trials

• Quantify current levels of herbicide resistance in annual ryegrass and common sow thistle across key herbicide groups in dryland and irrigated farming systems in the Griffith region of NSW.
• Collect site specific information to categorise levels of risk for developing herbicide resistance for various farming systems, based on rotational history and farming practices.
• Assess the ability of growers and advisers to predict the resistance status of each sample.

Why do the trial? 
Barley grass possesses several biological traits that make it difficult for growers to manage it in the low rainfall zone, so it is not surprising that it is becoming more prevalent in field crops in SA and WA. A survey by Llewellyn et al. (2015) showed that barley grass has now made its way into the top 1 O weeds of Australian cropping in terms of area infested, crop yield loss and revenue loss. 
The biological traits that make barley grass difficult for growers to manage in low rainfall zones include: 

- early onset of seed production, which reduces effectiveness of crop-topping or spray-topping in pastures,
shedding seeds well before crop harvest, reducing harvest weed seed control effectiveness compared to weeds such as ryegrass which has a much higher seed retention,•    increased seed dormancy, reducing weed control from knockdown herbicides due to delayed emergence, and
•    increasing herbicide resistance, especially to Group A herbicides, used to control grass weeds in pasture phase and legume crops. 

Barley grass management is likely to be more challenging in the low rainfall zone because the growing seasons tend to be more variable in terms of rainfall, which can affect the performance of the pre-emergence herbicides. Furthermore, many growers in these areas tend to have lower budgets for management tactics, and break crops are generally perceived as more risky than cereals. Therefore, wheat and barley tend to be the dominant crops in the low rainfall zone. This project is undertaking coordinated research with farming systems groups across the Southern and Western cropping regions to demonstrate tactics that can be reliably used to improve the management of barley grass. 

• To investigate the use of Kikuyu in farming systems on Kangaroo Island.

To assess the effect of sulphur on tiller numbers, grain yield and quality when combined with in-crop nitrogen.

To demonstrate the new chickpea herbicide Balance from Aventis for broadleaf weed control.

To discuss adjuvant choice for atrizine for best control of radish in TT canola.

The aim of this trial was to investiage the best management practices for the production of Biscuit wheats. 

The aim of this trial was to investigate alternative chemicals for the control of ryegrass in wheat; and in broadleaf crops, canola, lentil and field pea.

To demonstrate whether Atrazine (alone or in combination with Select) can assist in the control of ryegrass.

To evaluate the performance of Avadex Xtra on annual ryegrass in a no-till cropping system.

To investigate:

• the efficacy of the pre-emergent herbicide treatments on brome grass,
• the weed competitiveness of different varieties at different row spacing configurations, and
• the relative yields of the different varieties with the different herbicide applications and row spacing configurations.

To determine the most effecient herbicide options for controlling barley grass and brome grass in wheat and barley.

To demonstrate the performance and effectiveness of new pre-emergen chemistry, Bayer 191, in reducing resistant ryegass populations in winter cereals.

To determine the most cost effective herbicide in wheat (Meering) to control the most common weeds found in the Southern Mallee/northern Wimmera

To determine the best technique for controlling brome grass in wheat and barley.

To investigate the germination behaviour and seed dormancy of brome grass populations from the Victorian mallee and provide information on control.

To compare control options for Brome grass in wheat and investigate two new options – Clearfield wheat technology and Atlantis herbicide.

To compare control options for Brome grass in wheat and barley.

To investigate herbicide control options for brome grass control in direct drilled wheat in the Mallee.

To determine the level of herbicide resistance to selective in-crop herbicides in annual ryegrass across western Victoria using random weed surveys.

To determine

• what is the optimum soiwng date for chickpeas, and
• what is the best sowing depth, especially in relation to the use of pre-emergent herbicides.

To determine whether herbicide tolerances differ between the four commonly grown chickpea varieties.

To determine the differences in herbicide tolerances between the four most commonly grown chickpea varieties - Desi types: Lasseter, Desavic, Tyson; and the Kabuli type: Kaniva.

To demonstrate the risk of sowing certain crop types in the year following application of common pre-emergent herbicide mixtures to chickpeas.

To determine safe and effective techniques for using Simazine and Trifluralin on Mallee clay-loams with Lasseter chickpeas.

To raise awareness and highlight the importance of cleaning boomspray equipment properly after using SU herbicides.

To conduct a pre-release evaluation (crop tolerance testing) of potential new canola quality Brassica juncea varieties (J05Z-08920 and J05Z-08960) for tolerance to the appropriate CLEARFIELD® (imidazolinone) herbicide products.

To conduct a Clearfield production system demonstration.

To compare grass herbicides alone and in comparison with common broadleaf herbicides.

To compare the crop effect of two formulations of trifluralin – Triflur 480 (480 g/L active ingredient) and Crew (330 g/L active ingredient with slow release formulation). The work also included a demonstration of crop effect of trifluralin under dry- and wet sowing conditions.

The aim was to investigate whether Atrazine has the effect of reducing disease incidence in TT canola.

To determine the most effective herbicides for controlling Flaxleaf fleabane (Conyza bonariensis).

To identify the most effective herbicide product and mixes to control hard-to-kill broadleaf weeds in the Wimmera.

To investigate best bet options for controlling medic prior to sowing lentils.

To identify some herbicide options for controlling Rosinweed.

To investigate pre-emergent trifluralin mixes for the control of Group A resistant ryegrass.

To control the population of wild radish in wheat, reducing its competitive effect and subsequent plant numbers prior to flowering. Once at floweringthe control of seed set using a phenoxy herbicide will be most successful.

To determine whether the ASW wheat varieties Barunga, Beulah, Ouyen and Meering differ in thier tolerance to herbicides.

To investigate the effect of water quality on glyphosate efficacy when used in a spring-spraying knockdown scenario.

To dicusss developments in herbicide resistance and new products.

To report on the results of recent herbicide resistance ryegrass surveys.

To observe whether additions of a zinc based liquid fertiliser to a herbicide reduces the crop effect often seen when using broadleaf and grass herbicides in cereals.

To determine whether UAN as a carrier, rather than just water, increases the efficacy of grass selective herbicides on ryegrass control.

To determine the best (control and cost effetive) herbicide for the control of radish in barley.

To evaluate the crop safety and efficacy on annual ryegrass of soil-incorporated pre-emergent herbicides in dry and wet sowing conditions.

To evaluate the interaction between seeding systems and pre-emergence herbicides on the establishment of wheat, on two contrasting soil types.

To demonstrate six different seeding machine set-ups sowing in stubble. This demonstration was used to compare different set-ups across two different rates of triflualin at a number of different sowing speeds.

To identify weed species that pose the greatest threats to agricultural produciton if incursion an dispersal is allowed to occur from roadsides and fence-lines into farmed land.

To investigate the effect of post-sowing pre-emergent herbicides and post emergent herbicides on fenugreek growth and yield and weed control.

To assess weed control and fenugreek tolerance of several herbicide mixes and to screen new fenugreek varieties for tolerance to commonly used herbicides.