“Weed Management – It’s a numbers game” national webinar

Managing resistant weeds and prolonging the life of herbicides were hot topics at the national web broadcast coordinated by WeedSmart on Wednesday, 16th October.

The internet broadcast titled “Weed Management – It’s a numbers game”, featured a video discussion with leading weed researchers, farmers and agronomists, and allowed growers to ask questions of the panel from wherever they were sitting at a computer.

Peter Newman, panel facilitator and Leader of Communications at the Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative (AHRI), said the spread of herbicide resistance in weeds and the threat this poses to farming systems across Australia is the most widely significant issue confronting grain growers.

“When herbicides were working well most growers were not overly worried about the size of the weed seed bank because they could spray the weeds and grow a profitable crop. As herbicide resistance takes hold the only option to continue cropping is to take a long term view and strive for a very low seed bank using a diverse range of tools. Herbicide resistance is not a problem if you have no weeds!” Mr Newman said.

“The discussion addressed the range of options available to help manage the weed seed bank, as well as general strategies to help promote the long term sustainability of herbicides

“We’re keen to hear from growers about their concerns and the panel was there to answer their questions in real time,” he said.

The discussion was held at Wagga Wagga’s Agricultural Institute Conference Facility.