Podcasts

Join your co-hosts Jessica Strauss and Peter Newman to find out about why mixing and rotating herbicides is the way to go. Today we’re chatting with AHRI researcher Roberto Busi about his latest research into resistance in wild radish and annual ryegrass and why it’s so important to mix and rotate herbicides in your farming system. Peter Newman has this week also written AHRI insight on Roberto’s work which evaluates the mix and rotate message in more detail. You can check it out here. And if you were wondering what the ‘boxes’ were that were spoken about in this episode, check out the graphic below.

In this week’s episode, Jessica Strauss and Peter Newman catch up in person to talk about the highlights of the GRDC Crop Updates which have been taking place across the country. Peter talks about what he presented at updates, including research done by Dr Michael Walsh from the University of Sydney on the efficacy of chaff lining. We also talk about research on weed seed mills and new machinery on the horizon. Pete also talks about his presentation on strip and disc systems and how they might fit into farming systems in WA. We also discuss the Weed Chipper, developed by Dr Andrew Guzzomi and Dr Carlo Peressini from UWA and researchers from the University of Sydney. The Weed Chipper now has a commercial partner in Precision Agronomics Australia. This project had received funding from the Grains Research and Development Corporation and was created in response to the growing concerns about herbicide resistance and the associated difficulties with fallow weed control. Director of McFadyen Ag Consulting and Northern Panel Chair Andrew McFadyen about the effects of the Summer rain the Northern region has received. Director of McFadyen Ag Consulting and Northern Panel Chair Andrew McFadyen *In the podcast we chat about presentations which were stand-outs. We didn’t give the full name for ‘Keith’ – his full name is Keith Norman and he is a UK Farm Management Specialist. We also talked about the model on HWSC Pete developed so you can calculate the cost of different HWSC options on your farm. You can download the model here.

Technology in general, including in the ag space, is moving forward at an accelerated rate. While green on brown technology is now being adopted and good results are being seen in the field, green on green technology is on the cusp of being a commercial reality. And while there might be fears it’ll be cost-prohibitive, AutoWeed Systems Engineer who is a guest on the podcast this week, says that the technology will be comparable and in some cases cheaper than the green on brown tech available today. Alex Olsen demonstrating the Autoweed at WeedSmart Week in Emerald 2019 The University of Sydney’s weed researchers Dr Michael Walsh and Guy Coleman recently ran a workshop with delegates from all over the world looking at how to make machine learning more accessible for green on green technology by making open source libraries of broadacre weeds and crops available to anyone who might want to access them, including companies working on making this tech a reality. WeedSmart’s Southern Extension Agronomist Greg Condon provides us with an overview of how the workshop ran and what he presented in on in terms of how this tech might fit into different farming systems. Join your co-hosts Jessica Strauss and Peter Newman and learn more!   John Stevenson from Warakirri Lockhart explaining to delegates how important the Weedit camera spraying is for their business.

We’re back for our first podcast of 2020 and the decade! Join your hosts, Jessica Strauss and Peter Newman, as they talk about Summer Cropping and highlights from the massive agricultural tradeshow, Agritechnica. With recent rainfall in parts of the Northern region, some farmers will be considering putting in a Summer crop. We catch up with our Northern Extension Agronomist, Paul McIntosh for a broad overview on this, as well as, Agricultural Consulting and Extension Services Agronomist, Peter McKenzie. Peter provides some insights into how to control weed burdens and get the best possible yield outcome for crops in these tough drought conditions. We also catch up with Rabobank Agricultural Analyst Wes Lefroy (pictured left, above) about his trip to Germany where he went to Agritechnica. Automation was a big focus in 2019 and Wes gives his perspective on how that technology will fit into Australian cropping systems. Wes also appears on the Rabobank podcast. Check it out here. Take a listen

This is our last podcast for 2019! It’s been such a great year, covering a broad range of topics related to integrated weed management. The GROW group saw a range of HWSC tools touring WA, including the Redekop. Photo: Peter Newman In this episode, hosts, Jessica Strauss and Peter Newman give an overview of what were the most popular podcasts and articles WeedSmart produced in 2019. In following up from our last podcast where we got an overview of the new WeedSeeker, in this podcast we catch up with Dalby Rural Supplies Precision Ag Specialist Jeremy Jones about the new WEEDit Quadro. We also catch up with Steven Mirsky. He’s a Research Ecologist with the US Department of Agriculture and is a member of the US group, GROW (Getting Rid of Weeds). The group recently did a national farm tour in Australia, learning about our farming systems and how we control weeds. If you’re wanting to follow up on some of our top podcasts and posts of the year, you can check them out below. Top Podcasts (based on likes, downloads, listens) 1. Redekop weed seed impact mill and hay market overview 2. New chemistry derived from the Aussie bottlebrush; BASF new actives and Tecfarm mills 3. New herbicide resistance test and getting crop topping right Top Podcasts(most listened to overall) 1. Chaff dump management and ‘strip and disc’ systems 2. Vertical iHSD test results and the WEEDit 3. Weather forecast accuracy and crop competition trial results Top Ask An Expert 1. What’s the latest in optical sprayer technology? 2. Is mechanical site-specific weed control a practical fallow management option? 3. How can I avoid getting stuck in an imi herbicide cycle? 4. Is rapid, on-farm herbicide resistance testing possible? 5. Does diversity help with weed control and herbicide resistance? Top Bulletin Posts 1. Stacking the Big 6 in a strip and disc system 2. Robotics opens up more non-herbicide options 3. And then there were three – impact mills on the market 4. Vertical iHSD maintains the brand’s 98% weed kill rate 5. Is sunlight breaking down pre-em herbicides where farmers are dry sowing?

On the podcast this week, we find out about the new bells and whistles of the WeedSeeker 2 and we also get an insight into the weed control findings of a CSIRO-led farming systems project in the Northern region. CSIRO’s Lindsay Bell McIntosh Distributions Sales Representative Scott Jameson provides a great overview of the just-released WeedSeeker 2. It’s a complete upgrade from the original WeedSeeker, with the only thing remaining from the old system being the way the sensors detect weeds. CSIRO’s Lindsay Bell also gives us a great overview of a 5-year farming systems project he has been leading in the Northern Region. The project had DAF, GRDC and CSIRO investment. We also mentioned on the podcast to register for our upcoming webinar with Bhagirath Chauhan and Paul McIntosh on weed biology insights to improve management of Feathertop Rhodes grass and Barnyard grass. Get all the details here.

On the podcast today, you’re joined by co-hosts Jessica Strauss and Peter Newman to find out some practical tips on grain storage and delve into the details of a stripper front and chaff deck system. Grower Jamie Phillis (pictured above) from Ungarra, in the Lower Eyre Peninsula, South Australia joins us on the podcast to tell us about his farming system and approach to harvest. He’s running a Shelbourne stripper front for cereals and a draper front for other crops and he’s using a chaff deck in combination with both of these fronts. An example of Jamie Phillis’ chaff deck in action. We also catch up with grain storage specialist, Phillip Burrell to get some practical tips on getting grain storage right. You can follow up on some of Phillip’s tips by checking out the stored grain website here.

As you’re probably already aware, here at WeedSmart we’re big advocates of harvest weed seed control. However, getting this right starts with good harvester set-up. In this podcast, we catch up with one of our WeedSmart advocate farmers, Warwick Holding, about setting up your harvester correctly, with a focus on chaff decks. Warwick Holding presenting on his farm at Wagga WeedSmart Week 2017 We also chat with Dr Peter Boutsalis from Plant Science Consulting. He gives us a rundown on how to collect weed seeds correctly for herbicide resistance testing. Check out the pictures below of weed seeds ready for collection. Your co-hosts this week are Jessica Strauss and Peter Newman. As mentioned above, we’ve included some examples of weed seeds so you know what they should look like when they’re ready to be picked for herbicide resistance testing. Peter Boutsalis has kindly provided photos and our Communications Officer Shannen Barrett has put some graphics together so it’s easy to follow. See below. Sowthistle Barley grass Brome Wild oats Wild radish and ryegrass You can check out more information on resistance testing by reading our Bulletin post ‘Testing for herbicide susceptibility and resistance’ here.

It’s that time of year where crop topping is on the agenda. In this podcast, we catch up with WeedSmart Southern Extension Agronomist, Greg Condon about crop topping pulses and also canola and the value you can get out of it. We’ll also be talking about double knocking spray fallow and late-season weed identification. You can visit the Pulse Australia website for more information on crop topping here. Greg Condon, Grassroots Agronomy and Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative (AHRI) southern extension agronomist, advocates crop-topping plus harvest weed seed control as an effective way to drive down annual ryegrass and wild radish numbers. We’ll also speak with AHRI researcher Roberto Busi. He’s found cross-resistance between a few of our key pre-emergent herbicides. Roberto gives us an overview of the work he’s been doing in this space. We also find out more about the new herbicide resistance testing service being offered through UWA is coordinating. You can follow Roberto Busi on Twitter here and follow the UWA Herbicide Resistance Testing service here. Wild radish populations tested with three different modes of action to identify multiple herbicide resistance. Photo: Roberto Busi Join your co-hosts Jessica Strauss and Peter Newman and take a listen now.