Across Western Australia’s grain growing regions, farmers are reporting increased mouse activity, sparking new concern about risks heading into the 2022 season.

Scientists from the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation at the University of Queensland have been trailing sowing the summer crop in winter. And while the trials have taken place in cool conditions, the results have proved to be red hot.

Dr Peter Boutsalis from the University of Adelaide explains the resistance status of annual ryegrass to pre-emergent herbicides.

Dr Grant Hollaway from Agriculture Victoria and Professor Robert Park from the University of Sydney share all the details on the latest variety disease ratings and recommendations to help growers make informed stripe rust management decisions this season.

In WA, a series of trials over several years has been studying the interaction between wheat seeding timing and pre emergent herbicides choice on annual ryegrass seed production, with some helpful results on offer.

Grain storage is a long-term investment so it’s important to get it right from the start. Considerations need to include storage design and structural integrity, effective pressure testing and knowing how to seal silos correctly to achieve successful fumigation. Manufactures are a good source of information, but make sure they’re not your onlysource. And that’s where GRDC’sGrain Storage Extension Projectcan help. In this podcastnational extension team member Ben White takes youthrough the latest evolution in Silo features and pressure testing methods.

The Seed of Gold is one of the grains industry’s most prestigious awards. First presented in 2007 only four people have received this honour. The latest recipient is globally recognised research scientist Emeritus professor Stephen Powles from Western Australia who was presented with his Seed of Gold in 2021. The award is given in recognition of an individual’s outstanding contribution, dedication and commitment to communicating research outcomes to the Australian grains industry.

It’s an unusual thing to see – a mob of cattle grazing contentedly in a patch of paddock, held there by an invisible border. But virtual fencing technology is really taking off and is showing promise as a tool to help mixed farmers control weeds. On Heath Nickolls’ cattle and grain property near Pinnaroo in the South Australian mallee, the CSIRO’s Dr Rick Llewellyn is leading a GRDC and Australian Wool Innovation investment trialling virtual fencing to gain better crop integrated weed management. As Rick and Heath explain, a strip grazing trial of 40 Angus heifersis delivering promising results.

Nick Poole from FAR Australia provides an excellent explanation of how to target fungicide applications for the best economic return. He describes the value of focusing on critical growth stages and their ‘money leaves’, the best way to manage disease risk in crops before tillering, and the importance of protecting fungicide effectiveness for the long term.

It’s been common practise across the southern grain growing region to wait for opening rains, before applying a knockdown herbicide, then seeding the crop. But new research is revealing weedsare better controlled by adopting a three-pronged approach of sowing early, at a high density crop seeding rate while also applying an efficient herbicide. As the University of Adelaide’s Dr Gurjeet Gill and Ben Fleet explain, the mid-trial results come from a five-year GRDC investment looking into weed management across a range of rainfall zones in SA, Vic and WA.

While farmers typically spray fungicide to manage one disease, applications should be considered in a broader context. Dr Steven Simpfendorfer describes how spraying one pathogen can inadvertently encourage resistance in other pathogens that may be present. He outlines some typical examples, including rusts and powdery mildew in wheat; blackleg and sclerotinia in canola; as well as net blotches and powdery mildew in barley.

Sub-surface drainage, one of many water management options, is not widely adopted, for reasons that will be better understood during this project, with surveys used to understand current grower practice and opinions. Sub-surface drainage, one of many water management options, is not widely adopted, for reasons that will be better understood during this project, with surveys used to understand current grower practice and opinions. In total, the GRDC invests about $2 million nationally in projects addressing waterlogging, with work ranging from the new sub-surface drainage projects through to genetic research.

The seedbank is the link between the current weed populations and future infestations. While the seedbank life is well understood for major weed species such as annual ryegrass, new research has filled the knowledge gap on the seedbank life of emerging weed species. The research, emanating from a five-year GRDC investment, has delivered a comprehensive manual on weed seedbanks. The Ecology of Major Emerging Weeds resource details more than 25 summer and winter weed species. In this podcast, we speak to the three weed scientists who delivered this research, Gurjeet Gill, Catherine Borger and Bhagirath Chauhan. Their insight on the headline findings and emerging issues in landscapes across the northern, southern and western regions is essential listening for all growers and advisers.

In Western Australia’s South West agricultural zone there are 3 million hectares of lateritic gravels or ironstone gravel soils. These are sandy soils that have a cemented laterite surface or caprock. Many growers are using contractors with specialised machinery that rips and pulverises this top-layer, making sowing easier and improving the likelihood of good crop establishment. What is also needed for developing crops is good nutrition and Lateritic soils bind-up phosphorus, an essential nutrient for young plants.With GRDC investment,on-farm trial are underway to test for nutrient levels in these soils and development nutrient packages for crop management.

When Western Australian Ag Research Company TrialCo signed on with GRDC to run a trial on non-wetting sandy soils in low rainfall country the last thing anyone expected was a wet start to the growing season. In this podcast TrialCo field operations manager and TrialCo’s executive officer outline the reasons for the trial and the methodology applied to evaluate the use of surfactants in sandy non-wetting soils.

Innovative lab technology has helped uncover new information on the water and nutrient use efficiency of ironstone gravel soils. It's a first for the grains industry and a big step forward in managing this often-underperforming soil type.

Generous rain and high prices have increased the economic risk from Sclerotinia and blackleg of canola this season. Dr Steve Marcroft outlines the very real risk of fungicide resistance developing in blackleg of canola in Australia – and how growers can achieve sustainable disease control.

The ‘Fungicide Resistance Five’ is the basis for an integrated disease management strategy that growers can use on-farm to reduce fungicide resistance pressure on crop pathogens. This six-part podcast series, produced through the Australian Fungicide Resistance Extension Network (AFREN), unpacks the individual elements of the strategy to inform growers why and how they should minimise the risk of fungicide resistance developing in their paddocks. AFREN is a significant GRDC investment that brings together a national network of regional plant pathologists, fungicide resistance experts and communications and extension specialists. It is co-ordinated through the Centre for Crop Disease Management (CCDM), a co-investment between the GRDC and Curtin University. Using fungicide mixtures and rotating between Mode of Action groups is vital to eliminate resistant pathogen strains. Fungicide resistance specialist Dr Fran Lopez Ruiz from the Centre for Crop Disease Management at Curtin University highlights the importance of a dynamic spray program.

The ‘Fungicide Resistance Five’ is the basis for an integrated disease management strategy that growers can use on-farm to reduce fungicide resistance pressure on crop pathogens. This six-part podcast series, produced through the Australian Fungicide Resistance Extension Network (AFREN), unpacks the individual elements of the strategy to inform growers why and how they should minimise the risk of fungicide resistance developing in their paddocks. AFREN is a significant GRDC investment that brings together a national network of regional plant pathologists, fungicide resistance experts and communications and extension specialists. It is co-ordinated through the Centre for Crop Disease Management (CCDM), a co-investment between the GRDC and Curtin University.

The ‘Fungicide Resistance Five’ is the basis for an integrated disease management strategy that growers can use on-farm to reduce fungicide resistance pressure on crop pathogens. This six-part podcast series, produced through the Australian Fungicide Resistance Extension Network (AFREN), unpacks the individual elements of the strategy to inform growers why and how they should minimise the risk of fungicide resistance developing in their paddocks. AFREN is a significant GRDC investment that brings together a national network of regional plant pathologists, fungicide resistance experts and communications and extension specialists. It is co-ordinated through the Centre for Crop Disease Management (CCDM), a co-investment between the GRDC and Curtin University. South Australian plant pathologist Dr Tara Garrard covers the range of agronomic practices growers have at their disposal to reduce disease pressure, limit fungicide applications and lower the risk of promoting fungicide resistance in their crops.

The ‘Fungicide Resistance Five’ is the basis for an integrated disease management strategy that growers can use on-farm to reduce fungicide resistance pressure on crop pathogens. This six-part podcast series, produced through the Australian Fungicide Resistance Extension Network (AFREN), unpacks the individual elements of the strategy to inform growers why and how they should minimise the risk of fungicide resistance developing in their paddocks. AFREN is a significant GRDC investment that brings together a national network of regional plant pathologists, fungicide resistance experts and communications and extension specialists. It is co-ordinated through the Centre for Crop Disease Management (CCDM), a co-investment between the GRDC and Curtin University.

The ‘Fungicide Resistance Five’ is the basis for an integrated disease management strategy that growers can use on-farm to reduce fungicide resistance pressure on crop pathogens. This six-part podcast series, produced through the Australian Fungicide Resistance Extension Network (AFREN), unpacks the individual elements of the strategy to inform growers why and how they should minimise the risk of fungicide resistance developing in their paddocks. AFREN is a significant GRDC investment that brings together a national network of regional plant pathologists, fungicide resistance experts and communications and extension specialists. It is co-ordinated through the Centre for Crop Disease Management (CCDM), a co-investment between the GRDC and Curtin University.

The ‘Fungicide Resistance Five’ is the basis for an integrated disease management strategy that growers can use on-farm to reduce fungicide resistance pressure on crop pathogens. This six-part podcast series, produced through the Australian Fungicide Resistance Extension Network (AFREN), unpacks the individual elements of the strategy to inform growers why and how they should minimise the risk of fungicide resistance developing in their paddocks. AFREN is a significant GRDC investment that brings together a national network of regional plant pathologists, fungicide resistance experts and communications and extension specialists. It is co-ordinated through the Centre for Crop Disease Management (CCDM), a co-investment between the GRDC and Curtin University.

Growers in the north could consider fungicide resistance less of a threat than growers in the south and west, however there is no room for complacency. As Professor Levente Kiss from the University of Southern Queensland’s Centre for Crop Health points out in this podcast, as long as there are fungal crop diseases there is a risk of fungal resistance. Barley, wheat and pulses can all be affected. Northern growers need to appreciate the importance of rotating and mixing fungicides, including as seed treatments, in order not to encourage fungicide resistance in important diseases such as barley net blotches, mung bean powdery mildew, wheat powdery mildew and septoria tritici blotch.

In Western Australia, outbreaks of fungicide resistance have occurred in several important diseases of barley. Resistance is a significant but preventable problem that can largely be managed by taking care not to repeatedly expose a pathogen to the same product or chemical Mode of Action Group. It is important for growers to recognise that this management regime can include fungicide seed treatments and in-furrow fungicide applications, as well as foliar sprays later in the season. Fungicide rotations to manage and prevent fungicide resistance need to take all of these applications into account. Geoff Thomas, plant pathologist from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development WA, discusses the importance of using an integrated disease management program to reduce disease pressure and manage fungicide use and resistance in WA cropping systems.