35 IREC Farmers' Newsletter No. 198 — Spring 2017 CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS ON DOUBLE CROPPING Growing two crops in 52 weeks is a honed skill and for many years, southern irrigators have believed it was impossible to continuously double crop. Damian Jones & Bree Laughlin Irrigated Cropping Council MANY growers achieve three crops in two years, and some achieve five crops in three years. However, very few claim to have mastered continuous double cropping. The project Correct Crop Sequencing for Irrigated Double Cropping aims to identify and overcome barriers to double cropping by updating and expanding knowledge and information on management practice guidelines and providing up-to-date economic comparisons of double cropping sequences. As part of the project, NSW Department of Primary Industries and the Irrigated Cropping Council, in collaboration with irrigators, have jointly produced a calculator to help irrigators decide on the merits of double cropping on their own property. The calculator is a series of spreadsheets designed to support decision making about the correct crop sequence. It aims to provide an easy way for irrigators to assess the gross margin outcomes for different rotations, attribute an average water price to those rotations and customise the output for their own business. The calculator includes a rotation planner for a period of up to 10 years; and it will compare variations in commodity price and yield; yield and water price; and commodity price and water price. Follow the link to the Correct Crop Sequencing Decision Support Tool or go to the NSW DPI website: www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/budgets/ costs/cost-calculators/correct-crop-sequencing-decision-support-tool GRDC Project VIC00010 Correct Crop Sequencing for Irrigated Double Cropping This research was co-funded by the NSW DPI, the ICC and the Grains Research & Development Corporation. Further information Damian Jones Trials Manager M: 0409 181099 E: [email protected] A new decision support calculator for crop sequencing will help irrigators decide on the merits of double cropping on their own property.