Closed
NGN – Demonstrations of residual summer weed control for the Mid North, South Australia
Tender ID: 562641
Tender Details
Organisation:
Tender #:
PROC-9177085
Status:
Closed
Publish Date:
26 July 2024
Closing Date:
23 August 2024
Tender Description
NGN forums in the Mid and Upper North highlighted summer weed control costs as an important area of concern. Summer weed control can be costly, with some growers reporting three to four passes in order to conserve moisture and nutrients for the following season. This investment will assist growers in making informed summer weed management decisions around the utilisation of knockdown and residual herbicides in summer fallow situations and how they stack up against regional practice. The investment will also link into other investments to leverage their impact and ensure that growers are aware of best practice summer spray management and limit off-target damage to other crop types in the region, namely horticulture.
GRDC is seeking a service provider to address summer weed control through delivery of two herbicide demonstrations conducted in small plot trials to compare the efficacy and longevity of control of summer weeds. These demonstrations will build on the information delivered through the current investment with Hart Field Site, HFS2306-002SAX: NGN - Spray workshops to optimise application and reduce drift in the Mid-North of SA, and include discussions around application equipment, set-up and weather conditions (e.g. droplet size, inversions and new sprayer technology including ‘green on green’).
This investment will assist in more effective and efficient use of herbicide products and will allow growers to potentially reduce herbicide costs and the number of boomspray passes in a given season, while also increasing benefits of retained soil moisture and nitrogen for following crops.
Outcome: By March 2026, 60 growers and advisers in the Mid and Upper North regions of South Australia will have enhanced knowledge of knockdown and residual herbicides for summer weed control, best practice chemical applications over summer, and their benefits within farming systems with winter dominant rainfall.
Output 1.
Title: Delivery and analysis of summer weed control demonstrations,
Description: In summer of 2024/25, deliver a report detailing findings from two trial sites, one in the mid north region and one in the upper north region of South Australia, demonstrating a variety of summer weed control herbicides and mixes, including common farmer practice and novel strategies often seen in the northern cropping zone for managing fallow.
Details:
- The demonstration sites and target weeds to be determined through coordination and involvement of local agronomists and growers. Sites are to be chosen with known background populations of key summer weed species of importance to the region.
- Should the spring/summer be dry and unconducive to weed germination irrigation will be considered.
- The effectiveness of knockdown and residual herbicides when applied in summer will be validated and compared. The herbicide treatment list is to be developed in coordination with the GRDC Investment Manager and limited to registered products.
- Treatment impacts on the following winter crop will be quantified. Trials will be sown to a winter crop to monitor the safety of the chemistries used in the treatments and grain yield impacts. Data will be collected for all treatments, while extension activities will ONLY include those treatments where all label requirements relating to plant backs has been met. Crop safety data collected may include:
o Crop vigour
o Bleaching/damage
o Herbicide residue level testing through NSW DPIRD
o Establishment counts
o Final grain yield
- Final reports will include an economic analysis to understand return on investment of each herbicide application.
- Trial details and results will be uploaded to the GRDC Online Farm Trials website.
Output 2.
Title: Extension and communication activities
Description: By February 2026, delivery of extension and communication activities targeted at growers and advisers to increase understanding of summer fallow weed control.
Details:
- A summer spray event (field day/workshop) will be delivered at each of the trial sites, covering the following:
o Existing resources and discussion points from HFS2306-002SAX (NGN - Spray workshops to optimise application and reduce drift in the Mid-North and Upper North of SA), specifically efficient and effective spray applications, including droplet size, inversions and new sprayer technology.
o Utilise and demonstrate the summer Weed tool developed by CSIRO (CSP2201-005RTX).
- Utilising the validated results from Output 1, written and technical content will be developed into a Factsheet, or Case Study, targeted at growers and advisers. This will include the details of the most effective herbicides for controlling summer fallow weeds and a financial comparison with other control tactics to inform grower decision making. The publication will be formatted, published and promoted through GRDC, WeedSmart and other communication channels
- Key results and conclusions will be publicised through local grower groups, and other GRDC media channels.
Minimum Form and Content Requirements
The following are the mandatory content and format requirements that the Tenderer must complete and provide to participate in this procurement process:
1 Submit Tenders using the Grains Investment Portal.
2 Write Tenders in English and express any measurements in Australian legal units of measurement.
3 Budget details must be submitted on the ‘GRDC Budget Template’ provided in the Grains Investment Portal.
Location
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