Fracking irrigation crop endorsed as safe for animals

A nutrition report by Fodder King and Animal Nutrition Consulting Services found the crops met the highest nutritional standards set by the Australian Fodder Industry Association.

AGL’s exploration irrigation program involves blending produced, or waste water, with fresh water to irrigate crops at its Tiedmans property at Gloucester.

AGL’s hydrogeology manager, John Ross, said the results were pleasing.

“These recent results are in line with the previous report which tested the winter fodder crops,” he said.

“To have confirmed that the fodder has a high nutritional value in the first report was really positive, but the fact it improved further is a solid indication that the blended irrigation water produces high-quality crops and fodder.”

AGL also tested mineral and trace metal levels. The tests revealed low to negligible levels of trace metals in the blended irrigation water, which was consistent with the concentrations observed in the harvested crops.

Seven macro-minerals and more than 20 trace minerals were sampled and the crop report concluded  the “macro and trace minerals results were acceptable”.

“The only spike was with the macro-mineral potassium and that could be explained by the rapidly changing soil structure, as we have added large amounts of compost to boost the parent soils in a short timeframe,’’ Mr Ross said.

“It was encouraging that the feed was found to be suitable for cattle and sheep as part of their supplementary feed, and the report clearly debunks claims that the blended water used in irrigation could affect the final animal products being sold for human consumption.”