• Large-scale disease surveillance puts industry on the front foot
• Spring may bring foot problems in sheep
• The Fast Break seasonal climate update
• Understanding the cause and effect of herbicide carryover on pulses
• Support for small-scale pig and poultry producers
• Finding Australia's next generation of lamb leaders
• Do your pulse crops look sick? Send in a sample
• What's on

Agriculture Victoria scientists have completed a large-scale disease management project that will significantly improve the productivity and biosecurity of Australia’s grains industry.

The six-year research project, which involved disease surveillance of more than 800 crops, 83 field experiments and 700 extension activities to growers and agronomists nationwide, found that unmanaged diseases resulted in yield losses of at least 25 per cent - a great cost to the Australian grains industry.

Project leader and Agriculture Victoria Research Scientist Dr Grant Hollaway, said the breadth of research has provided the Australian grains industry with the skills, knowledge and tools to significantly reduce crop losses caused by disease.

“This research gives industry the tools to cost-effectively manage diseases and prevent crop losses,” Dr Hollaway said.

“Diseases are a constant and changing threat and there is an ongoing need to protect the grains industry from diseases as they evolve.

“In the absence of good disease management, we cannot grow crops to their full potential.”

Diseases affect grain yield and quality, increase production costs, limit rotation options and contribute to production uncertainty.

The research identified new diseases, the dominant diseases and diseases of increasing importance. It also provided new information on the best fungicide application timings and developed field-relevant disease ratings for high-priority diseases.

An example of this is the development of the septoria nursery at Agriculture Victoria’s Hamilton research centre in response to the re-emergence of the wheat fungal disease, Septoria tritici blotch, as a high-priority disease in Victoria.

“We recognised and created a service that is clearly needed by industry and it will continue to support breeding and pre-breeders with their breeding effort,” Dr Hollaway said.

“Last year the nursery transitioned to a fee-for-service model for industry and we screened more than 5000 wheat lines for septoria in one year alone.”

A large part of the six-year research was communicating surveillance and research outcomes to industry to help prevent and minimise crop losses as new issues arose.

The 2016 cropping season, which was marked by consistent wet conditions, put Victoria’s field crops under immense disease pressure.

In response to this threat, Agriculture Victoria scientists and communication experts worked with the Grains Research and Development Corporation to deliver timely and effective disease management recommendations to industry through 50 extension activities.

“This demonstrated our capacity to respond to issues as they happened, allowing growers and agronomists to act swiftly on disease management and minimise crop losses,” Dr Hollaway said.

“It is how we translate our research to value on-farm at times when farmers need it most.”

This project is part of the Victorian Grains Innovation Partnership between the Victorian Government and the Grains Research and Development Corporation, which aims to increase the profitability of southern grain growers through world-class research.

A common animal health issue in spring may include foot problems in sheep.

Even during dry conditions, in spring conditions footrot can still be an issue, therefore the question often is ‘is it a foot abscess or footrot?’.

In a spring with enough feed, sheep become unusually heavy and this coupled with standing on moist pasture or muddy ground for an extended period leaves them susceptible to developing foot abscess.

A sheep with foot abscess will usually be very lame in just one foot. This is an important difference from footrot where more than one foot will invariably be affected.

Although foot abscess is associated with the bacterium Fusobacterium necrophorum it is not contagious.

The foot of a sheep with foot abscess will appear hot, swollen and painful. The abscess can be present in either the toe or the heel of the foot.

A foot abscess contains pus and can be treated by hoof paring to provide drainage for the pus. Antibiotics prescribed by your veterinarian will also help.

The severity of the effects of footrot, which are inflammation between the toes and underrunning of the hoof, will depend upon whether the strain of bacteria is benign (mild) or virulent (severe).

Footrot, caused by the bacterium Dichelobacter nodosus, spreads readily in warm, moist conditions.

Virulent footrot can be eradicated, but a long, hot, dry summer is needed. During spring footrot can be controlled through foot bathing.

For further advice please contact your local veterinarian or Agriculture Victoria veterinary or animal health officer.

The latest edition of the Fast Break is out now.

All models surveyed predict the IOD to continue into December which would be very late historically for an IOD breakdown (in the last 10 years most died in late October). This points towards a late start to the northern wet season as this is the trigger to the IOD’s demise.

Find out more by subscribing to The Fast Break newsletters here.

It is not uncommon for grain growers to experience negative effects in their pulse crops resulting from carryover of clopyralid or picloram-based herbicides that were applied in previous seasons.

To help growers better understand the issues involved, the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) has produced a fact sheet ‘Rotational constraints for pulse crops following the use of aminopyralid, clopyralid and picloram herbicides’.

Mark Congreve, senior consultant with Independent Consultants Australia Network (ICAN) and fact sheet author, said damage to subsequent pulse crops can result from three situations.

“Firstly, herbicide close to the soil surface may not have fully degraded before planting of the pulse crop the following winter,” he said.

“These herbicides are broken down in the soil by soil microbes.

"Soil microbes benefit from warm and moist soil conditions to build their population. Little degradation occurs during winter as it is often too cold for microbial activity."

Mr Congreve said that when the following spring/summer is dry, there may be insufficient microbial degradation occurring before planting the following season.

"In this case, herbicide residues may persist at levels sufficient to cause crop damage at establishment, or growth of the following pulse crop may be compromised.”

Secondly, Mr Congreve said these herbicides are also relatively mobile in the soil, so some of the applied herbicide may also move deeper in the profile following rainfall after application.

“The amount moving deeper in the profile will depend on soil type and rainfall,” he said.

“Microbial activity deeper in the profile is significantly less than near the soil surface, so herbicide moving deeper in the profile will take longer to break down.

“Where there are subsoil constraints, such as hard pans or significant change in soil texture/structure, herbicide may concentrate at or above these barriers and be particularly problematic.

"In this situation, the pulse crop may establish, provided the residues at the surface have degraded, but symptoms may not be seen until later in the crop when roots reach this herbicide at depth.”

Mr Congreve said the third situation in which damage of subsequent pulse crops may also arise is when herbicide applied post-emergent to a preceding cereal crop, has not been fully metabolised by the cereal crop before harvest.

“In this case, there can be herbicide remaining in the dead cereal stubble following harvest," he said.

“Herbicide trapped in crop stubble is then ‘released’ back into the soil as the cereal stubble is placed into contact with the soil and starts to decompose.

“The concentration of herbicide in the stubble depends on the application rate and, importantly, when it was applied to the cereal crop.

“Typically, applications made later in the season are more likely to result in higher levels of herbicide in the cereal stubble than applications made earlier in the year.

“Early season applications will have less interception by the crop, more direct application to the soil, and longer for degradation to occur before the crop matures. Availability of herbicide from the crop stubble, and therefore when symptoms appear, depends on when the stubble decomposes.”

Mr Congreve suggested harvest is particularly timely for considering the possibility of herbicide residues in stubble.

“Many clopyralid herbicide labels recommend burning or mechanically incorporating cereal stubble from sprayed crops immediately after harvest. This is to put stubble into contact with the soil and allow time for the stubble to decompose, however, this is rarely done in no-till farming systems.”

Care needs to be taken where harvest weed seed control (HWSC) techniques that concentrate the stubble or chaff are employed, according to Mr Congreve.

“This last winter we saw a few examples of herbicide damage in pulses that was only present in old chaff lines, resulting from cereal crops that were treated with clopyralid, in some cases from over two years earlier.

“Where there is concern that residues of these herbicides may be still present in the soil or stubble, the best solution is to plant a cereal crop or canola, until growers are confident that any herbicide residues have dissipated.

“Always read and follow directions of the registered label of the product you have used. Product labels are a good source of information, as are manufacturer representatives.”   

Mr Congreve said the GRDC publication ‘Rotational crop constraints for herbicides used in Australian farming systems’ is also a useful reference to further understand herbicide carryover constraints for many herbicides. This can be downloaded from the GRDC at https://grdc.com.au/rotational-crop-constraints-for-herbicides.

More information on herbicide behaviour is available at the GRDC webpage, http://bit.ly/2peRWCp.

Agriculture Victoria is hosting a series of free workshops and webinars to help new and existing small-scale pig and poultry producers prepare a land use planning permit application.

Attending participants will be eligible for the supporting grants program offering up to $3,000 for expenses related to on-farm works, consultancy, or training that supports the preparation of a land use planning permit application.

These workshops/webinars will provide information and advice on:

• Planning requirements
• Property development, locality and nutrition management plans
• Identification of site improvements needed to support planning permit applications.

This month we are hosting workshops at Lismore (7 November), Benalla (12 November) and Broadford (19 November) as well as two online webinars 21 and 28 November.

The online webinars will run from 12.30 pm to 2.30 pm and you must attend both webinars to qualify for the supporting grants program. 

If these locations/times do not suit your needs, be sure to register an expression of interest.

Applications will remain open until 31 May 2020, or when the funding allocation is expended, whichever occurs first.

Register for a workshop or webinar, or lodge an expression of interest, via Eventbrite at: https://agvic-pig-poultry.eventbrite.com.au. 

For information phone 13 61 86 or email psai@ecodev.vic.gov.au.

Are you, or do you know someone, aged 18 –35 years who is passionate about the Australian sheep and lamb industry?

Well, we'd like to let them know that the LambEx 2020 Young Guns competition is open!

Six finalists will be selected from round one of the LambEx 2020 Young Guns competition to attend the conference in Melbourne, receive travel assistance up to $800, and will be provided with professional development opportunities during the event.

Entering the competition is easy! LambEx wants to hear your vision on how to connect the Australian sheep and lamb industry with city consumers.

Simply capture your vision in three minutes or less using any digital medium(s) including (but not limited to) video, photography with voice overlay, digital storytelling, graphics, animation, GoPro etc.

Unleash your creativity over the coming months to prepare and submit your entry by 31 January 2020.

For information go to: https://lambex.com.au/lambex-young-guns/

Agriculture Victoria researcher Dr Josh Fanning is calling on growers and agronomists to send in pulse and oilseed samples from crops where disease is suspected.

New disease sampling kits have been developed making the collection of plant samples easier. The disease samples will help to ensure researchers are using current samples that are regionally relevant.

Dr Fanning said since diseases change from one season to the next it is important that research and breeding programs have access to the latest samples.

"The information generated from these samples ensures growers have access to current information on the resistance of each variety and researchers can continue to improve disease resistance in new pulse varieties," he said.

"We have recently received a few reports of sclorotinia in lentil and chickpea crops and samples would be appreciated."

Crop samples with suspected soil-borne diseases are also sought as part of the National Soil-borne Disease project being run by Agriculture Victoria in partnership with the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC).

Growers and agronomists are being asked to report crops exhibiting poor thrift so that they can be tested for root disease.

Dr Fanning said some of the soil-borne diseases the project was targeting included rhizoctonia and root lesion nematodes.

“In general, we don’t know which soil-borne diseases are causing losses in pulses and oilseeds,” he said.

"The results of the disease testing would enable researchers to undertake research into management strategies for the priority diseases.

“Growers and agronomists are being urged to get in touch if they suspect root disease or have seen it previously in particular areas.”

“We have sampling kits that we will send to agronomists which include instructions on how to collect the samples and a replied paid envelope. If growers don’t have an agronomist, they can contact us, and we can collect the sample with them.”

If you are able to help, please contact Joshua Fanning at Agriculture Victoria on (03) 4344 3335 or joshua.fanning@agriculture.vic.gov.au to request a sampling kit.

On Tuesday 12 November, the Victoria Gorse Taskforce (VGT) is holding its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at 1.30 pm at State Government Office in Ballarat.

The VGT will conduct a short presentation outlining major activities and achievements that have occurred over the last 12 months and announce their 2019/20 grant recipients.

The VGT are also currently accepting nominations for committee positions in 2019/20, at which all current committee positions will be vacated and a new committee will be formed.

The VGT are looking for highly motivated individuals, that have a passion for weed control and want to take positive actions to help local community groups implement integrated Gorse control programs across Victoria.

As a member of the state-wide committee you will have a shared responsibility to oversee the coordination and implementation of the Victorian Gorse Control Strategy 2014-2019 (VGCS).

Nominations for the 2019/20 VGT committee will be accepted up until Friday, 1 November 2019.

If you or your organisation are interested in attending, please RSVP to Executive Officer, Nicole Garfi on 0417 593 250 or by email to info@vicgorsetaskforce.com.au by Friday 1 November 2019.

For more information visit the VGT website and view the Victorian Gorse Control Strategy.

Agriculture Victoria is delivering a two-part webinar for producers using the National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) database.

Participants will learn how to complete a Property-to-Property (P2P) transfer and use the database features.

Topics include:

• Setting up, navigating and using the NLIS database
• Completing Property-to-Property (P2P) transfers on the NLIS database.

Book your free tickets online at Eventbrite then select ‘NLIS Database Practical Workshop – Webinar’

For more information, or if you have trouble registering, please call (03) 5761 1647.

Numbers are limited to allow for an interactive session, so be quick to secure a spot!

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