibility of water use across farms and systems, enabling better scheduling, benchmarking, and long-term resource planning. By connecting data from multiple technologies and suppliers into one accessible interface, it helps growers make informed irrigation decisions that boost productivity while conserving water.

Outcomes and achievements

The dashboard is powered by an integrated suite of data sources. 

• Government water accounts: Updated data fed in from the growers’ feeds into the platform, showing allocation 
• Automated sensors: Measure water levels in storages and distribution infrastructure across all company sensors
• Soil moisture probes: Monitor water content in soil, helping to guide whole farm water management decisions. 

Benefits and features 

• Real-time water monitoring: Growers see exactly how water they have and where it’s located- whether in storage, in the soil, or allocated
• Informed irrigation decisions: By knowing exactly how much water is available, growers can irrigate based on actual needs rather than guesswork
• Planning and forecasting: The dashboard can help estimate water availability for the remainder of the season, assisting in crop planning and infrastructure decisions
• Traceability and ‘origin of water’: Track water from source to field, offering insights into water movement and usage across the property
• Benchmarking: Potential to standardise water-use metrics across different farms and regions. 

The interface has been engineered to be sensor-agnostic, though the initial version is focused on GoannaAg technology to allow for streamlined testing, with plans to broaden compatibility in later versions and iterations. 

Project status

IrrigationIQ™ is available to growers through GoannaAg. 

Resources

IrrigationIQ™ Australian Cotton Grower Magazine – June/July 2025