Sam Coxon is a 4th generation sheep and cattle cocky on Kateroy near Longreach in the northern part of the Cooper catchment. There are hundreds like him scattered around the north-east part of the Lake Eyre Basin, but what sets Sam apart from most of his contemporaries is that he also tills the soil.

When Sam set out on the farming track 5 years ago, it wasn’t with a starry-eyed belief that he could make a fortune by pouring water on the soil – he had firm goals in mind and set about achieving them with single-mindedness and scientific precision.

“When you really needed hay,” Sam explains, “it was always at a price you couldn’t afford. So we bought this old dairy that already had an irrigation licence so we could grow hay to drought-proof ourselves.

“Before we started farming we tested our soil to make sure we had both the depth of soil and a decent quality of soil to work with – it’s no good starting with soil that’s going to go either acid or alkaline on you in ten to twenty years.”

Over 5 years of farming, the pH (which was high) and the sodium level in the soil have fallen, the nitrates remained constant and, because the stubble is ploughed in, the organic matter has increased. After each season the soil is tested. This allows fertiliser to be custom-mixed according to the requirements of the soil and crops. Fallowed ground is followed with lucerne, then crops of sorghum or oats in a rotation around the quadrants of the 8 hectare circular track of a centre-pivot irrigator.

The farm came with a travelling irrigator but it was soon apparent to Sam that it was neither effective nor efficient. You had to pump a lot of pressure to run the nozzle,” he said. The water sprayed high into the air where the wind got hold of it and you didn’t get an even coverage.”

He went looking for an alternative that was low maintenance, cost effective to operate, and efficient in its water usage. A centre-pivot unit was ultimately installed after underground tape was rejected because of unsuitability for use in heavy clay soils.

“We’re pumping less pressure and less water with this irrigator,” said Sam. We use about a third of the water because it doesn’t actually spray the water, it just drops it down out of a shower rose, straight onto the crop – we’re not pumping pressure which costs money.

“The centre-pivot also allows us to fertilise or ‘fertigate’ through the water. Folia application of nutrients is a much more efficient method of delivery – you use less and you’re putting it right where it’s needed.”

The proof of the Kateroy drought mitigation exercise is in the pudding of the recent drought. Our breeding stock held better condition due to the ease of maintaining protein levels and we came out of the drought with our breeding herd in good condition and our country less stressed”

While he firmly believes he is doing all the right things, Sam Coxon is only cautiously optimistic regarding his future as an irrigator on a tributary of Cooper Creek. We hope we have some certainty but who knows. We’ve stayed within the boundaries of our licences so hopefully they are secure.”

“My bit of farming is part of an overall management strategy – I’d like to leave my country better for my children.

“My family has had this block of dirt for over 100 years and it’s always been left to the next generation in good condition, that’s why we’re still here.”