Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia
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Roaded catchments in WA
No full textRoaded catchments are earthwork structures designed to increase the amount of run-off from the catchment above a receiving farm dam.
Roaded catchments are lined with clay and compacted to make a smooth surface that reduces infiltration and increases run-off. Roaded catchments should discharge into a silt trap and then into a dam (excavated earth tank). This combined structure should be fenced to exclude livestock.
The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development recommends that roaded catchments are part of an integrated water and salinity management program.
The information in this page is only a guide – seek expert advice before planning and use expert contractors for construction where necessary. Each landholder has a duty of care to make sure that flows from earthworks are not discharged indiscriminately on a neighbouring property and that stream flows are not significantly diminished or degraded.
Information about Conservation earthworks and the legal requirements of landholders is available on the DPIRD website (dpird.wa.gov.au)
Control of common heliotrope (Heliotropium europaeum L.) with herbicides
No full textCommon heliotrope (Heliotropium europaeum L.) is a toxic weed of pastures and crops that is difficult to control and has multiple germinations over summer. Delaying control until the final germination has often resulted in poor control of the mature plants. Twenty-six herbicides were tested for their efficacy on mature heliotrope in replicated trials at two sites in Western Australia. A logarithmic sprayer was used to apply the herbicides at rates up to 10 times the normal use rates. Glyphosate (360 g/L) as Roundup® at 1L/ha, diquat 115g/L + paraquat 135g/L as Spray.Seed® at 1 L/ha, glufosinate-ammonium (200 g/L) as Basta® at 2 L/ha or amitrole (250g/L) + ammonium thiocyanate (220 g/L) as Amitrole T® at 4 L/ha provided adequate control of flowering to seeding heliotrope. Five other herbicides (diflufenican, fluroxypyr, terbutryn, 2,4-D + picloram and aminopyralid + picloram + triclopyr also provided control at high rates of application. Assessments of the companion weeds, small crumbweed (Dysphania pumilio R. Br.), camel melon (Citrullus amarus Schrad.) and caustic weed (Euphorbia drummondii Boiss.) allowed recommendations for mixed infestations to be made. Assessment of the following wheat crop indicated that none of the herbicides used had significant residual effects
Revealing the impact of spatial bias in survey design for habitat mapping: A tale of two sampling designs
No full textSubmerged aquatic vegetation, referring to benthic macroalgae and plants that obligately grow underwater, are critical components of marine ecosystems and are frequently found to provide preferential recruitment habitats. The mapping and monitoring of aquatic vegetation through remote sensing and machine learning is becoming an important aspect of managing coastal environments at scale. Accurate mapping and monitoring require robust sampling and occurrence data to assess predictive error and quantify submerged vegetation extents. The form of ground truthing survey design (preferential, random, grid-based or spatially balanced) could significantly influence predictive model outcomes and the overall accuracy of mapping and monitoring. Here, we test and contrast mapping aquatic vegetation extent ground-truthed using two different sampling designs: we used both preferential and spatially balanced sampling designs across four coastal sites along the midwest of Australia. We validate the map outcomes using spatial cross-validation and demonstrate that spatially balanced ground truthing significantly outperforms preferential sampling designs regarding modelled extent and map accuracy. In our comparison, we found that, on average, preferential designs overestimated vegetation extent by 25 percent compared to balanced designs and achieved an average kappa statistic, F1 score and Area under the Curve of 0.48, 0.615 and 0.517, respectively; whereas balanced designs achieved a kappa statistic, F1 score and AUC of 0.84, 0.85 and 0.83 respectively. We strongly recommend that sampling designs for remote sensing-derived habitat models be spatially balanced where habitat extent is proposed as a metric for monitoring
Density-dependence inside a marine protected area increases natural mortality and stunts the growth of a spiny lobster
No full textSustainable fisheries management often requires the modelling of stocks under unfished conditions, when the influence of population densities on animal growth and mortality can be substantial. This can be especially true for species such as spiny rock lobster, which are very habitat specific. Using western rock lobster (Panulirus cygnus) tag-recapture data from adjacent and similar fished and unfished areas, the key life history parameters of natural mortality and growth were examined and compared under different population density scenarios. In an area representative of virgin biomass levels, lobsters exhibited reduced growth rates and a substantially higher rate of natural mortality than in the adjacent, less densely populated fishing grounds. This research highlights the non-stationary nature of growth and natural mortality in this species, a concept which is poorly understood and rarely acknowledged in stock assessment models. Additionally, these results indicate that the perceived benefits of fishery closures, such as spill over and increased reproductive output, may not be as simple as is often assumed, due to the reduced growth and increased mortality of the protected stock relative to the fished population
Carbon neutral by 2030 - Katanning Research Station
No full textThe Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development\u27s (DPIRD) Katanning Research Station (KRS) is developing practical techniques and methods for mitigating carbon emissions from the livestock industry.
This research will help the livestock industry in Western Australia (WA) access anticipated future markets for carbon neutral food and fibre products
State Barrier Fence - Esperance extension project overview 2024
No full textWestern Australia’s State Barrier Fence plays an important role in protecting landholders inside the fence by preventing the movement of animal pests, including wild dogs and emus, from pastoral areas into the agricultural regions. It is a state asset which is managed by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.
The original fences (numbers 1, 2 and 3) were constructed between 1902 and 1907. Originally known as the Rabbit Proof Fences, it has also been known as the State Vermin Fence, the Emu Fence and now the State Barrier Fence. Since 2010, the fence has been upgraded to wild dog standard.
The current fence is approximately 1209 km long, extending from the Zuytdorp cliffs north of Kalbarri (in the State’s north) through to Jerdacuttup east of Ravensthorpe (in the State’s south). A significant gap in the State Barrier Fence remains to be constructed near Esperance.
The 660 km extension to the State Barrier Fence will protect south-eastern agricultural enterprises from the impact of emus, wild dogs and kangaroos coming from the rangelands and adjacent woodlands. Once completed, the Esperance Extension will provide confidence to livestock industries for new investment and increased production in the region.
The proposed Esperance extension will provide significant benefits to agriculture and have other associated positive impacts for the region. These benefits were endorsed by the agricultural industry in the Esperance community. The Esperance Extension has been supported by successive State governments, with initial scoping for the project undertaken as far back as 2011
Western Australian Regional Development Trust Annual Report 2023-24
No full textThe Trust is an independent statutory advisory body to the Minister for Regional Development, established under the Royalties for Regions Act 2009 (Act).
The functions of the Trust are to provide advice and make recommendations to the minister: for the purposes of sections 5(2) and 9(1) of the Act; and on any other matter relating to the operation of the Fund that is referred to it by the minister.
In addition to its monitoring and advisory role, the Trust also works to engage and enhance relationships with key regional stakeholders and influencers to promote greater collaboration and innovation in the delivery of regional development in Western Australia.https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/ar_wardt/1012/thumbnail.jp
Burial and subsequent growth of rigid ryegrass (Lolium rigidum) and ripgut brome (Bromus diandrus) following strategic deep tillage
No full textSoil amelioration via strategic deep tillage is occasionally utilised within the conservation tillage systems to alleviate soil constraints, but its impact on weed seed burial and subsequent growth within the agronomic system is poorly understood. This study assessed the effects of different strategic deep tillage practices, including soil loosening (deep ripping), soil mixing (rotary spading), or soil inversion (mouldboard plough), on weed seed burial and subsequent weed growth, compared to a no-till control. The tillage practices were applied in 2019 at Yerecoin and Darkan, Western Australia, and data on weed seed burial and growth was collected during the following three-year winter crop rotation (2019–2021). Soil inversion buried 89% of rigid ryegrass (Lolium rigidum Gaudin) and ripgut brome (Bromus diandrus Roth) seeds to a depth of 10–20 cm at both sites, while soil loosening and mixing left between 31% and 91% of the seeds in the top 0–10 cm of soil, with broad variation between sites. Few seeds were buried beyond 20 cm despite tillage working depths exceeding 30 cm at both sites. Soil inversion reduced the density of L. rigidum tomodel, which predicted weed density following strategic tillage with greater accuracy for soil inversion than for loosening or mixing. The findings provide important insights into the effects of strategic deep tillage on weed management in conservational agricultural systems and demonstrate the potential of models for optimising weed management strategies
Breeder and heifer management for rangeland cattle
No full textThis section contains information relating to breeder and heifer management for rangeland cattle. Topics covered include body condition score, heifer management and breeder management
