Harvest is finished, holidays are over, and children are back at school. Now is the time when farmers usually take stock and plan ahead for the coming season. In the case of mixed farming, cropping and livestock operations, many farmers will be deciding how much crop will be cut back this year, due to high input costs and weed resistance.
Milne sales manager, Paul Nenke, shares his experience on a great strategy for dealing with weeds – the best weed seeker:
A friend of mine, who’d been farming for many years, said he had the best technology to deal with weed resistance and it made him money at the same time. Naturally, my ears pricked up and I wanted to know what this amazing technology was. Something that could deal with herbicide resistant weeds and make money as the same time sounded good to me. My friend said, with a big smile across his face, ”It’s sheep, of course!’. He always claimed his sheep are the best weed seekers ever invented. Simply take the paddock out of crop for a year or two and have the sheep work for you - eating weeds and adding manure to the paddock.
Utilising grazing for weed control is a strategy also mentioned by DIPRD in their weed management at harvest article, which suggests:
“In crop-based rotations, a 2-3 year pasture phase may significantly reduce weed seed banks to manageable levels before returning to a cropping phase. Pasture weed management requires maintaining desirable legume and grass species while keeping weed numbers under control.” (DIPRD, 2021)
With the price of inputs going up, and weeds showing just how tough they can be, that farmer has a very good point. If we look at the Grains Research & Development Corporation (GRDC) 2018 cost analysis of the total dollar impact of weeds on cropping output, and the cost of keeping them under control, the average farmer is spending $146 a hectare.
It is no secret that in-crop weeds have become a big issue and, for farmers managing ‘dirty’ paddocks, it has become more of a challenge than ever before. Therefore, employing a wider variety of weed management strategies is now becoming essential. The more tools you use to reduce weed issues the better off you are.
There is an old saying ‘if you find a good product, stick to it’ but in modern farming it is better to rotate the products and fight the weeds on multiple levels. This starts with harvest and continues for the whole year. As we all know, annual ryegrass has developed resistance to many of the herbicides that we now use. Rotational grazing with livestock is a tool that provides another option to combat weeds, and to help with herbicide resistance .
There have been thoughts and discussions in recent weeks, with several farmers indicating they are cutting back their cropping programs for 2023, due to the high costs. A local farm advisor surmised that the average cost of cropping this season is going to be in the vicinity of $450-600 per hectare. Input costs at that level make it very hard to finish with a profit if we have a poor-to-average production year.
Sheep and livestock are looking like an appealing option in 2023. Not only can a sheep enterprise add an additional source of revenue, but it can also assist with weed control and help prepare the paddocks for future cropping seasons.
Sources:
https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/grains-research-development/annual-ryegrass
https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/grains-research-development/crop-weeds-weed-management-harvest?nopaging=1#:~:text=Grazing%20%E2%80%93%20actively%20managing%20weeds%20in,keeping%20weed%20numbers%20under%20control.
Grain Research & Development Corporation https://grdc.com.au//__data/assets/pdf_file/0027/75843/grdc_weeds_review_r8.pdf.pdf
