High Rainfall Zone (HRZ) Portal
HRZ ryegrass management in southern Australia.
Development and demonstration of local strategies to enable integrated and profitable management of annual ryegrass seed banks in HRZ farming systems of Australia.
The Weed Science Research Group leads this project, collaborating with Southern Farming Systems and Mackillop Farm Management Group, funded by the Grains Research and Development Council (GRDC).
Five demonstration sites are established across southern Victoria and the south-east of South Australia.
Demonstration sites
Each site has four annual ryegrass management strategies of increasing intensity, which were developed with local agronomists. The aim is to demonstrate which provide effective and profitable ryegrass management in the Australian HRZ. Sites were sown to break crops in 2018 and contain wheat in 2019.
Locations, plot layouts, management strategies and data collected for each demonstration site will be shared within these tabs:
HRZ resources
| Title | Type | Authors |
|---|---|---|
Harvest Weed Seed Control (HWSC) for the southern HRZ |
2019 GRDC Booklet | James Manson (Southern Farming Systems) |
Setting up for chaff lining - tools and tricks |
2019 GRDC Booklet | Peter Newman |
| Multiple tactics the best way to control ryegrass in the HRZ | 2019 GRDC GroundCoverTM | Gurjeet Gill, Alistair Lawson |
| HWSC – practical implications for growers and advisers | 2019 GRDC update paper | Craig Davis |
| HWSC is less effective on annual ryegrass in the southern HRZ | 2019 GRDC update paper | James Manson (Southern Farming Systems) |
| Optimising Group A herbicides in canola | 2019 GRDC fact sheet | Mark Congreve |
| The role of pre-emergent herbicides in IWM | 2019 GRDC update paper | Chris Preston, Peter Boutsalis, Sam Kleemann, Gurjeet Gill |
| Management of hard to control weeds | 2019 GRDC update paper | Chris Preston |
| Take a tactical approach to managing herbicide resistance | 2019 GRDC GroundCoverTM | Chris Preston |
| Your guide to agricultural chemical resistance in a nutshell | 2019 GRDC GroundCoverTM | Paul Umina, Angela Van de Wouw, Ary Hoffmann, Garry McDonald |
| Managing annual ryegrass in the HRZ | 2018 GRDC update paper | Gurjeet Gill, Chris Preston, Jon Midwood |
| Behind every successful HWSC approach is crop competition | 2018 AHRI Insight #110 article and video | Kirrily Condon |
| Chaff lining…too good to be true? | 2018 AHRI Insight #104 article and video | Kirrily Condon |
| HWSC - beyond windrow burning | 2018 GRDC update paper | Greg Condon, Kirrily Condon |
| Weed warriors - latest research on problem weeds and herbicide effectiveness | 2018 GRDC update paper | Chris Preston, David Brunton, Hue Thi Dang, Peter Boutsalis, Gurjeet Gill |
| HWSC is now mainstream | 2017 AHRI article | AHRI |
| HWSC tools - they all work. Link to podcast about this work, at the end of article. |
2017 AHRI article | AHRI |
| Title | Type | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| Filling the yield gap - Optimising yield and economic potential of high input cropping systems in the HRZ | 2018 GRDC update paper | Malcolm McCaskill, Kerry Stott, Brendan Christy, Penny Riffkin, Rob Norton, Amanda Pearce, Elly Polonowita, Frank Henry, Debra Partington |
| Lifting barley productivity in HRZ | 2018 GRDC update paper | Kenton Porker, Courtney Peirce. |
| Critical agronomy for optimal canola growth – breaking the top end on yield | 2018 GRDC update paper | Andrew Ware |
| Characteristics and habits of Top 20% farm business operators. Vic HRZ farm business performance |
2018 GRDC Update Paper | Paul Blackshaw |
| Economic role of export hay within farming systems | 2018 GRDC Update Paper | Mike Krause |
| Title | Type | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| Better pastures, better crops | 2018 GRDC update paper | Cam Nicholson |
| Behind every successful HWSC approach is crop competition | 2018 AHRI Insight #110 article and video | Kirrily Condon |
| Title | Type | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| Viruses in spring-sown dual-purpose canola in the HRZ of southern Victoria | 2018 GRDC update paper | Frank Henry, Mohammad Aftab |
Project catalyst
Widespread resistance to post-emergent herbicides used in cereals means there is strong reliance on pre-emergent herbicides for annual ryegrass control. Annual ryegrass seed banks in the HRZ tend to be high and there is late emergence of weeds due to the long and cool growing season. These late emerging plants contribute to high seed set that maintains populations. As a result, annual ryegrass populations quickly rebound when management pressure is reduced.
Late maturity of cereals means that 50% or more of the ryegrass seed can be shed prior to harvest, reducing the efficacy of harvest weed seed controls. On the positive side, moderate populations of annual ryegrass (<100 plants per m2) have less impact on yield than they do in other regions.
Key contact
If you wish to contribute to this resource, make a suggestion or request further information, please contact Dr Fleur Dolman.