• Annual medics are widely grown on neutral to alkaline soils that commonly contain high levels of boron in the subsoil that reduce plant growth.
• Boron tolerant barrel, strand and disc medic cultivars exist, but all spineless burr medic cultivars are intolerant of high boron levels.
• A cohort of boron tolerant spineless burr medics have been developed and entered field evaluation trials at Minnipa and Roseworthy in 2019.

• Fathom barley was more competitive than Hindmarsh barley, bread wheat and durum
• New durum variety Tjilkuri was no more competitive with ARG than older variety Tamaroi
• Increasing seeding rate reduced ARG head density and increased grain yields in all durum varieties; low seeding rates led to large numbers of ryegrass heads
• Narrower row spacing increased yield and reduced ARG head density in durum
• Early applied N improved early vigour, and reduced ARG head densities, but led to yield penalties due to induced moisture stress

• Harvest dates for the ryegrass trials were 22 September and 3 November 2011, while the harvest date for the legume trial was 2-3 November. Harvest date in 2012 was 2 October.
• Little growth occurred after this due to dry conditions.

A field trial was undertaken at Kinnabulla (VIC) in 2019 to investigate combinations of sowing time, seed rate and herbicide treatments to control brome grass in barley. Spartacus CL barley was used in this trial to enable the use of Intervix® for post-emergence control of brome grass. In 2019, the trial site received 181 mm rainfall during the growing season (April-October), which was 23% lower than the long-term average for the site. However in December 2018, the site received a heavy downpour of 199 mm, which created good growing conditions for barley crop grown in 2019. In this trial, barley seeding rate did not have a significant effect on either yield (P=0.213), brome panicles/m2 at maturity (P=0.889) or brome seed set/m2 (P=0.409). This lack of effect of crop seed rate on the number of brome panicles and seed set could be related to the high plant available water during the crop and weed life-cycle or due to Spartacus being a less competitive barley cultivar due to its erect architecture. Time of sowing had a significant effect on brome panicles/m2 at maturity and brome seed set/m2. TOS 2 had a lower brome panicle density at maturity than TOS 1 across all herbicide strategies, which was most likely due to low pre-sowing weed kill in TOS 1 as brome grass had not yet germinated. However, brome population that had germinated after the opening rains was killed by glyphosate application prior to seeding barley in TOS 2. As the numbers of panicles were lower in TOS 2, brome seed set was also reduced in TOS2 relative to TOS 1. Herbicide strategy had a significant effect on barley grain yield. As the herbicides reduced the impact of brome on barley, its yield increased from 3.24 t/ha in the knockdown treatment (NIL), to 3.72 t/ha in the pre-emergent herbicides only and to 3.96 t/ha when the pre-emergent herbicides were followed by post-emergent Intervix. Somewhat surprisingly, TOS 2 produced higher yields than TOS 1 across all the treatments, with the greatest difference being 0.46 t/ha in the Nil herbicide treatments. However, the yield difference between the two times of sowing decreased when more effective herbicides were used (0.08t/ha difference between TOS 1 and 2 in pre-emergent only and 0.04t/ha difference when pre-emergent herbicides followed by Intervix). Higher barley grain yield in the later sown crop is most likely due to a significantly greater weed density in barley in TOS 1 than in TOS 2, as large numbers of early germinating brome plants were controlled with glyphosate knockdown in TOS 2. TOS 1 also experienced a mild frost during flowering, resulting in patchy frost damage. Furthermore, May 23 (TOS 2) sowing date still falls within the optimum sowing window for Spartacus, which is an early maturity variety, and TOS 1 on April 29 was earlier than optimum for this variety.

A field trial was undertaken at Riverton in 2020 to investigate combinations of faba bean sowing time, seed rate and herbicide treatments to control brome grass. Three week delay in sowing caused a 95% reduction in brome grass plant density in faba beans. Riverton population of brome grass has been shown by our previous research to have a low level of seed dormancy. It appears excellent rainfall at the site in April and good follow-up rains were highly suitable for stimulating seedling emergence from the seedbank. The general trend of lower brome plant density in TOS 2 than in TOS 1 was also reflected in brome panicle density, which is the major driver of its seed production. This trend was particularly clear where only pre-emergent herbicides were used for weed control. The application of Verdict® eliminated brome panicle production and seed set. There was a significant effect of faba bean seed rate (crop density) on brome grass seed production. Increasing competition from faba beans reduced brome grass seed set by more than 50% as crop seed rate increased from 20 to 40 seeds/m2. Faba bean grain yield was only influenced by the main factors time of sowing (P<0.001), seed rate (P<0.001) and herbicide treatments (P=0.007). Earlier sown faba bean produced significantly greater yield than the crop sown 3 weeks later. Faba bean seed rate also resulted in a significant increase in grain yield as seed rate increased from 20 to 40 seeds/m2. As a result of the low brome grass density at the site, the increase in grain yield in response to weed control were small but significant (P=0.007). The combination of pre-emergent propyzamide followed by post-emergent application of Verdict significantly increased faba bean yield compared to pre-emergent propyzamide alone.

• Delay in crop sowing by 25 days did not have a significant (P=0.796) effect on brome grass density in wheat (TOS1 = 8.7 brome plants/m2 Vs 8.1 plants/m2 in TOS2). Lack of brome grass establishment during the time gap between TOS1 and 2 is likely to be related to below average rainfall (15.6 mm) during the month of May, which was less than half of the long-term average.
• Brome grass plant density in wheat was only significantly influenced by the herbicide treatments (P<0.001). Intervix alone and as a follow-up treatment after Trifluralin + Avadex provided significantly greater control of brome grass than the knockdown treatment as well as Rexade treatment.
• Even at this low weed density site, sole reliance on the knockdown herbicide treatment allowed brome to set 1753 seeds/m2 and build-up its seedbank. Application of Rexade reduced brome seed set by 84% compared to the knockdown control. Treatment with Intervix virtually eliminated weed seed set and could play an important role in brome grass management in the Mallee.
• Even though the difference in wheat grain yield between the worst (knockdown only) and the best herbicide treatment (Intervix) was 190 kg/ha, these differences (11%) were statistically significant. Based on 2021 wheat grain prices, effective brome control treatments increased revenue by about $70-80/ha.

• Deep ripping to 500mm increased plant biomass, tiller numbers and ultimately yield, by 500kg/ha
• There was no significant difference in weed numbers between ripped and un-ripped treatments; however, weeds in the deep ripping treatment were bigger and had more seeds, therefore potentially a greater seed bank.
• The root lesion nematode species P. neglectus population increased over the season with a ten times higher increase in un-ripped compared to ripped soil. 

Three years after application of lime, soil pH (CaCl2) increased by 0.68–1.45 units at 0–10 cm depth, 0.20–0.47 units at 10–20 cm and 0.08–0.18 at 20–30 cm depth. • Lime reduced density of ryegrass by 42% and barley grass density by 67%, improved barley crop vigour by up to 13%, and increased barley grain yield by up to 7% in 2013. • Boxer Gold in 2013 season together with Sakura and simazine in previous seasons reduced annual ryegrass density by 96% and barley grass density by 99%, improved barley crop vigour by up to 15%, and increased barley grain yield by up to 16%. • Lime effect on efficacy of herbicides in controlling weeds was not evident.

A field trial was undertaken at Watchman in 2020 to investigate combinations of barley sowing time, seed rate and herbicide treatments to control brome grass. The average seedbank of brome grass at the site was 2140 ± 178 seeds/m2. Delaying sowing by three weeks did not impact on barley establishment (P=0.368) and brome grass plant density (P=0.417). However, delayed sowing of barley did have a significant effect on brome panicle density (P=0.019) and it had an interaction with herbicide treatment on brome seed production (P=0.049). This lack of an effect of delayed sowing on brome plant density, compared to other brome sites indicates presence of high seed dormancy in Watchman population. Barley seed rate did not have a significant effect on brome panicle production (P=0.854), or brome seed production (P=0.392). However it did have a small, but significant impact on barley yield with a 6% increase in grain yield when barley seed rate was increased from 100 to 200 seeds/m2 (P=0.049). Increase in barley seed rate also significantly reduced barley grain contamination with brome grass seeds by 38% (P=0.049). Herbicide treatments had a significant effect on brome plant density (P<0.001), brome panicle density (P<0.001), brome seed production (P<0.001), brome grain contamination (P<0.001), and barley grain yield (P=0.023). Where IMI herbicide treatments were applied in this trial, brome grass control was improved greatly, which resulted in an increase in barley grain yield. These IMI herbicides were effective in providing high levels of brome grass control and should be considered a very useful tool in the management of brome grass. While herbicide resistance to these herbicides is common in annual ryegrass, IMI resistance in brome grass is far less common. However, over reliance on IMI herbicides should be avoided in order to preserve their activity for the future.

Canola establishment was significantly influenced by the variety (P=0.012) and seed rate (P<0.001). Greater plant density in the hybrid variety T4510 (36 plants/m2) than the open pollinated Bonito (31 plants/m2) is likely to be associated with the larger seed size and greater early vigour in the hybrid. Plant density achieved was within 10% of the target density. There was a significant interaction between sowing time of canola and herbicide treatments (P=0.004). This interaction was mainly associated with a significantly lower brome grass density in the control (glyphosate). In contrast, brome grass density was very similar between the two sowing dates where pre-emergent and post-emergent herbicides were used. Consistent with the trend of brome grass panicle density, brome grass seed production in this trial was significantly influenced by the herbicide treatment (P<0.001). The results also show that brome grass panicles set more seeds when only the knockdown or Atrazine IBS was used (49-59 seeds/panicle) as compared to post-emergence Haloxyfop treatments (30 seeds/panicle). Canola grain yield was significantly affected by the time of sowing (P=0.034), with the earlier sown crop (1.58 t/ha) producing higher yield than the later sowing (1.35 t/ha). The hybrid variety Invigor T4510 (1.56 t/ha) produced significantly higher grain yield than the open-pollinated Bonito (1.37 t/ha) (P<0.001). Increase in canola plant density from 25 to 50 plants/m2 also caused a significant increase in grain yield (P=0.002), even though the yield improvement was only 100 kg/ha. Even though brome grass density at the site was fairly low (~12 plants/m2), herbicide treatments had a significant positive effect on canola grain yield (P<0.001). Controlling brome increased income by $169/ha or 21% after including the cost of the herbicides and applying the herbicides when averaged across the trial.

A field trial was undertaken at Mallala in 2019 to investigate combinations of wheat sowing time, seed rate and herbicide treatments to control brome grass. The average seedbank of brome grass at this site was 2877 ± 406 seeds/m2. The two week delay in sowing reduced average in-crop brome density from 567 plants/m2 to 352 plants/m2 (38%). Even though the reduction in brome density at Mallala was significant, it was a much lower reduction than that observed in the trial at Riverton (82% reduction). This difference in brome grass density with delayed sowing at these two sites highlights the large differences in seed dormancy between the populations of this weed species. Brome grass panicle density was significantly affected by wheat seed rate (P=0.039), and herbicide treatment (P<0.001) but not by the time of sowing (P=0.152). Increasing seed rate of wheat suppressed brome grass growth and reduced its panicle density. As wheat density increased from 100 seeds/m2 (low) to the highest seed rate (200 seeds/m2 – high) brome panicle density was reduced by 39%. These results support previous findings that higher crop density can be an important part of an integrated weed management program. Wheat grain yield increased consistently with the increase in seed rate or crop density. This trend correlates well with the improved suppression of brome grass panicle density observed in the trial. Not only did higher wheat density achieve superior weed suppression, it also provided a significant increase in grain yield. Herbicide treatments also had a highly significant effect on brome grass panicle density. However, there was no interaction herbicides and TOS or seed rate. This indicates that herbicides performed similarly in both times of sowing and the three seed rates. Sakura + Avadex significantly reduced panicle density as compared to Treflan + Avadex and Intercept (Clearfield technology) was used after pre-emergent Treflan + Avadex, it prevented brome plants from producing panicles (3 panicles/m2). Herbicide treatments had a large and significant effect on grain yield of wheat at Mallala (Figure 5). This is not surprising considering the high weed density present at the site and high competitive ability of brome grass. The treatment of Treflan + Avadex produced only 1.11 t/ha, which was significantly lower than the more expensive pre-emergent herbicide mixture of Sakura + Avadex (1.81 t/ha). However, when Intercept post-emergence herbicide was used, wheat yield increased further to 2.63 t/ha. In this trial, integration of Clearfield technology with pre-emergent herbicides not only prevented brome grass seed set as shown but the panicle density, it also delivered the highest grain yields.

A field trial was undertaken at Riverton in 2019 to investigate combinations of wheat sowing time, seed rate and herbicide treatments to control brome grass. The average seedbank of brome grass at the site was 1863 ± 303 seeds/m2. Brome grass at this site was effectively controlled (>80%) by delaying sowing by 2 weeks, with treatment effects from herbicide and wheat seed rate treatment only being significant in the early sown plots, where brome grass density was high. These results clearly indicate that brome grass population present at this site has very low seed dormancy and germinates readily after the season opening rains and can be effectively controlled with a knockdown herbicide. Wheat grain yield results reflected the level of brome grass control with herbicide and wheat seed rate treatments improving yields significantly as brome suppression improved. These treatments did not have a significant effect on yield when sowing was delayed because brome was effectively controlled by the knockdown herbicides. In the early sown crop when brome grass was controlled effectively with Intercept®, the 2 week delay in sowing caused a 9% reduction in wheat yield.

The trial site at Mallala was infested with a large seedbank of group A resistant brome grass, which made weed control in canola very difficult. Furthermore, the trial site experienced drought like conditions for most of the growing season which reduced the efficacy of atrazine. Even though the two-week delay in sowing reduced brome grass density from 927 plants/m2 in TOS 1 to 704 plants/m2 in TOS 2 (25%), this difference was not statistically significant.  However, the herbicide treatments (P=0.005) and the interaction between sowing date and herbicides (P=0.006) had a significant effect on brome grass plant density. Herbicide performance at the site was negatively affected by dry conditions and group A resistance in brome grass. As a result, even the best treatment combinations had more than 300 panicles/m2, which could lead to a large seed set in brome grass. When averaged across the sowing time, seed rate and herbicides, HyTTec Trophy produced 38% higher grain yield than Bonito. This difference in variety performance is consistent with superior crop establishment in HyTTec Trophy than Bonito. As a result of herbicide resistance in brome grass, yield increase in the Verdict treatment compared to the control (atrazine POST) was non-significant. However, use of clethodim increased yield by 61% compared to the control, which was statistically significant.

Barley plant density was significantly influenced by the time of sowing (P=0.025) and crop seed rate (P=0.002).  Averaged across the seed rates and herbicide treatments, the first time of sowing (TOS 1) had barley density of 125 plants/m2 compared to 82 plants/m2 in TOS 2, which was related to dry soil conditions after sowing in TOS 2. Brome grass plant density was significantly affected by the time of sowing (P=0.018) and the herbicide treatments (P<0.001).  The 4-week delay in sowing between TOS 1 and TOS 2, allowed greater emergence of brome grass seedlings before the sowing of the TOS 2.  Consequently, barley sown at TOS 2 had 48% lower brome grass infestation (107.9 plants/m2) than in TOS 1 (207 plants/m2). As expected, herbicide treatments had a significant (P<0.001) effect on brome grass density. When averaged across the sowing time and seed rates, the treatment of Treflan + Avadex was only moderately effective and reduced brome grass density by 36% (173 plants/m2) relative to the untreated control (271 plants/m2). In contrast, the same pre-emergent treatment (Treflan + Avadex) followed by Intervix reduced brome grass density by 90% (28 plants/m2). When averaged across seed rates and herbicide treatments, the time of sowing barley had a significant effect on its grain yield (P=0.011). TOS 1 produced 940 kg/ha greater barley grain yield than TOS 2. The post-emergence application of Intervix to the crop treated with Treflan + Avadex further increased barley grain yield by 872 kg/ha. These results are consistent with the trends in brome grass density and panicle production. The untreated control plots produced 40% lower grain yield than the Intervix treatment, which completely controlled brome grass. These results highlight the strong competitive ability of brome grass in cereals.

• Wheat following wheaten hay produced the highest grain yield, averaging 3.22 t/ha.
• The highest gross margin for the 4 years was from the standard rotation, which included field peas and canola.
• The greatest limitation to rotation productivity was from brome and barley grass, especially in the continuous cereal rotation.

• Wheat following wheaten hay produced the highest grain yield, averaging 3.22 t/ha.
• The highest gross margin for the 4 years was from the standard rotation, which included field peas and canola.
• The greatest limitation to rotation productivity was from brome and barley grass, especially in the continuous cereal rotation.

• Wheat following wheaten hay produced the highest grain yield, averaging 3.22 t/ha.
• The highest gross margin for the 4 years was from the standard rotation, which included field peas and canola.
• The greatest limitation to rotation productivity was from brome and barley grass, especially in the continuous cereal rotation.

• Wheat following wheaten hay produced the highest grain yield, averaging 3.22 t/ha.
• The highest gross margin for the 4 years was from the standard rotation, which included field peas and canola.
• The greatest limitation to rotation productivity was from brome and barley grass, especially in the continuous cereal rotation.

• The early growth of the sub-tropical grasses (panic grass, Rhodes grass) was slow and they appeared to have cold stress.  The seedlings were cold stress with all three TOS and they took a while to recover.
• An interesting observation was that the surrounding paddock was sown to a sub-tropical grass mix (Gatton panic and Rhodes grass) just before the 3rd time of sowing, however the early growth of the perennial seedlings in the paddock was superior to the small plot trials.  Gatton panic is apomictic (i.e. all plants are essentially clones), so any difference must be due to the environment.  In this case, the markedly stronger early growth and less cold damage maybe due to the improved nutrition from the fertilizer applied at seeding. 
• To evaluate whether there was a nutrient deficiency an application of fertilizer - 150 kg/ha of DAP plus 100 kg/ha of MOP was applied to half of each rep in mid-December in a split plot design.  Subsequently there has been little rainfall, so no opportunity to measure a response.
• By mid-February there was not a substantial difference between the three times of sowing for Rhodes grass and Gatton panic which makes sense as in effect the sub-tropical grasses all emerged in early to mid-September for all three TOS.  The only species to emerge in any numbers before the third TOS was perennial veldt grass. However, by mid-February about 35-40% of the veldt grass plants had died and many more plants were highly stressed and may die over summer –autumn.  Sowing veldt grass in late winter – early spring with the sub-tropical grasses may not work in that persistence over summer may be poor.  Perennial veldt grass is a C3 so does not have the same soil temperature requirements as the sub-tropical grasses (C4).  An autumn sowing may be more successful for veldt grass.
• The results from the TOS at Eneabba in 2012 suggest little or no advantage in early sowing of sub-tropical grasses in early August.  The optimum sowing window appears to be late August with more flexibility with Rhodes grass than Gatton panic for early sowing. 

• Perennial pastures have allowed our stock to express their genetic potential even in dry years and to meaningfully measure their traits. However we hope that the introduced perennial grasses, as good as they are, will only be a short term measure until desirable native grass and forb species replace them.

• Bambatsi Panic and Rhodes grass have good drought tolerance but maintaining a high plant density has proved difficult.
• Due to low rainfall seasons, more drought tolerant species are required on the site hence planting the saltbush alleys.
• Salinity varies over the site and therefore so does the ground cover, species composition and FOO.
• Roly-poly control can be achieved by spraying with 2,4-D Ester ad Garlon and rolling.

• There is still a lot of work to be done but it appears crops can be sown successfully into perennial pastures in some situations.
• Agronomic results from the Moora focus site appear to support the view that Marginal or problem soils are a potential fit for pasture cropping systems. However, it is important to note that the extra green feed produced over summer-autumn needs to be converted into wool or meat in order to offset any grain yield losses.
• Further research is required across different sites and seasons as the yield penalty on better soil classes may well be greater than on deep pale sands which have limited capacity to store moisture from summer rainfall for crop production. The viability of pasture cropping systems based on other sub tropical grass species, native grasses. lucerne and bluebush are also worth evaluating.

• A range of cereal, grass, vetch, brassica and clover varieties were selected for their suitability in medium-high rainfall zones ina forage break in cropping rotations.
• In 2009 and 2010, specialist forage oats (Graza 51 and Graza 80) and annual ryegrass (Grassmax and Drummer) grew the largest amounts of dry matter.
• In 2009 Morava vetch grew the highest amount of dry matter for legumes, whilst in 2010 it was Zulu II arrowleaf clover.
• In 2010, the site was extremely wet, and some varieties performed better than others. If 2011 also proves to be wet, growers need to carefully select their varieties.

• A range of forage varieties were grown as rotational options at the MFMG site at Frances.
• Drummer Annual tetraploid ryegrass (6.482t/ha DM) grew the largest amount of dry matter, followed by Graza 80 (5.491t/ha DM) and Grassmax (5.099t/ha)
• The annual clovers grew signifcantly less dry matter, with Laser Persian Clover growing (3.025t/ha DM), Zulu Arrowleaf (3.008t/ha DM) and Bolta Balansa (2.977t/ha)
• The cereal/grass based options grew more DM and offered more competition, but legume & broadleaf crops offered different herbicide options, disease breaks and in case of legumes, nitrogen fixation.
• More work required to show possible yields, both as monocultures and as mixes for rotational options

• A range of forage varieties were grown as rotational options atthe MFMG site at Frances and Conmurra. 
• At Conmurra and Frances,the highest DM producing forages were annual ryegrass; R2 tetrapkhid annual ryegrass (12.28 t/ha DM) at Conmurra and Grassmaar Diploid annual ryegrass  (7.53 t/ha DM), primarilty due to their ability for a winter cut. 
• The best annual clovers at both Conmurra and Frances include Zulu II Arrowleaf (6.46t/ha and 3.93t/ha) and Bolta Balansa (6.27t/ha and 4.11t/ha).
• The cereal/grass based options generally grew more DM and offered more competition but legume and broadleaf crops offered different herbicide options, disease breaks and in the case of legumes, nitrogen fixation. 
• The legume and brassica varieties produce forage of a higher quality than that of cerels and grasses, which provides greater benefit to grazing animals.
• More work required to show possible yields both as monocultures and as mixes for rotational options. 

• Brome grass is increasing in prevalence across southern Australia and control in cereals is heavily reliant on Group B herbicides (sulfonylurea and imidazolinones).
• Experimental herbicides evaluated in this study were effective on brome (>90% control), but were also unsuitable for barley causing severe crop damage; trials undertaken this season (2017) will focus on wheat.
• Identifying effective but safe herbicide options for brome in cereals remains a high priority.

• Both Aramo and Bounty performed as expected in the field in accordance with the label recommendations.
• Conditions at time of spraying and for the rest of the season were not favourable, however, both products stood up and performed quite well when compared to the unsprayed areas.

• Commercial viability has been difficult to demonstrate.
• Field trials demonstrated that the H Senor was able to accurately classify annual ryegrass in several broadleaf crops, including canola, faba bean, lentil and field pea.
• Other grass weeds such as brome grass and wild oats were also correctly identified as grasses in these crops.
• Broad leaf weeds were accurately classified in cereal crops, however this was more difficult due to the overlapping nature of the cereal crops at the time when the broadleaf weeds had emerged.
• Classification accuracy was lower for detection of grass weeds in cereal crops and broadleaf weeds in broadleaf crops, and these scenarios were not pursued for that reason.  

• Commercial viability has been difficult to demonstrate.
• Field trials demonstrated that the H Senor was able to accurately classify annual ryegrass in several broadleaf crops, including canola, faba bean, lentil and field pea.
• Other grass weeds such as brome grass and wild oats were also correctly identified as grasses in these crops.
• Broad leaf weeds were accurately classified in cereal crops, however this was more difficult due to the overlapping nature of the cereal crops at the time when the broadleaf weeds had emerged.
• Classification accuracy was lower for detection of grass weeds in cereal crops and broadleaf weeds in broadleaf crops, and these scenarios were not pursued for that reason.  

• Commercial viability has been difficult to demonstrate.
• Field trials demonstrated that the H Senor was able to accurately classify annual ryegrass in several broadleaf crops, including canola, faba bean, lentil and field pea.
• Other grass weeds such as brome grass and wild oats were also correctly identified as grasses in these crops.
• Broad leaf weeds were accurately classified in cereal crops, however this was more difficult due to the overlapping nature of the cereal crops at the time when the broadleaf weeds had emerged.
• Classification accuracy was lower for detection of grass weeds in cereal crops and broadleaf weeds in broadleaf crops, and these scenarios were not pursued for that reason.  

In 2013 the Rhizoctonia best bets demonstrations using rotations were over sown with cereal and showed break crops which are grass free are the best option to lower Rhizoctonia inoculum levels.

Key Point: Immediately prior to planting, the grower applied a commercial knockdown treatment to control a low population of emerged weeds. Dual Gold at 500 mL/ha was included in this mixture and was inadvertently applied across the trial area. Consequently, all treatments listed in the result tables had an additional Dual Gold 500 mL/ha applied at sorghum planting. Interpretations and conclusions are more challenging for this trial as the ‘untreated’ reference actually has Dual Gold 500 mL/ha at planting. However, the key messages are still clear and important.

This was a complex trial to evaluate the impact of split or sequential residual herbicide applications for feathertop Rhodes grass (FTR) management both prior to and in sorghum. Dual Gold, Gesaprim or Valor were applied at the end of July or end of August. These treatments either remained as stand-alone or were topped-up with Dual Gold at 1 L/ha, at sorghum planting or early in-crop. Reference treatments were an ‘untreated’ and Dual Gold rates applied at planting or in-crop.
The trial site was compromised when the grower inadvertently applied Dual Gold at 500 mL/ha shortly before commercial planting as a mixture with glyphosate. Consequently, all treatments in the trial (including the ‘untreated’) had an extra 500 mL/ha of Dual Gold at planting. The originally planned ‘top up’ rates of Dual Gold were all reduced by 500 mL/ha.
Levels of rainfall of only ~3-12 mm occurred in the week following each application timing with August and September very dry with <10 mm of monthly rainfall.
At the end of October, MR Taurus sorghum was sown in 90 cm rows into 2020 wheat stubble (~30% ground cover). All treatments were crop safe with no impact on emergence counts or any visual crop effect at 22 days after planting (22 DAP).
Emergence counts for FTR were extremely low. Weed counts at the 2nd application timing (28 DAA) and prior to planting in late October (90 DAA) both showed <0.01 FTR/m2. This was very surprising as there was ~60 mm of rainfall recorded ~2 weeks prior to planting. FTR assessment at 22 DAP still showed negligible levels of FTR but this was more expected as all treatments (including the ‘untreated’) had received at least 500 mL/ha of Dual Gold at planting. Plots were still clean when the in-crop application was conducted.
A final weed assessment was conducted in early February during sorghum grain fill. FTR counts were still very low despite >340 mm of rain after planting. The factorial analysis however clearly showed that fallow treatments of Dual Gold or Valor provided significantly improved FTR control compared to Gesaprim. There were no significant differences between application timings or ‘top-up’ rates. There were also clear differences in broadleaf weed efficacy apparent at this assessment. Valor provided effective and significantly improved control of flaxleaf fleabane and common sowthistle compared to either Dual Gold or Gesaprim. In addition, Gesaprim provided improved suppression of flaxleaf fleabane compared to Dual Gold but not at a commercially useful level. There were no significant differences evident between application timing or the ‘top-up’ treatments.
Despite the trial being located in a paddock with a history of FTR issues, emergence of the target weed was very low. The only sound conclusion from this trial is that Gesaprim was inferior to both Dual Gold and Valor for FTR activity. No evaluation could be made on the impact of application timing or the sequential treatment strategies for FTR management. In addition, Valor provided extended and high levels of control of both flaxleaf fleabane and common sowthistle.

 

This was a complex trial to evaluate the impact of split or sequential residual herbicide applications for feathertop Rhodes grass (FTR) management both prior to and in sorghum. Dual Gold, Atragranz or Valor were applied at the end of July or end of August. These treatments either remained as stand-alone or were topped-up with Dual Gold at 1 L/ha, at sorghum planting or early in-crop. Reference treatments were an untreated and Dual Gold rates applied at planting or in-crop.
Levels of rainfall of <5 mm occurred in the week following the application timings at the end of July, end of August or at-planting. Monthly rainfall totals of <10 mm were recorded in both August and September.
The site was sown to MR Buster sorghum on the 17th October. The untreated had a population of ~6.4 plants/m row. All treatments were crop safe with no impact on emergence counts at 10 days after planting or any visual crop effect evident.
Rainfall totalling over 60 mm occurred during the 12th-14th of October with FTR seedlings already apparent at planting. The 1st assessment count was conducted four days later with >150 FTR/m2 in the untreated. All Dual Gold or Valor treatments reduced FTR populations to <5/m2 with no significant difference between products or application timing. Atragranz provided poor levels of FTR suppression and was not significantly different to the untreated. A ‘clean-up’ application of glyphosate was applied after this assessment but only resulted in FTR suppression.
A second assessment was conducted ~2 weeks later. Although there was no significant difference between Dual Gold and Valor, there was a trend to improved FTR control from Valor. There was also a trend to improved control where initial applications of Dual Gold were ‘topped-up’ with Dual Gold 1 L/ha shortly after planting. There was no obvious benefit where Valor was ‘topped-up’ with the at-planting treatment. Dual Gold applied at the end of July, without the at-planting ‘top-up’, trended to poorer control than either timing of Valor or where Dual Gold was applied at the end of August. Applications of Dual Gold alone at-planting provided poor FTR control and were not significantly different to the untreated. The at-planting treatment of Dual Gold 2 L/ha was significantly poorer than all Valor or early Dual Gold treatments except where Dual Gold was only applied in July.
A final weed assessment was conducted in mid-December. Rainfall totals of ~300 mm were recorded between the 2nd and final assessment. Similar patterns were apparent to the 2nd assessment. Dual Gold applications alone at planting or in-crop were not significantly different to the untreated and poorer than 11 of the 12 treatments with July or August herbicide application. It is expected that the poor performance of Dual Gold at planting or in-crop was due to the majority of weeds being already emerged at application combined with the poor knockdown efficacy provided by glyphosate.
Low levels of flaxleaf fleabane were present at the final assessment with <0.2/m2 in the untreated. Factorial analysis showed Atragranz provided improved control compared to Dual Gold or Valor.
This trial highlights the importance of residual herbicide application prior to FTR emergence. Despite very low levels of incorporating rainfall, applications of either Dual Gold or Valor ~7-11 weeks prior to planting provided very effective levels of control. In contrast, ineffective FTR control was achieved from all Dual Gold treatments applied only at-planting or in-crop. Improved FTR efficacy from sequential application was most apparent from the July application of Dual Gold with the at-planting ’topped-up’.
Useful data on the length of in-crop efficacy from the sequential treatments was not possible as effective knockdown control of emerged seedlings at planting could not be achieved.

This was a complex trial to evaluate the impact of split or sequential residual herbicide applications for feathertop Rhodes grass (FTR) management both prior to and in sorghum. Dual Gold, Atragranz or Valor were applied at the end of July or in early September. These treatments either remained as stand-alone or were topped-up with Dual Gold at 1 L/ha, at sorghum planting or in-crop. The in-crop application was delayed till ~6 weeks after planting due to flooding not allowing trial access. Reference treatments were an untreated and Dual Gold rates applied at planting or in-crop
Levels of rainfall of <5 mm occurred in the week following application at the end of July, early September or the in-crop application. Monthly rainfall totals of <10 mm were recorded in both August and September. The trial received ~72 mm between 3 and 7 days after the at-planting application.
MR Taurus sorghum was sown on 1 m rows into sorghum stubble (~30% ground cover) at the beginning of November. No emergence counts were possible due to the inability to access the trial until mid-December.
The first weed assessment was conducted 1 week prior to planting, following ~60 mm of rainfall in the previous fortnight. FTR counts in the untreated were ~1.2/m2. Both Dual Gold and Valor provided effective control with no product or timing difference. Atragranz performed poorly at both application timings and was not significantly different to the untreated. A commercial application of glyphosate was applied across the trial at planting.
A second assessment was conducted ~7 weeks later in December, after ~270 mm of rainfall. FTR counts were very low with only ~0.2/m2 found in the untreated. Factorial analysis showed Valor continued to provide effective residual FTR control with significantly higher FTR counts where Dual Gold or Atragranz had been applied. There was no clear impact of timing or the Dual Gold application at planting.
Awnless barnyard grass and button grass counts were also conducted with untreated populations of 0.4 and 0.7/m2 respectively. Dual Gold and Valor had significantly lower counts of both weeds than Atrangranz with Valor more effective than Dual Gold on button grass. There was no clear impact from application timing but there was a clear impact of sequential application. Treatments topped-up with Dual Gold 1 L/ha at planting providing significantly improved control of both weeds.
Trace levels of broadleaf weeds were also assessed. Valor provided almost complete control of red pigweed and common sowthistle. Dual Gold and Atragranz had significantly increased counts of both weeds with no apparent difference between products and no clear impact of from the Dual Gold applied at planting.
A final weed assessment was conducted in late January with no indication of new weed emergence.
This trial highlights the importance of residual herbicide application prior to FTR emergence. Despite very low levels of incorporating rainfall, applications of either Dual Gold or Valor ~9-13 weeks prior to planting provided effective levels of control of a low density FTR emergence ~ 3 weeks prior to planting. In this trial there was a clear indication that Valor provided improved FTR control than Dual Gold when assessed in mid-December following large rainfall totals in November and early December. In this situation there was no clear impact of the sequential application of Dual Gold 1 L/ha at planting on FTR control. In this situation Valor provided superior control of low populations of a range of grass and broadleaf weed species.
Useful data on the length of in-crop efficacy from the sequential treatments was not possible as effective knockdown control of emerged seedlings at planting could not be achieved.

Ryegrass and barley grass were the dominant weed species along fence-lines.

• Commercial viability has been difficult to demonstrate.
• Field trials demonstrated that the H Senor was able to accurately classify annual ryegrass in several broadleaf crops, including canola, faba bean, lentil and field pea.
• Other grass weeds such as brome grass and wild oats were also correctly identified as grasses in these crops.
• Broad leaf weeds were accurately classified in cereal crops, however this was more difficult due to the overlapping nature of the cereal crops at the time when the broadleaf weeds had emerged.
• Classification accuracy was lower for detection of grass weeds in cereal crops and broadleaf weeds in broadleaf crops, and these scenarios were not pursued for that reason.  

• All varieties showed similar levels of yield loss from crop topping two weeks prior to the recommended timing (rye grass milk dough stage) and no yield loss at the recommended timing under dry finishing conditions in 2014 and therefore no one variety was more or less suited to this agronomic practice.

• With a dry warm summer few grass weeds were present.
• Wet weeds controlled well with sprays.
• Trial germinated well.

Please see attached trial report for results.

• The random survey found that button grass infests approximately 45% of cotton fields.

• The species shows a high level of physical seed dormancy.

• Seedlings of this species can survive a moderate level of water stress.

• Southern populations of this species are sensitive to saline conditions.

• Clover content in kikuyu can be increased by hard grazing of the kikiyu stand prior to the opening rains (insure RLEM are controlled, lime if soil is pHCaCl<5).
• Sowing legumes can increase legume content. If grass suppression is used, weeds may also increase unless control measures are taken.
• Legume content can be increased after the break by using a grass selective herbicide to suppress the kikiyu, if you have an adequate clover seedbank.
• If clover needs to be added, drill seed in, don't broadcast.

The double incorporation of trifluralin method is designed to minimise the number of ryegrass that emerge from the edge of the furrow wall. However, there was no effect of incorporation with rolling harrows, or the snake chian on ryegrass density in the furrow of this trial.

• Germination of half the species at each trial site was above 33 plants/m2.
• Although most of the speices achieved this good germination many of the plants have now died or are looking very water stressed.
• On visual assessment, both Rhodes species and Signal grass have experienced the highest survival rates and are looking the least water stressed.
• The grasses would benefit greatly from a summer rainfall event.

• Germination of half the species at each trial site was above 33 plants/m2.
• Although most of the speices achieved this good germination many of the plants have now died or are looking very water stressed.
• On visual assessment, both Rhodes species and Signal grass have experienced the highest survival rates and are looking the least water stressed.
• The grasses would benefit greatly from a summer rainfall event.

• In 2006 Buntine received 100mm less rainfall than the average rainfall for that area.
• The largest rainfall event for the year was in January and therefore would have greatly benefited the sub-tropical perennial grasses. 

• Pasture cropping is a relatively new system combining livestock and crop production on the one area of land.
• Production of crop and pasture individually can be lower when grown together in a pasture cropping system compared with when either is grown alone, however the overall annual production can be higher.
• Pasture cropping systems can be managed so that annual winter crops have no direct competition from pastures while the crop is growing.
• Pasture cropping can improve year-round resource use increasing overall annual productivity compared with conventional annual cropping or pasture systems.
• Pasture cropping will be most effective in soil types that do not store soil moisture well and have some summer rain.

Caution must be taken when using soluble herbicides on lentils (and other pulses) in light sandy soils, especially when there is wet soil surface conditions followed by heavy rainfall

In work undertaken by the MSFS project it was reported that grass sprays affected the nodulation and possibly the N fixation ability of legumes. Four different types of grass sprays were investigated in relation to the effect of these sprays on nodule number and health. No differences in nodulation between the grass sprays could be determined during the 2002 season.

There was no significant differences in yield between the post emergent herbicides used in the trial.

Following two years of grass free medic pasture soil mineral nitrogen levels averaged 158 kg N/ha and all disease inoculum levels were low.

Cutting the medic pasture for hay lowered dry matter production and medic pod set in the following season.

An early light tickle resulted in higher weed germination and lower powdery mildew damage in spring.

Full cut tillage following two years of grass free medic resulted in the highest wheat yields while a discing prior to seeding resulted in the lowest yield.

Working medic residues in the year prior reduced the following wheat yield but grain protein was higher.

Cutting a medic pasture for hay in 2013 reduced medic productivity in 2014 and lowered wheat grain protein in 2015.

• A two year pasture break has been more beneficial in the first cereal year than a one year break, resulting in lower grass weed numbers, higher soil reserves of N and low disease levels.
• The impact of pasture management and pre-seeding tillage on grain yield and quality was greater following a medic pasture in 2015 than in 2016.

• Hay cutting in 2013 resulted in lower medic dry matter in 2017.
• Grass weed numbers were very low in 2017 due to low opening rains and poor germination.
• Two years of wheat increased Rhizoctonia, Yellow leaf spot and Pratylenchus.
• A two year pasture break was beneficial to the following cereal because of lower grass weed numbers, higher soil reserves of N and lower disease levels.

• The ability to capture barley grass seeds at harvest is limited.
• If seed can be captured and placed in windrows, windrow burning can reduce grass weeds.
• Seed capture at harvest is higher with annual ryegrass than with barley grass.
• Burnt narrow windrows sustained temperatures above 400oC for longer than 10 seconds, which is sufficient to sterilise annual ryegrass seed.
• Snail numbers were reduced with windrow burning.
• Barley grass germinates later in Minnipa Agricultural Centre cropped paddocks than in non-cropped areas.

The main impacts of climate change by 2030 on grazing livestock enterprises is likely to be shorter  growing seasons, greater variability in pasture growth, reduced pasture quality, less available pasture, reduced wool quality and increased variability in farm gross margins. Possible adaptations to alleviate
some of these impacts are;

• Minimising the need for supplementary feed by reviewing lambing and calving times, age at first joining, stocking rates and sale times,
• Increase flexibility in systems by varying sale times/rules, confinement feeding, movement, more animal trading (core breeding), agistment, matching feed demand to pasture production, and
• Improved pasture utilisation by grazing management.

• Chickpeas will suffer far more from being too cold and to some degree too wet than they ever will from being too hot and too dry.
• Chickpeas don’t like high levels of boron, but will handle some.
• Chickpeas have some Pratylenchus tolerance but low resistance. Do a Predicta-B test for Pratylenchus. If levels are high, you will need to find an alternative paddock.
• Chickpeas don’t like competition from weeds. Use the herbicide Balance post sowing pre-emergent. If you don’t have broad leaf weeds under control before chickpea emergence there are few herbicide options. Grass weed control is quite easy as for normal pulses, such as Targa or Select.

• Harvest weed seed collection showed barley grass is harder to capture using harvest weed seed collection techniques due to its habit of shedding seed early.
• Burning windrows decreased the number of weed seeds present in the soil seedbank at Minnipa in 2017.
• Harvest weed seed collection allows for the capture of ryegrass weed seed and cereal screenings, potentially increasing feed utilisation for stock when placed in chaff dumps or rows.

• Moisture: Ironstone was found across some plots at depth which made any plot response to weed control difficult to measure so that there was more difference due to sub-soil constraints, rather than the individual treatments. Moisture readings were inconsistent and yields were therefore not taken.
• Weed control: Glyphosate is a very important base component when dealing with a mixture of summer weeds. The trial confirmed previous growers who experience and demonstrated summer grasses required high rates of glyphosate, at these high rates glyphosate provides excellent melon control. The Roundup Attack at 1.8 L/ha stand-alone gave the best control of grass and melons. All mixes containing Roundup Attack at 1.2 L/ha gave acceptable control of grasses and excellent control of melons when ester was added. With melons, the Triclopyr standalone was poor, but with Roundup Attack added had an additive effect, improving control significantly. Whilst no oil was used, perhaps the performance of the bottom three mixes may have given a better result with oil. Ally (metsulfuron) had an additive effect with the grasses but was antagonistic with the melons.

• In 2015 the drier start to the season and low soil moisture resulted in lower herbicide efficacy and less chemical damage than expected.
• In different stubble management systems the activity and resulting weed control of specific herbicides will be influenced by the solubility index (movement through the soil profile with rainfall events) of that herbicide. Soil texture and soil chemical properties can affect chemical movement and availability in the soil profile.
• Herbicide performance will vary seasonally due to soil moisture levels, rainfall pattern post application, timing of weed germination, position and number of weed seeds in the profile, etc. Understanding how the various herbicides work can reduce the likelihood of failures.
• Herbicides are only one tool for weed control – always adopt an integrated weed control package that includes non-chemical control, and where possible, consecutive seasons of total weed control.
• Consider the whole farming system when making chemical decisions as the impact may last for several seasons (eg. effects on medic germination and medic seed bank).

• Herbicides which may be influenced by high stubble loads include trifluralin, triallate, pyroxasulfone, prosulfocarb and metalochor products. If grass weeds are an issue in paddocks with high stubble loads (greater than 50% stubble cover), removal of some stubble may maximize the herbicide activity and grass weed control.
• In-crop germination patterns are later for barley grass than for other grass weeds in MAC paddocks, which is limiting early control with pre-emergence herbicides.
• If you expect most of your grass weeds to emerge straight after sowing maybe 2 L/ha trifluralin (plus an added herbicide depending on cost and risk factors such as seasonal conditions, soil type, rotation etc.) is the best value for your system.
• If you have a later germinating population, and aim to reduce the seed bank, you may be better investing in some of the more expensive herbicide mixes even though they may cost more in the first season.

Dry seeding conditions and lack of rainfall at the start of the 2017 season resulted in challenging conditions for both establishing crops and weed control.

Stubble residues reduced plant establishment and weed numbers; standing stubble in dry conditions had higher wheat germination than chained stubble.

April dry sowing had lower wheat numbers than later sowings, which reduced grass weed competition during the season. Grass weed numbers were also higher and set more seed in the April sowing.

No pre-emergent herbicide provided total barley grass weed control and keeping the weed seed bank low through other methods is important.

Under the production regimes of upper EP, stubble management is unlikely to impact negatively on performance of pre-emergence herbicides targeting grass weed control, providing adequate water rates and best practice application techniques are used.

• Total seasonal biomass production from all of the annual pasture legumes was relatively poor as a result of the poor start. It begs the question, should Serradella, given its useful tolerance to the Imidazolinone group of herbicides, be sown with a fast growing Imidazolinone tolerant cereal such as Scope CL barley to improve early season feed production? If the season is good, the cereal could be grazed early and then sprayed out with a grass selective herbicide to stop it out-competing the Serradella later on. If the season is poor, the cereal could be left to provide valuable winter and spring feed.
• Residues of Imidazolinone group herbicides can affect the performance of the following year’s crops and pastures, so be aware and plan ahead. 

Rotation of herbicide groups paramount for effective brome grass control, ensure that group B herbicides are not used too often in the rotation

• Thirty two barley grass populations were collected from grower paddocks from Eyre Peninsula and Upper North regions in 2019 and screened for resistance to major herbicide groups in 2020. This was not a random survey because most of these populations were considered difficult to control with herbicides. 
•  All of these barley grass populations collected in 2019 from Eyre Peninsula and Upper North regions were completely killed by glyphosate and paraquat and were rated as herbicide susceptible.
• Resistance to the FOP herbicide quizalofop was confirmed in 50% (n=16) of these targeted populations tested in 2020. In addition to this, 19% of the populations (n=6) were classified as developing resistance. 
• Ten barley grass populations were confirmed resistant to clethodim at 250mL/ha. At the higher clethodim dose (500mL/ha), only three populations were rated as resistant. This result is consistent with research results for annual ryegrass where higher rates of clethodim can improve weed control. Growers could improve barley grass control by increasing clethodim dose but this is unlikely to be a long-term solution to the problem. 
• Out of 1 O clethodim resistant populations, only 3 showed resistance to butroxydim at 90 g/ha and only 1 was resistant at 180 g/ha. These results are consistent with the findings from the previous year, which showed the susceptibility of many clethodim-resistant populations to butroxydim.
• Resistance to the IMI herbicides still appears to be very low in barley grass. Only one barley grass population from Eyre Peninsula was found to be highly resistant to Intercept® and showed no reduction in plant survival or biomass. 

 

• In-crop applications of some broadleaf and grass herbicides can reduce nodulation and nitrogen fixation of peas.
• Timing of herbicide application and seasonal conditions play an important role in herbicide-legume interactions. 
• Late applications of some broadleaf and grass herbicides can reduce crop yields.

• Infrequent rainfall events, poor weed germination early and dry conditions at seeding resulted in challenging conditions for early weed control and crop establishment in 2018.
• In a high Barley grass weed situation herbicide mixes containing Sakura provided good weed control.
• Trifluralin (1.5 L/ha) IBS followed by Lexone (metribuzin) (180 g) post emergent caused significant crop damage due to rainfall events following the metribuzin application.
• Use as many options as possible to lower grass weed seed banks including two-year breaks.
• Regularly test grass populations for herbicide resistance.
• Aim to prevent 100% of seed from setting in all phases of the rotation.

• All herbicides provided effective control of brome grass and barley grass in wheat this season.
• Crop safety in wheat was achieved by all herbicide mixes in 2008.

• VBHT805 is an inidazolinone tolerant barley variety in the final stages of evaluation and commercialisation.
• VBHT805 could be a useful tool for managing Group B soil residual herbicide carryover for improved grass weed control in intensive cereal rotations.

• There were no differences in wheat yield at Minnipa in response to stubble architecture, seeding position and nitrogen treatments in 2015.
• In 2015 plant establishment was reduced with cultivation and the addition of nitrogen at seeding compared to standing stubble cut low at harvest. The extra nitrogen applied at seeding also reduced the early dry matter.
• Removing and cutting stubble low decreased the Yellow Leaf Spot disease incidence and snail numbers compared to high cut stubble.
• Stubble management and seeding position had little effect on grass weed numbers.
• Overall at Minnipa, stubble management and seeding position have not impacted highly on crop production, weeds, disease and pests over two years with relatively high stubble loads in low rainfall farming systems.

Standing stubble cut low (15-17 cm) resulted in the highest level of stubble being maintained into the following season.

Stubble management and seeding position had little effect on grass weeds.

Snail numbers were higher in standing stubble cut high (30 cm) and stubble removed had the lowest numbers.

Stubbles can be estimated using 1.3-2.8 times the grain yield, but it may underestimate the stubble in an average season following a good year, or after a very poor season.

In many low rainfall farming systems livestock are still a very important part of the farming system and the level of stubble carryover is reduced after grazing.

Stubble management and seeding position have not impacted greatly on crop production, weeds, disease and pests over three years with relatively high stubble loads for low rainfall farming systems.

• Native grasses have been established on numerous properties, however the project has highlighted difficulties with sowing light fluffy seeds.
• Wallaby Grass established well at several sites, however the dry summers have drastically reduced populations.
• The dry springs have not been suitable for the establishment of Windmill Grass and rain in the middle of summer does not appear to favour establishment

• Lazuly and Porto cocksfoots are standout perennial grass cultivars, with Uplands cocksfoot showing promise for persistency in shallow dry soil environments.
• Gosse sub clover the standout annual legume, with Napier showing promise as a later cultivar. Trikkala sub clover still a good performer.

• Porto cocksfoot the standout perennial grass cultivar, with Uplands cocksfoot showing promise for persistency in shallow dry soil environments.
• Gosse sub clover the standout annual legume, with Napier showing promise as a later cultivar. Trikkala subclover still a good performer.
• Persistence and productivity will continue to be monitored over several years, subject to further funding.

EverCrop research reported in this and previous Crop Updates (2010-2014) has built up a sound knowledge base on the viability, performance and economics of pasture cropping and companion annual legume based systems for fragile soils in the Northern Agricultural Region that are marginal for continuous cropping. Collectively, trials at Mingenew and Dandaragan over the past two seasons (2013 & 2014) have demonstrated that subtropical perennial grass pastures lift the overall productivity of deep sandy soils, extend the period of available green feed, convert summer rainfall into feed, reduce the winter and summer weed burden, and increase ground cover.

The initial baseline survey received 96 responses from growers on the upper Eyre Peninsula.

68% of the grower respondents identified barley grass as having a medium to hight impact on their cropping systems

 35% of growers used some method of harvest weed seed collection and 65% did not

Current row spacings for cropping were 3% having greater than 30 cm (12") wide rows, 35% having 30 cm (12") wide rows, 21 % having 25 cm (1 0") and 31 % having 22.5 cm (9") row spacing, 10% having 18 cm (7") row spacing, and 1% having less than 18 cm row spacing.

30% of growers were using paired row or splitter systems to increase crop competition, 62% were not and 8% would like to.

• Pre-emergent weed control with Sakura reduced annual ryegrass populations by 85-97% compared to the control

• Combining Sakura pre-em with Boxer Gold at GS11 resulted in 97% weed control 180 days after sowing

• Sakura provides robust pre-em weed grass control and can be used as one element of an integrated weed management approach

• Other practices that can form part of an IWM strategy include paddock selection, cultural control, grazing, land fallowing and chemical rotation

• The use of Lucerne in the Upper Wimmera catchment and similar areas can be extended away from traditional areas such as river and creek flats.
• Introduction of lucerne into grazing systems lengthens the period of available green feed and can allow for enterprise change such as adding a lamb finishing operation to the farm business.
• Sowing time of lucerne is best suited to late winter.
• Soil testing is important to test for nutrient deficiencies and pH prior to lucerne establishment. Adequate lime and fertiliser should be applied to address deficiencies prior to establishment. Attention must be paid to ensuring that aluminium levels are suitable for lucerne production prior to sowing.
• A sub soil pH test should be taken to ensure that there are no acidity or aluminium toxicity issues at depth which could affect the lucerne plants as their roots penetrate the sub soil.
• Weed control is of critical importance before and during the establishment phase of lucerne pastures.
• Sowing depth of lucerne is important to allow an even germination. Care should be taken not to sow seed too deeply. The seed should be covered by 1 – 2 cm of soil, ensuring good soil contact.
• Control of annual grass and broadleaf weeds is of critical importance during the life of the lucerne stand if maximum production is to be achieved.
• A suitable fertiliser regime including the use of potash needs to be applied to replace nutrients removed by the lucerne system.
• Lucerne pastures can produce high quality hay which can enhance the farm’s production system if kept on farm.

The success of break crops to increase wheat production in the Eastern Wheatbelt is dependent on firstly addressing any physical and chemical soil constraints to crop production and where the previous land use is a chemical fallow. In this situation, the grain yield of lupin, chickpea, lentil and field pea was 0.97-1.42 t/ha 0.67-1.1 t/ha, 0.3-0.97 t/ha, and 1.2 t/ha respectively in a below average season. The yield of wheat following legume break crops tended to be higher than either canola or wheat planted in the remaining paddock area. The profitability of double break-crop sequences was negative in many of the sequences evaluated in this study compared to a positive profit for continuous wheat. The profitability of double break-crop sequences can be improved by the inclusion of high value legumes as the second break-crop, but further work is required to lower the risk of growing these species of crops.The yield of wheat following legume break crops tended to be higher than either canola or wheat planted in the remaining paddock area. The profitability of double break-crop sequences was negative in many of the sequences evaluated in this study compared to a positive profit for continuous wheat. The profitability of double break-crop sequences can be improved by the inclusion of high value legumes as the second break-crop, but further work is required to lower the risk of growing these species of crops.

• Understanding key drivers and processes in controlling awnless barnyard grass (Echinochloa colona), feathertop Rhodes grass (Chloris virgata), fleabane (Conzya bonariensis L), windmill grass (Chloris truncata) and sowthistle (Sonchus oleraceus L).
• Investigating the impact on weed control of pupae busting and the potential impact of removing this tillage operation.
• Demonstration of integrated weed management principles, including controlling ‘escape’ weeds and the impact on seed set, to encourage industry to adopt the research outputs.
• Glyphosate resistance is emerging in cotton farming systems.

• Three field sites were sown with grass clover pasture and limed and 11 rates.
• Soils were also collected from lime treatments incubated for 2 months and then used to grow clover in the glasshouse.
• Increasing soil pH by liming decreased availability of manganese at all sites and in the glasshouse experiment.
• In the glasshouse experiment yields decreased on all soils at the higher lime rates.
• Diagnosis of manganese deficiency in sub clover is confounded by lack of a reliable critical value.
• If 20 mg/kg is taken as a critical concentration fulfilled run clover and flowering 2 of the experimental sites are nearing manganese deficiency at moderate line rates.
• Calcium chloride extractable manganese determined in the pot soils correlated well with planned manganese in the youngest open leaf.

This demonstration investigated knockdown weed control options prior to sowing. For the knockdown control of ryegrass, canola and wild radish prior to sowing, glyphosate is quite effective and no additional herbicides are generally required. Glyphosate is weak on marshmallow and a group G herbicide is required as a mix with the glyphosate. To reduce the risk of group M (glyphosate) resistance developing in ryegrass it is strongly recommended to use the ‘double knock’ approach (glyphosate followed four to seven days later by SpraySeed®) on at least some paddocks every year.

• Establishment densities were higher at both sites following the double knockdown treatment.
• Sand infill was less with the single knockdown treatment, but these differences were not statistically significant.

Farmers planning to renovate pasture’s can face an almost bewildering choice of varieties to select from. Victorian perennial rye grass is one of the best known of the ryegrass varieties and is still used by many. However, given it was developed and released in the early 1900’s it’s been superseded by many new and improved varieties. To look at this another way, this would compare to you buying rams from a breeder that had not done any genetic improvement in his flock for 100 years.