New summer weed control app helps growers understand costs.

A new decision-support tool developed to help Australian grain growers weigh up the financial pros and cons of summer weed control has been launched.

A $310,835 investment initiative of GRDC in partnership with Australia’s national science agency CSIRO, the summer weeds decision support tool was officially launched at the 23rd Australasian Weeds Conference in Brisbane.

This innovative app has been designed for use by growers ‘in paddocks’ across Australia’s broadacre cropping regions.

The tool allows growers to enter soil type, soil water, grain price, fertiliser costs, weed control costs and the density of weeds to generate information on yield benefit and return on investment scenarios, when comparing immediate versus delayed weed control.

GRDC Weeds Manager, Sarah Morran said summer weeds cost growers in southern and western regions of Australia more than $350 million in lost yield annually.

“Summer fallow weed control has been identified as a major issue for the grains industry, which is why GRDC invested in a decision support tool to help growers determine the cost benefits of different weed management approaches,” Sarah said.

“We know from extensive research that there is clear evidence effective summer weed management can improve productivity and profitability.”

Sarah said in Australia’s southern and western cropping regions yield losses from summer weeds were estimated at around $23 per hectare and $13 per hectare respectively.

“In comparison, summer weed control can range from between $14 per hectare and $19 per hectare, so it is a critical consideration for growers in terms of assessing what is right economically for their farming situation,” she said.

“We know the returns from summer weed control can be highly variable due to seasonal variability, weed type and the following winter growing season.

“This new weed decision support tool aims to give growers and their advisers, a better understanding of the economics, so they have the confidence to adopt and implement effective weed control strategies.”

CSIRO Principal Research Scientist Everard Edwards, who undertook the research to gather data to support the new tool, said it was particularly relevant to western and southern states, as well as dryland cropping systems in southern New South Wales.

“In our validation trials in Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales and north-west Victoria, we found that the yield penalty for not controlling summer weeds in a timely manner could vary greatly – anywhere from less than 100 kg per hectare, up to 640 kg per hectare,” Everard said.

“By combining important factors such as soil type, soil water, wheat price, weed control cost, fertiliser price and weed load, the app can generate figures on the expected increase in yield potential due to water, the probability of gaining at least 0.2 tonnes per hectare in yield and the expected nitrogen benefit.

“In addition, it provides figures on the probability of at least 10 kg hectare nitrogen benefit, the probability of gaining at least $20 per hectare due to extra water and nitrogen availability and the overall potential return on investment.”

Everard said a key feature of the app was its ability to work offline, and importantly, in the paddock.

“Critically for growers, this app uses an internal database to generate the figures, so mobile signal or internet connection aren’t required for it to work effectively,” he said.

“It is a genuine in-paddock decision support tool that growers can use to help understand differences between yields and seasonal probabilities.”

The summer weeds decision support tool can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play.

PHOTO: GRDC Senior Manager Crop Protection, Emma Colson with CSIRO Principal research scientist, Everard Edwards launching the new summer weeds decision support tool at the 23rd Australasian Weeds Conference in Brisbane