Queensland horticultural farmer spends $800,000 hauling water

As drought ravages across Australia, key salad-bowl regions around Queensland spend $800,000 hauling water.     

Yet few farmers know an Aquaponic Commercial farm uses only 10% of that water, and setup costs are less than 30% of the cost to cart water, with a short term use. The new Aquaponic Greenhouse, uses 10% of water to grow the same amount of produce, and have bonus fish sales, is estimated to be about 30% of the cost of hauling in truckloads of water. 

Greenhouses minimize drought impact further south, around Bundaberg, Anthony Rehbein has shifted from growing ginger and watermelons in paddocks to protected cropping systems, which has helped reduce some of the impacts of drought.

He said even with the greenhouse, this summer was brutal.

"Really it's the high humidity and the relentless days of no rain … this summer just went on and on, it's like a marathon," Mr. Rehbein said.

"We're scaling down over the summer because it's just too hot, but we are trying to improve our greenhouse structures through cooling so that we can go a bit longer and plant earlier.

The solution is Aquaponic Greenhouse growing 

Not only a micro-climate but uniquely organic, like fish from the Aquaponic system, they feed the plants. "If you travel the world you'll see protective cropping structures are increasing."