Head off spread of weeds
WEEDSMART week is happening on the Central Highlands in and around the Emerald district on August 13–15.
The three days of talking, commenting and observing all future weed control options is not to be missed by all farming enterprise owners and their agronomists.
It is not a herbicide only talking forum, as the program is very diverse to give you ideas and alternative tactics in adopting new or extra weed control options to utilise in your farming system.
We need all the options we can get I believe, with our weeds getting harder and more expensive to control in our current farming systems. Yes, there is some good expert speakers on using and extending our suite of available herbicide options into the future however that is not all the event is about.
The event extends from using the technical weed imaging and sensor levels for various controls methods like the WeedIT, through to seeing different local home-made mechanical measures and planters in action, thereby providing another tactic of weed control.
I fully realise there are many field days around however this practical weed control event will cover all aspects of controlling our increasing problem of weeds and herbicide resistance in our northern region.
Why have I pushed for this Weedsmart event to occur in our region?
When you look at the photo attached, we should all realise that we are still not grappling successfully with plants like Feather top Rhodes and others. FTR can produce 100,000 seeds per plant with up to 40 per cent viable seed, being scattered around your own place and probably onto neighbouring properties as well.
This photo was taken by myself recently on a Darling Downs farm boundary line, next to a dry irrigation channel.
Wind was scattering these mature seeds to the west into the next block, owned by the neighbours. In my numerous trips across the region, I see FTR plus other weeds out of control in many farming paddocks.
The weed seed has matured and is then being distributed from the middles and sides of the paddocks, to fence and contour lines, as well as being carried along by overland flow when it happens.
One of the worst spreading mechanisms on the farm is our own harvesters.
When you see and hear the conviction of what one of our farmer speakers at Emerald, Peter Bach from Bongeen, is doing with his chaff tramlining attachment to his header, it really does, or should, get you back into your engineering shed to build or purchase your own chaff tramlining outfit for your header.
It is so simple a process to gather any weed seeds remaining in the weed above the header comb height and then diverting this weed seed laden chaff or pin trash fraction from your sieves onto your wheel tracks for natural degradation or other control methods.
Sure, you may not get them all into the header front as some, like black oats, may shed before harvest time.
However, every time you take the header into the paddock, you are getting some level of weed control, be it natural or by other means.
So I suggest that you organise yourself and your neighbours to attend the Weedsmart 2019 program of diversify and disrupt in Emerald and don’t forget to register on line before the event.