WeedSmart, the industry-led initiative to enhance on-farm weed control and manage herbicide resistance issues in Australian cropping, will hold its 11th annual ‘WeedSmart Week’ event at Port Lincoln, South Australia on July 29 and 30 2024.
WeedSmart Week brings together local and interstate growers, agronomists and industry experts to learn and discuss effective weed control strategies, technologies and herbicide resistance issues.
The event is presented annually in partnership with platinum partner the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), along with other sponsors that include major life science companies, spray technology and machinery dealers, state agriculture departments and university researchers.
The event focuses on the ‘WeedSmart Big 6’ – a suite of tactics underpinning a year-round integrated weed management strategy for cropping and mixed enterprise systems: 1) rotate crops and pastures, 2) increase crop competition, 3) mix and rotate herbicides, 4) optimise spray efficacy, 5) stop weed seed set, and 6) implement harvest weed seed control.
The first day of the 2024 event will include a series of presentations and panel discussions covering tactics and technology updates, grower experiences, along with insights into key topics such as spray efficacy and impact mills for harvest weed seed control.
Day Two will feature a farm visit at Cummins, followed by a Machinery Expo at Yeelanna.
GRDC crop protection manager – west Georgia Megirian says weeds continue to cost Australian grain producers over $3 billion per year and WeedSmart Week is an important examination of chemical, mechanical and cultural tools to drive down the weed seed bank in crop and fallow paddocks.
“WeedSmart is dedicated to sharing research and development findings, innovations from life science and machinery experts, and insights from industry leaders who have successfully tackled weed issues using multiple tactics,” Ms Megirian says.
“Weedsmart Week is important because it is geared toward grower-to-grower education, focusing on sharing practical, on-farm solutions and how to implement them.
“It’s an effective approach that GRDC is proud to support.”
WeedSmart southern extension agronomist and independent agronomist Chris Davey of Next Level Agronomy will be hosting two panel discussions at the event, to discuss Weed control challenges and opportunities of entering lentils into crop rotations on the EP and Spray application technology.
He says the plan is to ‘kick around’ some constructive ideas that growers can implement, such as incorporating lentils into a double break, utilising herbicide diversity in the lentils, overcoming the challenges associated with adding lentils to the rotation, and increasing crop competition.
“Growers who attend can look forward to great networking opportunities and learning about emerging weed threats, along with new ways to combat weeds and weed resistance,” Mr Davey says.
“Hearing directly from growers and the industry, both at the forum and on the farm visits, is such a valuable way to gain new ideas and adapt them to individual farming systems.
“We often hear from people who have attended a WeedSmart Week event and returned home to immediately implement something they learned.”
WeedSmart Week project manager Lisa Mayer says the high proportion of farmers and agronomists on the program and in the discussion groups is one of the event’s big benefits.
“WeedSmart Week is defined by local producers sharing their first-hand knowledge of implementing WeedSmart Big 6 techniques into their cropping systems practically and profitably,” Ms Mayer says.
“Even the Machinery Expo includes farming owners who are there to share their experiences with the equipment, any potential adoption issues, and how it performs on local terrain, soils and crops.”
This peer-to-peer format has made WeedSmart Week a popular success since its inception. The event has been held from 2015, including through the COVID pandemic.
2024 WeedSmart Week tickets are $290 or $190 for students. The price includes access to both days of the event, plus bus transportation to and from the farm visit and Machinery Expo on day two.
For more information and to register, visit the GRDC event page.