Focus on herbicide and fungicide resistance in crops

Exploring 2022's weed, pest and disease resistance issues with local growers and advisers, many of Australia's leading experts shared their latest knowledge in the fields of herbicide, fungicide and insecticide resistance.

Planning for the future will be made easier by discussing the problems of the past twelve months.

"I'd say timing of applications have been really difficult given the conditions we have been facing," Jenna Brewis, agronomist with Delta Ag, Grenfell, said, when asked about the main issues her clients have coem to terms with.

Chris Minehan, Rural Management Strategies Pty Limited, Wagga Wagga, said dealing with the wet conditions and being able to traffic paddocks was a major problem for his clients this spring.

"Probably some of the disease issues specific to this year are the varieties which don't normally require fungicides," he said.

Access to paddocks has been an issue during the past twelve months for Rohan Brill's clients.

The independent agronomist and researcher based at Ganmain said he thinks traffic-ability will still be an issue for at least another month.

He also pointed to the difficulties associated with establishing winter crops this year.

"Because it was wet and some of those areas have become waterlogged and weeds have got going again and even if you wanted to do something, the only option is by air," he said.

"But you don't have the option of crop topping rye grass in a wheat crop."

He highlighted poor establishment of winter crops and ongoing water-logging will be the main legacy from 2022.

Among the many concerns of farmers, rye grass resistance was the main problem identified by forum attendees.

Mr Brill said his clients have been able to top some of the worst affected areas in their barley and canola crops.

"I think rotation will be our main thing and most of the our farmers are mixed farmers and I think they will probably go back to a forage or pasture to put a 'bomb' in those paddocks," he said.

"A 90pc control next year won't be good enough, we will 99.9pc control minimum to bring it under control."

Canola is a big crop in the Grenfell district and Ms Brewis said the yield potential was good where it has survived.

"There have been some sad stories towards the end of the season where water has really taken hold of the situation and we have lost reasonable percentages of paddocks," she said.

"But I think it has been a good news story on the whole."

When discussing cereal disease, stripe rust has been on wheat growers' minds this year, but there have been other diseases in crops.

"I think we have probably underestimated Septoria and certainly this year with back to back wet years that has been one that has impacted," Mr Minehan said.

"I'm anticipating that Septoria will be more of a problem than rust, but we will see where the season is up to and if it turns dry then maybe the Septoria won't kick on."