Using stock containment areas to maximise production
Key Messages
Getting proactive on slugs
Key Messages
- Know what you’re dealing with – monitor, monitor, monitor
- Soil moisture data can help predict when slugs will become active
- Biological controls can be useful
- Bait at sowing and approximately four weeks later if required
- Vigour and speed of establishment in canola is important
- Key factors of bait efficacy are chance of encounter and consumption of active
Slugs are one of the main establishment pests in the Riverine Plains, along with earwigs, slaters, millipedes, wireworms, and mice. The first step to controlling any of these pests, particularly slugs, is knowing what you are dealing with.
Making the most of dual purpose crops
Key messages
- Dual purpose winter crops can help fill the autumn–winter feed gap
- While there is currently a full moisture profile, a dry topsoil and potentially dry autumn may impact establishment
- Be mindful of soil temperature and available soil moisture when sowing early (February–March)
Are your soils under-performing?
Key messages
- Understanding the scale and depth of soil constraints is key to an effective amelioration program
- Incremental sampling to depth provides more information than traditional 0-10 cm tests
- Seek advice before beginning an amelioration program
Summer and early autumn provides an opportunity for Riverine Plains farmers to treat soil constraints, such as acidity and sodicity, between winter crops.
So, what are the issues to consider?
Stop the drift: preventing off-target herbicide damage this summer
Key Messages
- Phenoxy herbicides can cause significant off-target damage to susceptible summer crops
- Volatilisation of herbicide from the treated plant occurs more frequently during summer, when temperatures are higher
- Before using volatile herbicides, check with your neighbours about proximity to susceptible summer crops
- Always check with your agronomist to see if there are less volatile alternative products available
Non-intentional herbicide drift from Group I herbicides such as 2,4-D and other compounds occurs regularly across Australia, with cotton, grapes, soybeans, sorghum, forage brassicas, horticultural crops (i.e tomatoes) and other broadleaf species being especially susceptible.