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Annual ryegrass resistance remains the top of mind concern among the increasing number of grain growers in the northern Wimmera who are changing to minimum and no-till farming systems with the support of local agronomists, including Ian Glasgow at Warracknabeal.
Mr Glasgow has been Agronomist Consultant for the past six years for Robert Smith & Company, a CRT rural distributor at Warracknabeal.
He is seeing more annual ryegrass resistant to Group A chemicals every year.
Mr Glasgow advises farmers in a 50 kilometre area which includes Brim in the north, Dimboola in the west and Minyip in the east.
“The trend to minimum tillage and no-till is continuing as farmers watch the innovators and share their own experiences with each other at field days and farmer group meetings.
“In the drought we saw a lot of soil blown away from paddocks. That changed a few people’s minds. The principles of minimum tillage farming in conserving the soil and moisture are generally well understood but there is a steep learning curve when it comes to changing farming practices and gear to no-till.
“Effective weed control, particularly of annual ryegrass, remains the biggest challenge.”
Mr Glasgow said more trifluralin-based pre-emergent herbicides such as TriflurX were being used each season because of their well-known superiority in ryegrass control and wild oats suppression.
“Growers recognise that unless they get good pre-emergent control they are limited in their attempts to minimise ryegrass competition and replenishment of the seed bank from year to year if resistance is present.
“Post emergent options are more expensive and generally rely on Group A chemistry, encouraging further resistance.
“Farmers have got the message that they need to rotate their chemistry where there are other effective groups available. In crops such as canola, TriflurX is very important because of its effective control of annual ryegrass and suppression of wild oats and a number of broadleaf species.
“However, Group As are still needed for legumes and canola where the need to control brome grass and self sown cereals is required.
“To keep their efficacy, these chemicals should be reserved for these purposes where better options exist for pre-emergent control in other crops.”
Mr Glasgow said companies such as Nufarm Australia Ltd had been instrumental in improving growers’ understanding of how best to use trifluralin products such as TriflurX in minimum tillage and no-till farming systems.
Workshops had focused on issues important to achieving optimum efficacy including trial results, application equipment, water volumes, water pressure and nozzle types.
Used with the knife-point and press wheel system, Nufarm’s TriflurX is a pre-emergent herbicide which can be applied at higher rates for excellent control of annual ryegrass and a range of other broadleaf weeds at germination.
“Our weed spectrum in the northern Wimmera suits TriflurX use. We find white iron weed, hog weed, wireweed, dead nettle and Amsinkia in this region. These weeds are either controlled or suppressed with TriflurX.”
TriflurX is registered to be incorporated up to 24 hours after application in all states in a no tilling sowing system.
“While most farmers would routinely incorporate earlier than this to keep rates down in a conventional farming operation, no till farmers appreciate having the greater flexibility that 24 hours incorporation represents.
“Many of my clients are one person operations. Minimum and no-till farming has saved them labour, fuel usage and machinery replacement costs.
“Being able to spray mixtures in a one-pass operation is also well received. Good results are being achieved by mixing TriflurX with Avadex Xtra to give a different mode of action and expanded weed spectrum.”
Avadex Xtra and TriflurX, can be used together to allow grain crops to get away with minimal competition from wild oats and annual ryegrass, setting up the highest possible yield potential.
Avadex Xtra works by preventing the deeper wild oats from emerging by attacking the development of the coleoptiles while TriflurX controls annual ryegrass at the soil surface by inhibiting root development.
6-Nov-2006
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