Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia
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Cockburn, City of - BEN sign map 1 of 1
No full textBeach Emergency Number (BEN) sign locations Cockburnhttps://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/gis_bens/1006/thumbnail.jp
Soil sampling high rainfall pastures in Western Australia
No full textSoil sampling and testing is an essential part of making good fertiliser decisions. Fertilisers are a large cost to farming pastures in high rainfall areas. This page is specific to sampling high rainfall pastures (more than 600mm average annual rainfall) in the south-west of Western Australia.
The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development recommends soil sampling and testing as part of a plant nutrient management program
Deep amelioration of compaction and acidity doubled the water use efficiency of cereal crops on a sandy soil in a long-term experiment in a water-limited environment
No full textThe co-occurrence of subsoil compaction and acidity commonly decreases the yield and water use efficiency (WUE) of agricultural crops around the world, yet the benefits of the complete amelioration of these constraints on yield and WUE remain unclear. We conducted a long-term field experiment in Western Australia (WA) to evaluate the effects of the complete removal of subsoil compaction and acidity through soil profile re-engineering — involving soil removal, replacement, and lime incorporation — on root architecture, yield, and WUE in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). Treatments included an untreated control, and soil loosening to 0.45 m depth and lime incorporation at three depths combined with loosening (0.45 m). Results showed that the improvements in soil conditions through soil re-engineering were maintained for seven years. In the control, the roots of cereal crops were confined to the top 0.2–0.3 m of soil, while soil re-engineering tripled the rooting depth and created a more uniform root distribution. The removal of compaction improved wheat root architecture but did not affect barley. These improvements increased yield and WUE up to 3.7-fold, and the benefits occurred in every season. In the best treatment, wheat yield ranged from 945 to 4164 kg ha−1 and WUE from 16.9 to 33.3 kg mm−1, compared with 252–1722 kg ha−1 and 6.5–13.0 kg mm−1 in the control. Moreover, the best treatments substantially exceeded the expected yields of crops grown under comparable climatic conditions, based on two independent published datasets from WA and southern Australia. Our findings show that soil re-engineering can sustainably improve yield and WUE on coarse-textured sandy soils with multiple subsoil constraints for the long-term in water-limited environments. While this approach may not be directly scalable or economically feasible, it provides a foundation for the development of more comprehensive tillage machinery suitable for large scale soil profile re-engineering
Fisheries Occasional Publication No. 151 - Response to 2025 External Review of Integrated Stock Assessments for Key WA Demersal Indicator Stocks
No full textConsistent with national trends, the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) is transitioning to the globally recognised Stock Synthesis (SS) platform to support more robust, transparent, and internationally aligned assessments. To ensure this transition remains scientifically sound, DPIRD commissioned an independent expert review in 2025, following a previous review in 2024. The 2025 review was conducted by Professor André Punt and focused on integrated models for three key WA fish stocks: red emperor in the Kimberley, WA dhufish in the southern West Coast Bioregion, and sandbar shark at the statewide level. This publication summarises the findings and recommendations to the 2025 review to support ongoing improvement in stock assessment and fisheries management.https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/fr_fop/1102/thumbnail.jp
Bulletin 4936: Guidelines to importing and keeping regulated animals in Western Australia
No full textUpdated: January 2026 after a review of permit keeping conditions. December 2025 for transfer of restricted keeping bird permit business to DPIRD.
Introduced, exotic or alien animals are species that have been brought to a country or location where they do not occur naturally. (Hereafter referred to as introduced species). Mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians that are introduced or relocated to new areas often cause problems to agriculture, the environment and the community. Problems occur when introduced species: damage agricultural crops displace and compete with native animals and plants carry disease or parasites damage property cause land degradation have a negative impact on pets.
Introduced species that are kept in captivity can escape or be liberated and successfully establish populations in the wild and become pests. The harm newly-established species cause is not always obvious at first and it may take many years for populations to increase and cause widespread impacts. However, once they do establish in the wild they are near impossible to eradicate and control.
It is primarily introduced species that are declared pests under the Biosecurity and Agriculture Management Act 2007 (Act), by the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (WA).
Prohibited declared pests under the Act, require an import permit to enter WA.
The Biosecurity and Agriculture Management Regulations 2013 (regulations) specify keeping categories for declared pests to regulate the purposes for which they can be kept, and who (entities) can keep them for that purpose. A keeping permit is the administrative tool used to assign conditions for keeping a declared pest.https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/bulletins/1296/thumbnail.jp
Potassium for high rainfall pastures in Western Australia
No full textPotassium (K) deficiency can lead to a decline in clover content and severely limit pasture productivity in high rainfall pastures. Large amounts of potassium can be lost each year through leaching and removal of potassium in hay or silage.
This information is specific to high rainfall pastures receiving more than 600mm average annual rainfall in the south-west of Western Australia
Insecticide resistance testing in cluster caterpillar (Spodoptera litura) from population across WA
No full textA study by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) was undertaken with the aim to better manage insecticide resistance in the cluster caterpillar (Spodoptera litura). Cluster caterpillar is an endemic armyworm species in WA, particularly in the State’s north, which affects a wide range of host plants including table grapes, capsicums, aubergine, cow peas, mung beans, maize, cotton and asparagus. The work was undertaken in response to field reports, from northern Western Australian horticultural regions, that some commonly used insecticides no longer provide adequate control, raising concerns that resistance has developed to some insecticides
Underwater cameras reveal the behaviours and interactions of marine wildlife around demersal shark fishing gear
No full textCommercial shark fisheries use mostly demersal gillnets and demersal longlines to catch the target species. However, they also interact with non-target species and Endangered, Threatened and Protected species (ETPs), with gillnets generally having a negative connotation. We used underwater cameras (\u3e3500 h of footage) on 52 fishing shots to document the behaviours and interactions of marine wildlife with the demersal gillnets and longlines used in Western Australia to target several shark species. We observed \u3e 25,000 individuals from a range of taxa (5 invertebrates, 11 rays, 20 sharks, 156 scalefish, 1 sea turtle, 1 seabird, and 2 marine mammals) and identified 10 different behaviour/interaction types. ‘Swim past’ was the only observed behaviour/interaction for invertebrates and the most observed for scalefish (66 %), rays (64 %) and sharks (62 %), including ETPs (63 %), which were rarely seen (\u3c 0.6 % of the observed individuals). Our results revealed an overall low incidence of detrimental (gear capture) marine wildlife interactions, contributing to the broader understanding of demersal gillnet and longline selectivity and impacts on marine biodiversity. This methods study provides a framework for quantifying wildlife interactions in commercial fisheries, offering a novel tool for future research to inform ecological risk assessments
Beach Emergency Number (BEN) signage - 1
No full texthttps://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/gis_bens_slideshow/1000/thumbnail.jp
Sulfur for high rainfall pastures in Western Australia
No full textSulfur deficiency can substantially reduce pasture yield on sandy soils, particularly in wet years where the sulfate form of sulfur leaches below the root zone of pasture plants, making it unavailable.
This information applies specifically to high rainfall pastures (over 600mm average annual rainfall) in the south-west of Western Australia.
The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development recommends basing fertiliser decisions on good evidence (soil and tissue test results