Feathertop Rhodes grass (FTR) and barley grass – two increasingly problematic weeds for Queensland and New South Wales grain growers – are being put under the research spotlight in an effort to bolster knowledge and improve on-farm management strategies.

The Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) has multiple research projects underway focused on these key weeds, in direct response to industry needs.

GRDC Crop Protection Manager – North Vicki Green said feedback from growers had indicated FTR management remained a high priority across both Queensland and NSW.

“To help growers manage FTR the GRDC has invested in ‘Facilitating adoption of integrated weed management strategies for FTR’ to further develop industry’s understanding of the ecology and management of this weed,” Mrs Green said.

“We have already conducted extensive research into FTR in northern NSW and Queensland so Mark Congreve from ICAN, will extend the results of this research to growers via five demonstration trial sites, as well as publications, media and, when COVID-19 allows, field days and workshops.

“In southern NSW, Department of Primary Industries (DPI) researcher Hanwen Wu will oversee trial work to understand FTR behaviour in this environment where the soil types, farming systems, climate and rainfall patterns differ to areas further north.

“In this area, livestock are an important part of the farming system, so trials will also look at the role of grazing in weed management. Extension activities with the grower groups, Central West Farming Systems (CWFS) and FarmLink will be an important component of this work.”

In addition to this Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) researcher Michael Widderick will update the GRDC Integrated Weed Management of  FTR manual.

Meanwhile, an ongoing barley grass project focused on ‘Demonstrating and validating the implementation of integrated weed management strategies to control barley grass in low rainfall zone farming systems’ is delivering important information back to industry.

Mrs Green said recent surveys had identified barley grass as one of the top 10 weeds in Australian cropping systems – in terms of area infested, impact on crop yield and revenue loss.

“This national project, led by Gurjeet Gill from the University of Adelaide, has local partnerships with both CWFS and Grain Orana Alliance (GOA) which will provide opportunities for NSW growers to directly influence and engage with the research,” Mrs Green said.

“In these areas with variable growing seasons, the effectiveness of pre-emergent herbicides can vary so growers are looking for management options, including herbicides, that fit in with their current farming rotations.”

She said this research, which was one year into a three-year project, would also investigate herbicide resistance and seed dormancy issues.

“The drought last year hindered some of the work focused on barley grass, but there are still valuable messages for growers and advisers coming from this early research,” Mrs Green said.

“These two projects focused on FTR and barley grass are just an example of GRDC’s ongoing investment into industry-initiated weeds research.

“Additional projects with GRDC investment are also addressing aspects of FTR and barley grass management such as crop competition and alternative control mechanisms.

“This broad reaching research is indicative of just how seriously GRDC take the need to improve industry knowledge and understanding of problem weeds.”

For more information on managing FTR the GRDC has produced a series of Know More videos and factsheets.

Useful Resources

Video Series

Factsheet

Group A Herbicides in Fallow

Podcast

Update Paper

Options for managing barley grass in crop

Contact Details

Contact

Toni Somes, GRDC
0436 622 645
Toni.somes@grdc.com.au