WeedSmart Podcast

Would you like to know more about the changes to 2,4-D regulations? Nufarm Technical Marketing Lead André Sabeeney joins us on the podcast to give an overview. He also shares some more broad advice on spray drift. We’re also joined by Professor John Thompson from the Centre for Crop Health based at the University of Southern Queensland. He talks to us about beneficial fungi and its impact on crop growth. The benefits for crop growth occur when the beneficial fungus is in combined with the crop root. This is called Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhiza. It previously was referred to as VAM and now more commonly AMF. A lack of AMF can result in poor early crop growth and therefore poor crop competition with weeds. We also learn more about a similar effect of root-lesion nematodes causing poor growth of intolerant wheat varieties and poor weed suppression. Join your hosts Jessica Strauss and Peter Newman and take a listen!

We have a special guest co-host this week, with Planfarm Agronomist Dani Whyte joining Jessica Strauss, providing insights on farmer interviews she conducted last harvest. Dani has been working on a GRDC RCSN project, looking at harvest weed seed control practices in the Kwinana East port zone. She conducted 10 farmer interviews in total. In this podcast, we hear from three of the farmers who participated in the project. Farmers Clint Della Bosca, Stephen Dolton and Ty Kirby all share their HWSC experiences. The focus of this project is getting the weeds in the front of the header in low yielding crops. The core messages are:  - Harvest low – 10-15cm (this means paddocks need to be clean of rocks/stumps and staff need to be trained accordingly) - Coreflute attached to finger tyne reel - Knife extensions/crop lifters on the front of the harvester. Take a listen to learn more.

In the podcast this week, we focus on crop topping and the relatively new herbicide, Sharpen. In our last podcast, Andrew Messina talked to us about Case IH harvester set-up. This week farmer Lance Turner gives us the rundown on John Deere gear. AHRI and WeedSmart Agronomist Greg Condon talks to us about the benefits of crop topping and what to do if you suspect you’ve got herbicide resistance. We also hear from BASF Technical Services Manager, Phil Hoult, about the herbicide Sharpen. It’s now registered as a harvest aid in winter pulses, for winter cleaning of Lucerne and for wild radish seed-set control in winter cereals, so we’ll find out in more detail about its applications for broadacre croppers.

In the podcast this week, we’re focusing on harvester set-up and we also discuss how to capture weed seeds in the chaff fraction. John Broster from CSU gives some insight into the research on capturing weed seeds which was done by himself and Michael Walsh from Sydney University. A few years back, they measured how many weed seeds were entering the chaff fraction in a modern harvester. We also hear from WA farmer Andrew Messina about setting up Case harvesters. Finally, with the terrible drought conditions in Queensland and NSW, many farmers have had to source feed from totally different parts of the country. We chat with Grains Farm Biosecurity Officer for Biosecurity Queensland Kym McIntyre about the implications.

In this podcast, we’re focusing on research and ideas out of the 21st Australasian Weeds Conference. WeedSmart's Jessica Strauss was lucky enough to attend and caught up with a number of researchers who presented. The AWC is a biennial conference and carries on a long tradition of bringing the weed management community together to discuss new developments and share information about cutting-edge and best weed management practices. The conference attracts more than 250 delegates from across Australasia and globally. In this podcast, we hear from Professor Antonio DiTommaso from Cornell University. He was the International Keynote Speaker and spoke on the topic “Climate Change and Weed Migration: What do we know and what next?” Dr Michael Widderick, who is the Principal Research Scientist at the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries also presented. He spoke on “Research priorities for weed suppression by crops in Australia” Last, but not least, we hear from Dr Cheryl McCarthy. She’s a Research Fellow at the Centre for Agricultural Engineering at the University of Southern Queensland. She spoke on “Machine Vision Systems for Robotic Weed Sensing in Real World Commercial Environments”.

Serious herbicide resistance news has come out of South Australia, with a population of ryegrass from the Eyre Peninsula, having been confirmed resistant to all of the pre-emergent herbicides – Avadex, Arcade, Trifluralin, Propyzamide and Sakura, as well as two lesser-known herbicides EPTC and Thiobencarb. It was sampled in 2014 just two years after the release of Sakura in Australia. Metabolic cross-resistance is at play here. The really serious news is that a random survey in the South East of South Australia found many more populations of ryegrass with multiple cross-resistance to a range of pre-emergent herbicides, and the perplexing thing is that there is no predictable cross-resistance pattern. This is the research by the team of Chris Preston, Peter Boutsalis, David Brunton and Gurgeet Gill from the University of Adelaide with GRDC investment and we speak with Chris Preston about the findings and what they mean. If you'd like to learn more about the technical side of this finding, you can read AHRI insight here: https://ahri.uwa.edu.au/alphabet-cross-resistance-in-south-australia/ In positive news, we learn about Truflex Canola technology which is being released by Monsanto in 2019. TruFlex canola is Monsanto’s second-generation weed control trait offering growers greater flexibility through an extended glyphosate application window up to first flower and an opportunity to apply Roundup Ready® Herbicide with PLANTSHIELD® by Monsanto at higher rates for enhanced weed control. AHRI Director Hugh Beckie explains how the technology works and WA Grower Chad Eva gives his perspective on how it will fit into his farming system. If you'd like to learn more about this technology in person, you can head along to a field day near you: http://www.roundupreadycanola.com.au/truflex-canola/#RegisterHere Finally, we catch up with WeedSmart Content Writer and Producer to learn about who she is and get an update on what's new on the WeedSmart website. Take a listen!

The podcast is a bit late this week as we've been busy in Northern NSW presenting WeedSmart Week! We kicked off the event with the Forum Day in Narrabri at Lochaber Station and then toured around the region visiting farms and hearing from growers and agronomists on their farming systems and weed control tactics. In this podcast, join your hosts Jessica Strauss and Peter Newman as they discuss how the event faired and hear from growers, agronomists and other industry folk who attended the week. Take a listen!

Join your hosts Jessica Strauss and Peter Newman as they discuss crop competition and optical spraying in the Northern region. Gulargambone Farmer Chris Roche talks about crop competition in his farming system and Agronomist Rob Long discusses optical spraying options in the Northern Region. Both Chris and Rob will be speaking at the WeedSmart Week Forum in Narrabri on August 20th.

As a whole, the northern grains region has had a very tough start to the 2018 winter cropping season. With a few showers around there are hopes of some reprieve from a long, dry spell. Unfortunately, weeds will most likely be the first to respond to rainfall and growers will need to make some difficult decisions surrounding their cropping program, pre-emergent herbicide applications and maximising the competitiveness of any crops that get established. In this podcast, we hear from grower Brad Jackson and agronomist Peter McKenzie about why attending WeedSmart Week is a valuable investment of your time. WeedSmart Week, aimed specifically at growers and agronomists, will kick off in Narrabri with the Forum Day on 20 August, followed by two days of farm visits in the region. Three growers from the region who attended the 2017 WeedSmart Week in Wagga Wagga will be making presentations over the three days, outlining ways they have tackled herbicide resistance head-on. One of those growers is Brad Jackson, who farms with his father Peter and brothers Phil and Matt at Gurley where they usually have a robust winter cropping program featuring wheat, barley, chickpea, canola and linseed. Following 2017 WeedSmart Week they’ve reintroduced the use of pre-emergent herbicides to their herbicide program and are taking every opportunity to mix and rotate herbicide modes of action. The Jackson’s WeedIT optical sprayer has revolutionised their herbicide program, allowing them to spray low weed density paddocks more frequently and target small, fresh seedlings. Brad and Phil are also developing valuable weed management tactics, such as camera-guided inter-row cultivator and green manuring, that can be employed in an organic farming system at Westmar. WeedSmart Week attendees will have several opportunities to see and discuss cutting-edge technologies such as optical sprayers, autonomous tractors and emerging ‘green-on-green’ spray sensors. The growers, agronomists and researchers who will speak and participate in expert panels at the Day 1 forum will spark important discussions about herbicide resistance and how the Big 6 tactics can be used to target the weed species and farming systems in the northern cropping region. There’s one thing for sure – doing nothing is not an option. Register for this important 3-day event for the single ticket price of $95 here: https://weedsmart.org.au/northern-weedsmart-week-august-2018/

This week we're catching up with two of the 2017 Syngenta Growth Awards winners. We were very proud that our Extension Agronomist Kirrily Condon nabbed the Adviser award in the Sustainability category. For Junee-based Kirrily, the goal is always the same. If she can provide advice that is making farming more profitable as well as sustainable, then she’s set out what she aimed to achieve. We also caught up with Duncan Young who farms out of Beverley in Western Australia with JT Young and Sons. He received the Grower award in the Sustainability category. Duncan has always been passionate about agriculture and practices sustainable farming. He's put a self-imposed ban on some chemicals in certain places next to a river, he uses technology like knife rollers over his paddocks instead of burning stubble and he has established a significant buffer on his property of up to 100m along the nearby Avon River. Each year, Syngenta profiles growers and farm advisers from different regions across Australia and New Zealand, showcasing their contribution in one of the following categories: Productivity: Recognises growers and advisers who use best practice in achieving consistent productivity gains. Sustainability: Recognises growers and advisers who are committed to addressing industry issues to create a sustainable and profitable future. Community & People: Recognises growers and advisers who make a leading contribution to their community, workers and fellow growers. Nominations for the Growth Awards are invite-only and 25 regional winners are chosen from the pool of nominees and announced in October. The regional winners attended The Growth Awards dinner last November and recently went on their study tour to the UK and Switzerland. The winners are chosen by an independent panel comprised of industry representatives and stakeholders. Join your host Jessica Strauss and guest co-host Greg Condon to find out about Kirrily and Duncan's approaches to agriculture and what they learned on their study tour.

We don’t want to give the weeds a free kick by growing un-competitive crops.  Crop competition with weeds is a double-edged sword. There is the effect of the weeds on the crop, and the effect of the crop on the weeds.  A competitive crop will suffer less yield loss at the hands of the weeds, and will also reduce seed set of the weeds compared to an un-competitive crop. In other words more crop, fewer weeds. In this week's podcast, AHRI Extension Agronomist Greg Condon and AgriVision Agronomy Consultant Matt Bissett provide excellent overviews on the different crop competition approaches that can be employed. There are six main aspects of crop competition: 1. Seed rate 2. Row spacing 3. Orientation (north-south vs. east-west) 4. Crop variety/species 5. Soil health 6. Time of sowing – early sowing is usually best It’s hard to get all of the six points above right, and growers need not aspire to practising all six of these competition factors, but they can use a range of these practices to ensure that their crops have a fighting chance against the weeds. So take a listen, as our regular hosts Jessica Strauss and Peter Newman take you on the crop comp journey!

We have two diverse topics for this week's podcast. Firstly we'll hear from Peter Aikman, who is a Mallee grain grower. He will share his experience on using the Rootboot for his paired rows, revealing the positive impacts and some of the negatives too. We also hear from Nuffield Scholar recipient Richard Hinchliffe. Richard is a grower and agronomist based in Yorkshire in the UK. By using a variety of diverse tactics, he's had a major win with controlling the very problematic weed blackgrass on his farming property. You're joined once again by your two co-hosts Jessica Strauss and Peter Newman.

With dry conditions in many parts of the country, we catch up with WANTFA Executive Director Dr David Minkey to find out if herbicides do in fact degrade in dry soil over time. We also chat with Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Principal Scientist Paul Grundy about controlling volunteer and ratoon cotton. Join your co-hosts Jessica Strauss and Peter Newman and take a listen! Music: bensound.com

With many parts of the country facing little to no Autumn rainfall events so far, many growers are dry seeding. ConsultAg Agronomist Geoff 'Fos' Fosbery joins us in this podcast and provides some great tips on ensuring you get dry seeding right, including tips on herbicide application, such as trifluralin. We also hear from WA Farmer Kit Leake, who has been dry seeding for many seasons. He shares his insights and explains how he plans out his program well in advance. Music: bensound.com

In this podcast, we learn about what's happening in the robotics space for broadacre agriculture from Professor Salah Sukkarieh, who is an international expert in the research, development and commercialisation of field robotic systems. Last year he won the 2017 CSIRO Eureka Prize for Leadership in Innovation and Science. We also hear from University of Illinois Crop Sciences Associate Professor, Aaron Hager. He gives us an update on how growers are dealing with herbicide resistance in the US and how metabolic resistance has been a real driver for change. He also shares what's happening in herbicide resistance research in the states. Take a listen! Music: bensound.com