Crop Protection

Vol 46 - No 2 15/4/2025

Integrated management of glyphosate-resistant weeds in cotton

Glyphosate resistant grass populations won’t stop showing up in Australian cotton, and no new herbicide silver bullet is on its way to save us. Fortunately, the industry has become very good at adapting existing modes of action for new use patterns, and developing integrated strategies to make the most of available tools.

Vol 46 - No 2 15/4/2025

Thryvon trait to manage thrips

How does double fruit retention and less insecticide applied sound? Pretty good!

Vol 46 - No 2 15/4/2025

SwarmFarm automated refilling unlocks high-volume spray applications

It’s been over a decade since Gindie farmers Andrew and Jocie Bate began building small, lightweight bots to work in swarms to push back on the ‘get big or get out’ answer to increasing machinery productivity.

Vol 46 - No 2 15/4/2025

A proposed new cotton Herbicide Resistance Management Strategy

A new Herbicide Resistance Management Strategy (HRMS) is coming to Australian cotton growers. The new strategy continues the key messages of zero tolerance for survivors of herbicide sprays, and the need for diversity in weed management. But it takes a broader view of the importance of herbicide susceptibility, beyond thinking just about glyphosate. The new HRMS will call for growers to utilise three herbicide modes of action in crop, and three different modes of action in fallows, aiming for six different modes of action every two years. The advice to aim for zero herbicide survivors remains absolutely paramount.

Vol 46 - No 2 15/4/2025

Autonomous weed-targeting: AI drones a sky-high success

A cost-saving, environment-protecting smart system to target weeds in crops has proved effective in trials at a Central Queensland farm.

Vol 46 - No 2 15/4/2025

Strategic cover cropping to control cotton root disease

Growing alternate crops is a long-term campaign that provides an effective defence strategy for the sustainable management of root diseases in cotton. Cover cropping (or nurse cropping) is simply growing those alternate crops, individually or as mixed species, but not taking them to harvest.

Vol 46 - No 2 15/4/2025

Practical AI on farms

The combination of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and data is opening the door to a new wave of decision-making tools for farmers.

Vol 46 - No 2 15/4/2025

Are hitchhiker pests an increasing threat to Australian biosecurity?

Have you ever considered how exotic pests make their way into Australia? One major pathway is through ‘hitch hiking’. Hitchhiker pests are a unique category of exotic pests that do not rely on natural pathways such as wind; and instead, pests are moved accidentally through global trade and transport systems. Some pests such as stinkbugs have an ability to survive hidden in crevices of shipping containers and imported goods such as vehicles, boats and caravans.

Vol 46 - No 1 11/2/2025

Urea back to affordable levels

At EP3, our analysts have long been discussing the importance of transparency in the fertiliser market in Australia, even before we set up this business. Shortly after setting up EP3 (at the time TEM) in 2020, we launched the first publicly available cost and freight model for urea in Australia.

Vol 46 - No 1 11/2/2025

Increasing insecticide resistance in northern populations of cluster caterpillar

The cluster caterpillar Spodoptera litura is very abundant throughout the year in Australia’s tropical north, and cotton is a host. While it is most common in tropical regions, it is occasionally found in sub-tropical regions, such as Central Queensland. Although S. litura primarily feeds on the leaves of cotton plants, larvae can also attack fruiting structures.

Vol 46 - No 1 11/2/2025

Fine tuning fertiliser application

The geographical spread of the McVeigh Partnership’s 8000 hectare of farmland, spanning six main properties and some smaller farms within 45 km of Dalby, means overlapping deadlines for planting and harvesting make streamlined machine management critical.

Vol 46 - No 1 11/2/2025

Ask an Expert - Reinventing the pre-seeding double-knock tactic

The double-knockdown tactic is a key component of the WeedSmart Big 6 strategy, which aims to keep weed numbers low, preserve herbicide efficacy and give competitive crops a head start.