Farm Water Calculator: the annual balance

Property Details

The rainfall figures below will populate based on your selected location.
View the information in a table format

• Property Location Select property location Alexandra Bairnsdale Ballarat Benalla Bendigo Charlton Colac Hamilton Horsham Kerang Leongatha Mildura Orbost Portland Sale Swan Hill Wangaratta Warragul Warnambool Other
• Annual average rainfall (mm/year) *
• Annual average PAN evaporation (mm/year) *
• Location North/South of "Great dividing range" Select location of divide North of the divide Along the divide South of the divide
• * Or enter own data

Try a range of yearly rainfall and evaporation rates for your property to see the effect on the water budget. For more locations go to Bureau of Meteorology web-site.

Livestock drinking requirement

The livestock drinking figures below will prepopulate based on your livestock type and sub-type.
View the information in a table format

Livestock Type	Sub Category	Number	Megalitres/year
Select type of livestock Sheep Cattle Horse Pig Poultry Alpaca (dry) Deer (dry) Goat	Select sub-category Nursing ewes on dry feed Prime lambs on dry pasture Mature sheep on dry pasture Prime lambs on irrigated pasture Mature sheep on irrigated pasture Dairy cow, dry Dairy cow, milking Beef Cattle Weaners (250-300kg) Working Grazing Brood sow Mature pig Grower (25-90kg) Laying hen Pullet Turkey Dry Milking No sub-category exists Deer (dry) Alpaca (dry)
Select type of livestock Sheep Cattle Horse Pig Poultry Alpaca (dry) Deer (dry) Goat	Select sub-category Nursing ewes on dry feed Prime lambs on dry pasture Mature sheep on dry pasture Prime lambs on irrigated pasture Mature sheep on irrigated pasture Dairy cow, dry Dairy cow, milking Beef Cattle Weaners (250-300kg) Working Grazing Brood sow Mature pig Grower (25-90kg) Laying hen Pullet Turkey Dry Milking No sub-category exists Deer (dry) Alpaca (dry)
Select type of livestock Sheep Cattle Horse Pig Poultry Alpaca (dry) Deer (dry) Goat	Select sub-category Nursing ewes on dry feed Prime lambs on dry pasture Mature sheep on dry pasture Prime lambs on irrigated pasture Mature sheep on irrigated pasture Dairy cow, dry Dairy cow, milking Beef Cattle Weaners (250-300kg) Working Grazing Brood sow Mature pig Grower (25-90kg) Laying hen Pullet Turkey Dry Milking No sub-category exists Deer (dry) Alpaca (dry)
Select type of livestock Sheep Cattle Horse Pig Poultry Alpaca (dry) Deer (dry) Goat	Select sub-category Nursing ewes on dry feed Prime lambs on dry pasture Mature sheep on dry pasture Prime lambs on irrigated pasture Mature sheep on irrigated pasture Dairy cow, dry Dairy cow, milking Beef Cattle Weaners (250-300kg) Working Grazing Brood sow Mature pig Grower (25-90kg) Laying hen Pullet Turkey Dry Milking No sub-category exists Deer (dry) Alpaca (dry)
Select type of livestock Sheep Cattle Horse Pig Poultry Alpaca (dry) Deer (dry) Goat	Select sub-category Nursing ewes on dry feed Prime lambs on dry pasture Mature sheep on dry pasture Prime lambs on irrigated pasture Mature sheep on irrigated pasture Dairy cow, dry Dairy cow, milking Beef Cattle Weaners (250-300kg) Working Grazing Brood sow Mature pig Grower (25-90kg) Laying hen Pullet Turkey Dry Milking No sub-category exists Deer (dry) Alpaca (dry)
Select type of livestock Sheep Cattle Horse Pig Poultry Alpaca (dry) Deer (dry) Goat	Select sub-category Nursing ewes on dry feed Prime lambs on dry pasture Mature sheep on dry pasture Prime lambs on irrigated pasture Mature sheep on irrigated pasture Dairy cow, dry Dairy cow, milking Beef Cattle Weaners (250-300kg) Working Grazing Brood sow Mature pig Grower (25-90kg) Laying hen Pullet Turkey Dry Milking No sub-category exists Deer (dry) Alpaca (dry)
Select type of livestock Sheep Cattle Horse Pig Poultry Alpaca (dry) Deer (dry) Goat	Select sub-category Nursing ewes on dry feed Prime lambs on dry pasture Mature sheep on dry pasture Prime lambs on irrigated pasture Mature sheep on irrigated pasture Dairy cow, dry Dairy cow, milking Beef Cattle Weaners (250-300kg) Working Grazing Brood sow Mature pig Grower (25-90kg) Laying hen Pullet Turkey Dry Milking No sub-category exists Deer (dry) Alpaca (dry)
Select type of livestock Sheep Cattle Horse Pig Poultry Alpaca (dry) Deer (dry) Goat	Select sub-category Nursing ewes on dry feed Prime lambs on dry pasture Mature sheep on dry pasture Prime lambs on irrigated pasture Mature sheep on irrigated pasture Dairy cow, dry Dairy cow, milking Beef Cattle Weaners (250-300kg) Working Grazing Brood sow Mature pig Grower (25-90kg) Laying hen Pullet Turkey Dry Milking No sub-category exists Deer (dry) Alpaca (dry)
Total Livestock water requirement:

Household water use

Number of Residents	Megalitres/year

Garden water use

The Garden water use figures below will prepopulate based on your garden type and area.
View the information in a table format

Error: Annual average rainfall (mm/year) has not been entered in the property details section. No value can be populated below without this figure.

Garden type	Area m2	Megalitres/year
Select garden type Native garden Lawn with shrubs Vegetable garden Other
Select garden type Native garden Lawn with shrubs Vegetable garden Other
Select garden type Native garden Lawn with shrubs Vegetable garden Other
Select garden type Native garden Lawn with shrubs Vegetable garden Other
Total garden water requirement:

Dairy shed water use

The Dairy shed water use figures below will prepopulate based on your dairy type and herd size.
View the information in a table format

Dairy type	Herd Size	Megalitres/year
Select dairy type Herringbone Rotary Other	Select herd size 50 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
Select dairy type Herringbone Rotary Other	Select herd size 50 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
Select dairy type Herringbone Rotary Other	Select herd size 50 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
Total Dairy Shed water use:

Dairy shed water use is very variable. Ideally measure your own water use using - Dairy Shed water how much do I use? booklet and enter figure directly into the Megalitres/year field. Otherwise use the drop down lists to give a reasonable water use figure.

Other water use

Other water uses may include water for spraying, cleaning equipment, cleaning feedpads, or fire-fighting.

Other	Megalitres/year
Total Other water use:

If you don't know how much water is used for other activities you may need to manually measure this. The Agricultural Note 'Measuring Water Use in the Dairy' steps through a flow rate and tank volume method to do this.

Total Livestock water requirement:	0
Total household water use:	0
Total garden water use:	0
Total dairy shed water use:	0
Total 'other' water use:	0
Total over-all volume of evaporation:	in progress
Total over-all volume of seepage:	in progress
Total Overall on-farm water use:	megalitres/year

Something to consider:Is the water being used on the farm, appropriately licensed for the way it is being used? For example commercial uses of water such as water used in piggeries, for irrigation, dairies may need a licence for this use. Please contact your local water corporation about your licensing requirements.