GOOD A Good Weed #79 Spring 2017 A WEED Newsletter of the Weed Society of New South Wales Inc. ISSN 1325-3689 Spring 2017 Issue #79 Sonchus oleraceus (common sowthistle), a weed similar to fleabane, affecting most situations, glyphosate resistant and spread easily by wind-blown seeds Image: Andrew Storrie Featured stories in this edition Fleabane - coming at you from all angles NSW weeds conference last minute promo Biocontrol of boxing glove cactus Reminder for our next AGM at Grafton Page 1 A Good Weed #79 Spring 2017 In this issue Front cover 1 Contact Details Index and contacts details 2 Message from the President Postal Address: PO Box 8040 by Kim Hignell 3 Kooringal NSW 2650 NSW Weeds Conference news Secretary: [email protected] by Wayne Deer 4 Treasurer: [email protected] Fleabane — special feature Editor: [email protected] by Tony Cook 5 Website: www.nswweedsoc.org.au Bio-control boxing glove cactus Office Bearers for 2017 by Andrew McConnachie 11 Macspred — latest news President by Mark Francis 12 Kim Hignell (Lake Macquarie) Next Weeds Society AGM Vice President by Reece Luxton 13 Birgitte Verbeek (Tamworth) Plant Sure - nursey scheme Secretary by Des Boorman 14 Stephen Johnson (Orange) Chemcert 10 point herbiucide flow chart by Jonno Pearson 16 Treasurer and Public Officer Compound Sowing Technique Immediate Past President Rex Stanton (Wagga Wagga) by Hanwen Wu 18 DNA study on Panicum spp. Newsletter Editor by Yuchi Chen and Xiaochengg Zhu 20 Tony Cook (Tamworth) New member Assistant Newsletter Editor by James Mwendwa 22 Hanwen Wu (Wagga Wagga) Special feature for next issue Other Committee Members by Tony Cook 23 John Cameron (Wahroonga) Doug Campbell (Scone) Hillary Cherry (Forestville) Lawrie Greenup (Westleigh) ‘A Good Weed’ & ‘Punnet Tray’ are produced by Maria Edmonds (Cessnock) The Weed Society of New South Wales Inc. Reece Luxton (Grafton) Material from the publications can be reproduced and circulated with the acknowledgement of the Editor’s note authors. We have intentionally skipped the winter edition The opinions expressed in both publications by of A Good Weed due to delays with the autumn contributors are not necessarily those of the edition, which subsequently delayed the winter Executive Committee of The Weed Society of New edition. This edition has more content due to the South Wales Inc. backlog of articles. Enjoy the content. Tony Cook, newsletter editor Page 2 A Good Weed #79 Spring 2017 at the DPI Research Institute followed by a tour of Message from the President the Bio-control facility with Troy Brown. I am looking forward to this trip and I hope many members will attend. Welcome to our spring edition of ‘A Good Weed’ and welcome to all our new members of the Socie- If you would like to continue receiving this wonder- ty. The benefits of your membership of the Society ful newsletter “A Good Weed” and our publication include: “Punnet Tray”, can you please ensure that all your Opportunity to network with others interested in contact details including address and email are up to weed management date, so that the Society can continue to provide this service to you. Contact the Secretary of the Society Discounted registration for Society seminars with all new details. and workshops Finally yet importantly, I would like to remind all Opportunity to apply for Society Travel Awards non-financial members for 2017 that their member- ship fees are now overdue. The Society newsletter, A Good Weed, deliv- ered quarterly Happy weeding Access to the Society electronic newsletter, the Punnet Tray Discounted registration to attend the Australa- sian Weeds Conference Kim Discounted registration to attend the NSW Biennial Weeds Conference Additional financial prizes for the winners of Welcome to our new members the Buerckner and Stephenson Local Government Awards and the NSW Weed Industry Award. Geoffrey Riley (Inverell) Dr Michael Walsh (University of Sydney) All our members are receiving a $100 discount to Zachary Growns attend this year’s NSW Weeds Conference at Emily McCarthy (Strathfield) Armidale and they can obtain a similar discount at Christopher Clausen (CMC mapping) the Australasian Weeds Conference in September Troy Brown (NSW DPI Grafton) 2018 to be held at the Novotel, Manly. Anthony Schofield (Greater Sydney LLS) Wendy Bushell (Midcoast council) The NSW Weeds Conference with the theme Aaron Preston (Wagga Wagga) James Mwendwa (Wagga Wagga) “Experience the Highs – working smarter together” Kate Boyd (Uralla) is looking to be a great event. Come and see the Weed Society team at our stand to collect your free There has been a large influx of other new copy of the Weed Society publication called ‘50th members and they will be mentioned in the Jubilee: A history of the Weed Society of NSW next edition of A Good Weed. Thank you 1966 – 2016’ edited by Rex Stanton. It’s a great for joining. read. Enjoy the excellent services that the NSW Our AGM and Annual Dinner is to be held at Weed Society provides. Hope we meet you at the NSW Weeds Conference at Armidale. Grafton this year and we will be having the meeting Page 3 A Good Weed #79 Spring 2017 tacular field trips, impressive trade displays, confer- NSW Weeds Conference - news ence dinner as well as importantly discussing prob- lems and issues of mutual interest. The theme of the conference, “Experience the New England Weeds Authority to highs – working smarter together” looks to build on the successes of the past whilst looking to the th host 19 NSW State Weeds Con- future as the industry transitions into a new era in ference in Armidale from 16 - 19 weed management and control under the new Biose- October 2017 curity legislation, an approach that must be based on regional cooperation as well as providing a common New England Weeds Authority in conjunction with focus for the actions of the various land managers the Weeds Society of NSW and the NSW Depart- across all tenures. With this in mind session themes ment of Primary Industries will host the 19th NSW have been based on Biosecurity in Action; Technol- Weeds Conference at the University of New Eng- ogy & Innovation; Community, Extension & Social land, Armidale from 16 -19 October 2017. Marketing; Collaboration & Case Studies with a special feature being the Open Debate titled, “A The Chairman of New England Weeds Authority, landholder biosecurity duty is the best approach to Councillor Mark Dusting said “we are delighted to managing established weeds”. be hosting such a prestigious conference that will bring together delegates from not only across the The Conference opening will include local dignitar- State but from interstate as well. With the recent ies along with Mr Scott Hanson, Director General, introduction of the new Biosecurity Act 2015, and NSW Department of Primary Industries, with the the fact that the financial impact of weeds on agri- key note address by Prof David Lamb, McClymont culture alone costs approximately $2.5 billion a Distinguished Professor (Research), Precision Agri- year in lost production and an estimated further culture Research Group, University of New England $1.8 billion annually in control activities, there has who will be speaking on “Connecting to our farm- never been a more important time to come together to meet the many and varied challenges faced by weed professionals and the industry in general. He added, Conference will be a unique opportunity for the State’s weeds professionals and related industry representatives, researchers, market and industry analysts, government officials and policy makers to showcase their work, network ideas and share in a vision for the future of the weeds industry”. The Conference Organising Committee have been working hard over the last few months to ensure that delegates will not only have an enjoyable stay in Armidale and the New England region but they will also be challenged, captivated and inspired by the renowned speakers at the Conference, the spec- Page 4 A Good Weed #79 Spring 2017 Fleabane: coming at you from all angles Fleabane is a weed that should get the attention of all people. Every state and territory has this weed and this weed should deserve the title as the most ubiquitous species in Australia. There are many other species that could claim to have infestations in all states and territories of Australia, but it is the A common site: Fleabane showing the attributes diverse situations that this weed favours, making it of a good colonising plant (Image: Andrew Storrie) the standout characteristic of this weed. There are many situations that fleabane can survive Chronology of Fleabane dominance and thrive. The following list is by no means the complete list of preferred fleabane environments: About 30 years ago flax-leaf fleabane (Conyza Irrigation areas bonarensis) was barely on anyone’s radar. Back in Fallow paddocks the 80’s there were a few registered label use claims Fence lines on herbicide products for its control. No-tillage Around building / structures farming practices were commonplace in cropping Within crops, especially non-competitive crops districts and glyphosate seemed to be working well. Under various horticultural vines/trees Step by step this weed has developed in several Road sides ways to become one of the most problematic weeds Weed of establishing forestry plantations in Australia. Summer crops such cotton and sorghum Chronology of how fleabane has got the upper Neglected areas hand Horticulture and viticulture Weed of poorly competitive pastures Pre 1980’s: Fleabane was a minor weed and control Residential areas was mainly achieved by selective herbicides and regular cultivation All soil types, but prefers the lighter sandy loams 1980’s: No-tillage farming practices allowed Almost all moisture levels – drought tolerant to surface germinating fleabane seeds to emerge fully saturated soil however glyphosate and selective herbicides were working well It shouldn’t take long to walk outside along and find 1990’s: The regular use of glyphosate meant that a fleabane plant growing in the cracks of the con- fleabane populations were starting to show signs of crete.