Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia
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Pest bird control: bait / toxin products
No full textThis factsheet provides information on the bait, poison and toxin (bait) products available for use in Western Australia (WA) to control pest birds
Identifying high-value tactical livestock decisions on a mixed enterprise farm in a variable environment
No full textContext
Australia is renowned for its climate variation, featuring years with drought and years with floods, which result in significant production and profit variability. Accordingly, to maximise profitability, dryland farming systems need to be dynamically managed in response to unfolding weather conditions.
Aims
The aim of this study is to identify and quantify optimal tactical livestock management for different weather-years.
Methods
This study employed a whole-farm optimisation model to analyse a representative mixed enterprise farm located in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. Using this model, we investigated the economic significance of five key livestock management tactics. These included timing of sheep sales, pasture-area adjustments, rotational grazing, crop grazing and sheep nutrition adjustments.
Key results
The results showed that, on the modelled dryland mixed-enterprise farm in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, short-term adjustments to the overall farm strategy in response to unfolding weather conditions increased expected profit by approximately 16%. Each tactic boosted profit by between A53,171. However, we outline several complexities that farmers must consider when implementing tactics.
Conclusions
The financial gains from short-term tactical management highlighted their importance and farmers’ need to develop and apply those skills. The tactical skills promote business resilience and adaptability in the face of climate uncertainties.
Implications
The study highlighted the economic value of dynamic livestock management in response to climate variations, offering farmers in the Great Southern region the means to underpin profitable and sustainable farm practices
Greenhouse gas accounting for Western Australian agriculture 2022
No full textThis report presents new modelling of the greenhouse gas emissions attributable to Western Australia’s agricultural industries and provides an overview of sequestration at the state level. The report improves and expands on the estimates from previous technical reports by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD), most notably Curnow et al. (2022). The report presents a new, much broader picture, capturing not only emissions from agricultural activities in Western Australia (WA), but also the emissions associated with the production of agricultural inputs and the sequestration that occurs on agriculturally managed lands. This broader picture of emissions aligns with frameworks for emissions reporting at the business and product level
Open groundwater drains in WA
No full textOpen groundwater drains are excavated channels with sloping floors and sides and open levees, designed to intercept and drain surface (usually fresh) and groundwater (usually saline in WA) from agricultural land. These drains are most effective where the channel is dug below a water table in soils that allow good lateral drainage.
DPIRD recommends leveed groundwater drains in most cases. These should form part of a whole farm and whole catchment integrated water and salinity management program. Information on this page is a guide only. It is highly recommended that landholders considering the construction of open drains seek expert advice plus engineering design and related support from qualified contractor
Puccinellia (Puccinellia ciliata) for dryland salinity management
No full textPuccinellia (Puccinellia ciliata) is a potentially valuable fodder on waterlogged saline land. Puccinellia, Distichlis and marine couch are the most salt tolerant of the commercially available grasses. It is best suited to areas with more than 400mm annual rainfall and where the watertable is shallow over summer.
The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development recommends that any dryland salinity management is part of a whole farm, and preferably a whole catchment, water management plan
Pre-plant fertiliser for brassica crops on loams
No full textFertiliser is a major input cost in vegetable production along with labour and seedling costs. Optimising fertiliser rates and application methods is important to gain maximum benefit. The following information is based on trials carried out from 2008 to 2010 on broccoli and cauliflower crops grown in karri loams at Manjimup, about 300 kilometres south-west of Perth, Western Australia.
Trial results indicate that changes can be made to rates and application methods to optimise fertiliser use. Changes to application methods include strip incorporation of granular fertilisers and the potential for using liquid phosphorus for pre-transplant application
Minimum standards of maturity for table grapes 2024-2025
No full textThe table shows the approved minimum standard of maturity for each of the standard varieties listed when tested using the approved method. The approved method for testing these varieties is to test the brix (sugar level) of the fruit using a refractomete
Yield and forage quality of the new forage perennial legume Bituminaria bituminosa var. albomarginata cv. Lanza in response to rainfall reduction and competition
No full textBituminaria bituminosa is a promising drought-tolerant perennial legume which could reduce the vulnerability of Mediterranean livestock systems to drought. A 3-year field split-plot experiment was carried out in southern Spain to test the response of Bituminaria bituminosa cv. Lanza (tedera) to a 24% annual rainfall reduction and competition in terms of yield and forage quality. The experiment included a whole-plot factor, Rainfall, with two treatments, 24% annual rainfall reduction and no rainfall reduction, and two subplot factors: Species (tedera and alfalfa) and Stand (pure and mixed). In the sowing year, tedera in pure stands was as productive as alfalfa in rainfed conditions (2740 kg ha−1). In the second year, a suitable distribution of rainfall until April and a mild winter allowed production of tedera of 9526 kg ha−1 compared to 1811 kg ha−1 of alfalfa. In the third year, both species had a similar yield of 1843 kg ha−1. Rainfall reduction marginally affected (p \u3c 0.1) the species production. The 24% rainfall reduction had less impact on tedera than management and the contrasting weather over years. In the second year, rainfall reduction caused a decline in the yield of, on average, 36% in alfalfa and 17% in tedera. Contrary to the previous year, in the third year, both species showed a similar increase in yield under reduced rainfall due to a possible protective effect of the rainout shelters in winter. Tedera suffered from frost damage indicating the cold tolerance of cv. Lanza may not be enough to persist in some Mediterranean areas of the Iberian Peninsula. Competition strongly affected both species, leading to failure, especially in tedera, whose establishment may be severely limited by fast-growing grasses. Tedera showed suitable forage quality, especially in the leaf fraction (CP = 16%). However, uncut tedera developed lignified stems that caused a great decline in forage quality. Rainfall reduction had little or no impact on forage quality
Managing flystrike in sheep
No full textFlystrike is a significant health and welfare risk to Australian sheep and costs $280 million annually. Flystrike should be actively monitored and managed to prevent productivity losses and ensure good animal welfare
Blackbird
No full textThe introduced common blackbird (Turdus merula) is a pest in eastern Australia. It damages commercial fruit crops and may compete with native birds. The species is prohibited in Western Australia and individuals found here are destroyed.
The Western Australian Organism List (WAOL) contains information on the area(s) in which this pest is declared and the control and keeping categories to which it has been assigned in Western Australia (WA). For more information, see our website at dpird.wa.gov.au