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Weed Seed Wizard scenario - dormancy shift in barley grass in Balaklava, South Australia
No full textThe Weed Seed Wizard is a national collaborative project that uses paddock management information to predict weed emergence and crop losses now and in the future.
The Weed Seed Wizard is a computer simulation tool that: applies to all Australian grain growing areas helps growers understand and manage weed seedbanks on their farms uses farm management records to simulate how different crop rotations, weed control techniques, irrigation, grazing and harvest management tactics can affect weed numbers, the weed seedbank and yields uses farm-specific management and site-specific weather is multi-species
See www.dpird.wa.gov.au for further information on Weed Seed Wizard.
This South Australian scenario is set in Balaklava between 2010-13 and is a barley - lentils - wheat - barley rotation with annual ryegrass and barley grass
Liming acidic soils creates profits, land use options but often more emissions
No full textContext
Soil acidity constrains crop production in Australia. The practice of liming can reduce soil acidity but produces greenhouse gas emissions.
Aims
By examining land use sequences over three decades at a range of locations in Western Australia, this study aims to identify firstly where and when liming might boost farm profits and secondly, what emissions and land use management flexibilities are generated by liming.
Methods
Bioeconomic simulation modelling is used to identify the gross margins and emissions associated with liming in land use sequences at 14 locations in Western Australia. Three intensities of cropping and three different rotational sequences are considered. The simulations account for price and weather–year variations across a 30-year period of analysis.
Key results
Liming is profitable at almost all locations and across all rotation sequences examined. Where problematic soil acidity is a feature or is poised to soon become a problem at a location, liming is a profitable ameliorative practice that enables greater diversity in land use. For most situations assessed, liming increases emissions. The exceptions are at locations where liming prevents a switch away from a crop-dominant system, due to soil acidity reducing crop yields, into additional sheep production that increases emissions.
Conclusions
Liming is profitable in most acidic soil situations and preserves land use flexibility, although additional greenhouse gas emissions are often generated.
Implications
Liming acidic soils bolsters land use profitability and helps sustain biologically diverse land use sequences, despite often increasing greenhouse gas emissions
Recreational fishing for Western Rock Lobster: estimates of participation, effort and catch in 2023/24
No full textThe Western Rock Lobster (WRL) (Panulirus cygnus) is the most commonly caught Rock Lobster (RL) species in Western Australia. Catches from the commercial and recreational sectors are required to determine and monitor Total Allowable Commercial Catch (TACC), Total Allowable Recreational Catch (TARC) and the proportion of Allowable Harvest Level (AHL) achieved. The TARC is set at 5% of the AHL and evaluated in the harvest strategy based on a 5-year average.
Data for the recreational sector are obtained using phone-recall surveys to provide annual estimates of participation, fishing effort and retained catch (by numbers) from recreational fishers who hold a RL licence. Average weight, obtained from boat ramp surveys, are used to convert estimates of retained catch by licensed fishers from numbers to recreational harvest (by weight). Tour Operator Returns (Charter Logbooks) provide a census of annual participation, effort and retained catch (by numbers) from charter fishing (where fishers are not required to hold a RL licence). Random length samples of WRL from tour operators are used to convert the retained catch from numbers to weight.
This report provides estimates of RL recreational fishing participation, effort and catch for 2023/24 (1 May 2023 – 30 April 2024). Participation in the RL recreational fishery (all species) by licensed fishers (RL licence holders aged five years and older) in 2023/24 was 61% or 31,156 fishers (95% CI 29,922 – 32,390). Participation was steady (i.e., the 95% CI overlapped between survey years) compared with phone-recall surveys conducted between 2018/19 and 2022/23.
The total fishing effort for RL recreational fishing (all species) by licensed fishers in 2023/24 was 502,836 days fished (95% CI 465,362 – 540,309), of which 77% or 386,098 days (349,488 – 422,708) was by potting and 23% or 116,738 days (100,031 – 133,445) by diving. This was steady compared with phone-recall surveys conducted between 2018/19 and 2022/23. The majority of fishing effort in 2023/24 occurred in the Metro-West Coast region (66%).
The recreational harvest of WRL by licensed fishers in 2023/24, based on an overall (i.e., combined across potting and diving) average weight of 623.9 g, was 469 t (95% CI 424 – 514), of which 76% or 358 t (317 – 400) was by potting and 24% or 111 t (89 – 133) by diving. This was steady compared with phone-recall surveys conducted between 2018/19 and 2022/23.
Recreational harvest of WRL from tour operators in 2023/24 was 20 t (based on an overall average weight of 525.4 g) and has increased annually from 9 t in 2018/19 to 17 t in 2021/22 and 2022/23. The majority of the recreational harvest in 2023/24 from tour operators was by potting (95%).
The 5-year average recreational harvest (for licensed and tour operators combined) was 504 t in 2023/24, which represents 4.7% of the AHL
The history of biological control of skeleton weed in Western Australia
No full textSkeleton weed (Chondrilla juncea L.) biocontrol agents were sent to Western Australia (WA) in the 1970s and 1980s but little monitoring occurred after release. Field surveys of agents present were conducted recently in preparation for the introduction of the skeleton weed gall midge (Cystiphora schmidti Rubsaamen) or other agents that had been released previously in WA or the eastern states of Australia. The surveys found that a rust (Puccinia chondrillina Bubak & P.Syd) was already established in some areas, and the rust was identified as matching one of the originally introduced strains. This paper investigates the history of skeleton weed biocontrol agents in WA and complements work on their current distribution and the skeleton weed biotypes on which they occur, culminating in the release of the gall midge Cystiphora schmidti to strengthen biological control of skeleton weed in Western Australia
The three-horned bedstraw (Galium tricornutum) eradication program in Western Australia
No full textThere is an increasing shift toward obtaining greater agronomic oversight through automative agricultural farming technologies that provide economic and sustainable advantages. One area of improvement lies in the temporal and spatial detection of weeds and subsequent application of site-specific herbicide technologies in cropping systems. Targeted weed technologies provide significant advantages to the cropping system. Current machine sensing technologies rely on heavy capital investment outlay which has been a barrier for adoption for many growers. Drones are also being used in this capacity; however they have limitations such as flight duration which means for large fields it lacks scalability. New satellites are being launched with increasing frequency, all with greater resolution capabilities than previously offered. This proliferation of satellites presents a new opportunity for accessing higher-resolution data, potentially reaching levels where innovative weed detection technologies can be developed. These technologies could empower growers to identify and target individual and smaller patches of weeds with precision, facilitating the 115 application of targeted herbicide spraying. One of the significant benefits of utilising satellites to provide a \u27spot spray’ application map, is the lack of capital outlay required, and the ability to integrate with current machinery capabilities and the worldwide scalability of such technology. Such targeted weed management significantly reduces operational costs but also addresses sustainability concerns by minimizing herbicide usage. Growers will have more weed management options for handling hard to control weeds, utilising more expensive herbicide options on stubborn weed populations, or using alternative weed control technology, which enhances effectiveness while mitigating the development of herbicide resistance. Ultimately, WeedSAT, a new weed detection method developed by DataFarming in partnership with GRDC and the University of Sydney, has the potential to provide significant savings for growers while integrating sustainable agricultural practices
Using artificial intelligence for skeleton weed detection from low level aerial imagery
No full textChondrilla juncea (Skeleton weed) has been under an eradication program in Western Australia since 1974. The low-density, wide-spread nature of this slender forb has presented challenges for aerial mapping in the last couple of decades. Recent advances in highresolution imagery captured by drones and small object detection by deep learning neural networks have allowed effective surveillance of this weed. High quality ground truth data was required for detection accuracy levels that match on-ground surveys. Correct identification of individual plants directly on drone imagery was difficult and there is a risk of missing plants which corrupts training dataset.
This paper presents the methods developed to: (1) gather high quality ground truth data, (2) build an initial reference dataset, (3) provide a framework for efficiently 209 collecting fine-tuned data, and (4) producing a deep learning model. Ground level imagery of nearcentimetre geolocated quadrats was captured with a smartphone in a way that facilitated geospatial alignment with drone imagery. Individual plants were annotated using QGIS (an open-source software). These were used to project bounding-box annotations onto individual training tiles taken from drone imagery. We are adapting the workflow to integrate it into the department’s GIS infrastructure to allow labelling and validation of detected plants by field officers. This ground-truth data framework with in-house management of detection models and finetuning halves the costs of processing compared to onground surveillance
Soil Quality: 8 Sodic and Alkaline Soil
No full textThe Soil Quality ebooks provide a valuable resource for farmers, agricultural professionals and students. Experts from their fields share current knowledge and best practice techniques in layers of easy-to-navigate information, allowing readers to choose the level of detail they require.
Book 8 Sodic and Alkaline Soil, explains the causes, implications and impact of sodicity and alkalinity on soil structure and stability – including transient salinity and waterlogging. Animations, illustrations and case studies help us to understand the characteristics, processes, and impact of these constraints – and provides a practical manual for landholders wanting to optimise sodic and alkaline soil to achieve integrated management solutions.https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/sq_ebooks/1007/thumbnail.jp
Integrated surveillance and monitoring program for endemic insects in canola and a native budworm moth trapping program in WA.
No full textThe collection contains the datasets on a surveillance and monitoring program for incidence and severity of endemic insects of canola (native budworm, diamondback moth, aphids and beneficial insects), and native budworm moth numbers recorded in a trapping program in the GRDC Western Region
Datasets on the endemic diseases of cereals, oilseeds and pulses and absence reports for the high priority pathgens in host crops in WA.
No full textThe collection contains the datasets on a surveillance and monitoring program for incidence and severity of endemic diseases of cereal, oilseed and pulse crops, and 5 high-priority pathogens in the GRDC Western Region