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Does soil moisture impact electric weed control efficiency?
No full textWidespread herbicide resistance drives industry to look for alternatives to chemical weed management, like electric weed control. Electric weed control technologies pass an electric current through the plant foliage and into the roots and soil. It has been theorised that high soil moisture may reduce electric weed control efficiency. Wet soil has lower resistance than dry soil and increased opportunity for the electric current to dissipate out of the roots (i.e., electric ‘spray drift’). However, weed emergence and growth occur most rapidly in moist soil and growers are likely to require weed control in these conditions. The current research aimed to assess weed control by the continuous electrodeplant contact method (using the Zasso™ XPower with XPU applicator) in conditions of high or low soil moisture. In 2022 there was no difference in control of annual ryegrass, wild radish, and kikuyu at 21% and 25% volumetric soil water content. In 2023, control of annual ryegrass was reduced as volumetric water content increased from 9% to 16%. This research concludes that soil moisture can impact efficiency of electric weed control and should be considered during application. In wet conditions it may be necessary to reduce application speed, increasing the ‘dose’ of electric current received by individual plants
Western Australia Pastoral Land Tenure - Goldfields - Nullarbor Region
No full textA map of the Goldfields - Nullarbor region of Western Australia showing the pastoral lease boundaries and names and their tenure. Includes an index of pastoral leases.https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/gis_maps/1018/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
Agricultural groundcover update March 2024
No full textIn March, over 10% (1,577,000 ha) of the arable farmland in the south-west of Western Australia had less than 50% vegetative groundcover, which is inadequate to prevent wind erosion. The northern grainbelt had the highest risk of wind erosion and over 20% of this farmland had inadequate groundcover. About 1.3% (191,000 ha) of arable land had a high to very high risk of wind erosion because groundcover was less than 30%
CloudS2Mask: A novel deep learning approach for improved cloud and cloud shadow masking in Sentinel-2 imagery
No full textThe Sentinel-2 satellite constellation produces high-resolution multispectral data, covering the entire Earth\u27s land surface every five days. However, the use of this data is significantly impacted by the presence of pixels affected by cloud and shadow. Precise and efficient cloud and cloud shadow masking methods are required for the automated use of this data. Here, we present CloudS2Mask, a new and open-source Python deep-learning library to detect cloud and cloud shadows in Sentinel-2 data accurately and efficiently. CloudS2Mask is trained on multiple large global datasets including CloudSEN12, KappaSet, Sentinel-2 Cloud Mask Catalogue, Sentinel-2 reference cloud masks generated by an active learning method and a custom CloudS2Mask dataset. Using techniques such as progressive resizing, hard fine-tuning, and transfer learning, CloudS2Mask outperforms published models when evaluated on both the CloudSEN12 and the PixBox datasets in terms of classification accuracy. Compared to the next best-published results, CloudS2Mask improves Balanced Overall Accuracy metrics on the CloudSEN12 dataset by 1.2% for cloud, 2.8% for cloud shadow and 1.1% for clear classification. CloudS2Mask provides a range of customisable options combined with novel pre-processing and post-processing approaches to meet task-specific needs, enabling mean scene processing speeds up to 44 times faster than current state-of-the-art methods. The application of novel techniques in CloudS2Mask, combined with its accuracy and processing speed, underscores its potential to streamline the automated cloud and cloud shadow detection of Sentinel-2 data
Soil and fertiliser management for orchards in the Manjimup district
No full textThis publication aims to give orchardists a broad understanding of the soils in the Manjimup district. It provides information on soil and fertiliser management that will assist in the sustainable production of fruit crops. This document was prepared for a Soils Course for horticulturalists, that was held in September 2023 at Manjimup Horticultural Research Centre.
The Manjimup local government area (LGA) is the most important horticultural district in Western Australia, particularly for fruit and in 2020 the total value of horticultural production was valued at 135 million and $39 million respectively (Figure 2). Figures 3 and 4 show that the Manjimup LGA is the biggest producer of avocados and apples in the state
West Coast Deep Sea Crustacean Managed Fishery
No full textWest Coast Deep Sea Crustacean Managed Fisheryhttps://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/gis_manf/1037/thumbnail.jp
Boom, shake the room: Seismic surveys affect behaviour and survival of western rock lobster
No full textSeismic studies are conducted to investigate subterranean structures for, among other things, indications of petroleum and mineral deposits. Within the marine environment, these studies use sub-surface airguns to create powerful sound waves that penetrate the substrate, with their variable reflection time and strength being used to model seabed densities, structure, and composition. There is a growing body of work examining the effects of seismic surveys on marine fauna, primarily marine mammals and to a lesser extent fishes and invertebrates. Recently published studies on the southern rock lobster have shown these intense sound waves can affect lobster physiology and short-term behaviour.
Little is known, however, on how these impacts affect their medium to longer-term survival in the wild and thus the broader stock-level implications. To investigate this, resident western rock lobster (Panulirus cygnus) within the centre of the western rock lobster fishery were subjected to a commercial application of seismic airguns. Spaghetti-tagged rock lobsters were deployed in cages along the airgun transects in ∼ 5 m (treatment) water depth, with an equal number of tagged lobsters also being deployed 10 km to the north of the seismic survey area in the same habitat and type of cages (control). Lobsters exposed to the airguns displayed short-term changes in behaviour associated with predator avoidance.
In the medium term, although based on an overall low recapture rate (∼18 %), fewer exposed lobsters were recaught by commercial fishers, with this differential recapture rate persisting over the subsequent two years. This study has shown that the seismic survey conducted in this area would have impacted the catch rates and profitability of commercial fishers operating in this region
Breakout - Discover Food Technology
No full textThe Sustainable Innovative Food Technology (SIFT) Centre at the Food Industry Precinct of Western Australia (FIPWA) is the newest gateway to innovation in Western Australia’s food production value chain. At the core of SIFT’s mission is a commitment to fostering sustainable growth and innovation within the food and beverage sector. Come along to this workshop to discover how you can use this resource for the next stage of innovation in your business.
During the session, we\u27ll also explore machinery and technology that can help business owners increase productivity, profitability, and reduce labor. SIFT ties in really well given things like shelf life extension from HPP/Retort can add to profitability, and other equipment in SIFT, such as process flow improvement and manufacturing methods, can further enhance efficiency and effectiveness. We\u27ll delve into equipment options, including what’s available and proven elsewhere, what’s emerging, and touch on the costs associated with installing the equipment and whether finance is available, etc.
Speakers Stuart Johnson, SIFT / Murdoch University, Managing Director Andrew Tilley, Murdoch University, Associate Lecturer / PhD Candidate Gavin Monery, DPIRD, Project Manager Andrea Romeo, Mondo Nougat, General Manager Felipe Barria, DPIRD, Project Office
Breakout - Practicalities of ESG – How to Prepare, Plan and Respond to the Green Economy
No full textThis workshop is designed to help businesses respond to growing demands to disclose not only emissions data, but broader ESG information.
While there is a major focus on carbon emissions and disclosure, there is increased pressure to disclose supply chain impacts on topics such as waste, water management, packaging, sourcing/procurement, employment practices, and customer/employee health and safety.
This 90-minute workshop will focus on four key areas: An overview of the ESG landscape and how it is reshaping trade lines and competition. The ESG essentials including stakeholder expectations, reporting landscape, data, strategy and communication. Case study discussion on energy transition, climate-related financial disclosures and natural capital. Peer group discussion and sharing.
Participants of the workshop will receive the Practicalities of ESG Guide which will provide steps towards planning, preparing and responding to key market drivers to help businesses remain resilient and competitive.
Speakers Karien Erasmus, RSM Australia, Associate Director, ESG & Climate Services Elizabeth Ploetz, RSM, Manage