WeedSmart Week Forum Day Videos

On this edition of the podcast, we’re focusing on controlling herbicide resistant ryegrass.
We’ll hear from grower Murray Scholz (pictured above), who is based in Culcairn, NSW. Murray and wife Emma are having a real win with grazing to keep ryegrass at bay.
We’ll also be hearing from University of Adelaide’s Dr Peter Boutsalis. Peter will provide an update on clethodim resistance and share some practical tips on how to keep on top of ryegrass.
Dr Peter Boutsalis
Resources
GRDC Adjuvant Guide (Peter Boutsalis recommended on the podcast)
New WeedSmart Content
Article: Chaff carts were made for feeding livestock
Ask an Expert: How can I set up my summer crops to help manage weeds?
Video: Rod Birch on how the Big 6 is keeping weeds at bay at Catalina Farms
Subscribe
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook to keep up to date and don’t forget to sign up to our monthly newsletter, the WeedSmart Whip Around.

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

On this edition of the podcast, we’re going to chat to the Northern Grower Alliance CEO, Richard Daniel about the results they got from survey they recently did on optical spraying. Some of the results were quite surprising, especially when it came to how farmers were using the sprayers.
We also hear from Cotton Australia Chair, Hamish McIntyre. He explains why the Round-Up Ready Xtend Crop System from Bayer is so important for cotton growers. Hamish also provides some context around why ensuring the stewardship of this product is so essential.
News & Links
We’ve got a new article on kicking the herbicide habit. We look at how random weed surveys are continuing to identify an increasing trend in herbicide resistance across broadacre cropping regions in Australia. Dr Peter Boutsalis & Dr John Broster provide comment here.
WeedSmart Week 
Just a reminder that tickets are now able to be purchased for Esperance WeedSmart Week. The early bird price of $190 ends on July 31 and then goes up to $250 after this, so if you’re planning on going, get your tickets sooner rather than later for a discount!
You can get your tickets here.
Twitter and Facebook
Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and Facebook. We post seasonally relevant information on weed control & promote good discussion.
You can also sign-up for our monthly blog, the WeedSmart Whip Around. Our content from the last month is featured, so it’s easy to get to all the latest news in one spot.

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.