Ryegrass management in the High Rainfall Zone – What have we learnt?

In this webinar, WeedSmart Southern extension agronomist Greg Condon looks at the mixed farming system and explains how the Big 6 principles encourage diverse weed management. Greg focuses on solutions in the medium rainfall zone whilst grower and agronomist Craig Drum focuses on the high rainfall zone.
Both Greg and Craig share real-life examples of clients who successfully controlled resistant weeds by using a mixed farming system, whilst remaining profitable.
Topics covered include:

What the WeedSmart Big 6 looks like in a mixed farming system
How to be profitable whilst reducing the seedbank of resistant weeds
Harvest Weed Seed Control opportunities: baled chaff, chafflines
4 examples of clients who successfully controlled their resistant weeds using mixed farming

Catalina Farms is approximately 13,000 ha of 100% cropping, with 65% wheat, with the other 35% comprising of 20% canola and 15% lupins. The longterm rainfall is about 330ml per year and around 250-280ml of growing season rainfall.
Taking on a new property usually has its challenges, but there can be upsides too. Some of the challenges at Koobabbie were related to the fact it had been a livestock property and cropping machinery had never having been run through it. However, Rod explained that they have had some great news about the herbicides they are able to use.
Through the University of Western Australia’s resistance testing service, run by Dr Roberto Busi at AHRI, they found out some older chemistries were still effective, which was a pleasant surprise. Daniel Birch explains below in the Regional Update Podcast what they found out and how they used this information in their planning.

Video breakdown

1:10 Crop rotations – Rod’s favourite rotation is Lupins – wheat – canola – wheat. It provides a lot of diversity for Modes of Action, as well as allows for nitrogen to go back into the soil through the lupin phase.
2:10 Crop Competition – the Birches are big fans of crop competition and it’s an essential part of their approach to controlling weeds.
3:00 Double knock – conditions haven’t been suitable for a double knock since 2016, but when the opportunity arises, it’s an important tool.
4:21 Mix and rotate herbicides – the crop rotations used at Catalina allow for really diverse chemical groups to be used, which is a great tactic to keep resistance at bay.
5:52 Stopping weed seed set – the Birches are trying to eliminate as many weeds in the crop as possible. Crop topping is a tool that they employ, as well as late spraying where necessary.
6:49 Harvest weed seed control – seed destruction is on the horizon at Catalina, but logistically has been a bit tricky.
7:21 Acquiring Koobabbie – it has been exciting for the Birches to be able to introduce more diverse rotations. They’ve been able to use Modes of Action which have never been used before.
9:48 Soil amelioration  – liming has been a really beneficial tool for Catalina Farms. They also put out pot ash and gypsum. Deep ripping has also been a great tool to remove the compaction layer.
11:29 Big 6 benefits  – controlling weeds is such an important strategy at Catalina Farms. Rod Birch said “We’ll never have a ceasefire on the war on weeds!”.

List of videos

Interviews with the Esperance Pioneers. Chair: Lisa Mayer, interviewing Neil Wandel & Theo Oorschot
Rotating buys you Time, mixing buys you shots
Efficacious use of the new pre-ems, Brent Pritchard
Delivering regionally focused research
Crop competition in wheat and canola, Hugh Beckie
Summer weed control
Strategies for control of ryegrass, marshmallow, fleabane, portulaca, Greg Warren
Farmer Experience
Rotations to stop seed set and preserve chemistry, Tom Longmire
Soil Amelioration, Tom Edwards
Crop competition: Reduced row spacing, higher seeding rates, east-west sowing, precision seed placement & competitive varieties, Theo Oorschot
Farmer Experience – Utilising crop competition strategies and the Big 6, Mic Fels
Weed control – farmer systems discussion panel – Chair: Peter Newman, with Mark Wandel and Laura Bennett
What’s next in spray technology? Andrew Messina
What’s next in spray technology 2? Guillaume Jourdain
Innovation Panel – Chair: Ben White, with Guillaume Jourdain, Andrew Messina
Stacking the Big 6 in farming systems in WA presented by Greg Condon, with Peter Newman

Angus’ presentation focuses on the current practices for weed control in Queensland, highlighting the need for an integrated approach to weed control in order to preserve existing herbicides.
Topics covered include:

Knockdown strategies
Residual chemistry – In-crop and fallow
In-crop herbicides
Problem weeds moving forward

Peter discussed some of the tactics currently used for weed management in the Liverpool Plains of Northern NSW, and what the future might hold.
Topics covered include:

Current levels of resistance/tolerance in summer and winter weeds
Fallow management
Chipping
Crop competition
Farm hygiene
Rotation planning/fixed rotations
Chaff chutes
Harvest weed seed control
Green-on-green technology and GPS systems

This webinar was hosted by Jana Dixon, WeedSmart’s High Rainfall Zone extension agronomist.

WeedSmart Week
Just a reminder that tickets are now able to be purchased for Esperance WeedSmart Week. It’s the first time in 5 years the event will be back in WA. It’s happening from the 17th to the 19th of August 2021. WeedSmart Week is designed to engage growers and advisors on WeedSmart’s Big 6 messages. You can get your tickets here.