The economics of weeds — what they cost and the benefits of managing them effectively

However, we don’t often take the time to calculate what yield reduction they are actually responsible for, or what a well-planned rotation for weed management can make a farming business.

Yield maps are an easy option to assess what weeds can do to the yield of a crop, but a longer term approach is harder to measure.

Chris Minehan, from Rural Management Strategies, joins us to discuss the economic benefits of implementing an integrated weed management approach on your farm.

We will have a look at how you can assess some of the benefits of utilising the Big 6 in your business.

This webinar is facilitated by WeedSmart southern extension agronomist, Chris Davey.

Topics covered include

• Yield losses – What weeds cost us
• Expenditure on herbicides
• Lentils
• WeedSmart Big 6
• Weed management – farm level
• Brown manured legume
• Brown manure gross margin

Speakers

Chris Minehan, Director, Rural Management Strategies Pty Limited

Chris is a Farm Management Consultant in Wagga Wagga, NSW, providing independent production and financial advice to clients across Southern NSW. He has a Bachelor of Science (Agriculture) from Sydney University and a Master of Agricultural Business Management from Charles Sturt University.

Chris Davey, WeedSmart southern extension agronomist, WeedSmart

Chris has been an agronomist on the Yorke Peninsula for over 25 years. He works for agronomy business YP AG, and was a founder of the farmer group ‘Northern Sustainable Soils’. Chris joined WeedSmart as the southern extension agronomist (SA and Vic) in 2020. Chris has a passion for helping his clients develop non-chemical (IWM) tools to combat annual ryegrass resistance and is a keen promoter of these strategies in the industry.

Relevant resources

The Weed Integrated Management (WIM) tools are a suite of hands-on, user-friendly models that help farmers and agronomists evaluate the long-term cropping profitability of different weed control methods.