Agriculture Victoria will hold a field day on Friday 29 April at the new Gippsland Weed Warriors Producer Demonstration Site to discuss strategies for dealing with weeds and managing pastures after fire.
The Weed Warrior Producer Demonstration Site at Ensay is one of four sites on host farms in the Upper Murray and Gippsland as part of a producer demonstration project funded until December 2025. The second site in Gippsland is at Clifton Creek and is focusing on Chilean needle grass control in an existing pasture.
Agriculture Victoria Livestock Industry Development Officer Janice Dowe said the Ensay site is focussed on dealing with weed issues post-fire, in particular annual grass weeds such as Silver Grass and developing strategies to lift the productivity of pastures.
"Each site has a different weed of interest – a woody or pasture weed – and the host farm is the focal point for group discussions on the demonstration site, with regular updates to be provided through field days and media.
"As part of the project, a weed management plan will be developed at that site between the farmer, agronomist and discussion group members," Ms Dowe said. "Each host farm will implement their 'usual weed control' practice, with the project funding an enhanced weed control strategy as a comparison."
The aim of the project is to demonstrate to what extent improved weed control and follow-up management improves both persistence and productivity of newly sown or degraded permanent pastures in fire affected areas.
Ms Dowe said the upcoming field day will focus on weed control after fires, how to select pasture species for your property and how to accurately calibrate your spray unit.
"These steps will set farmers up for successful pasture management. This is especially important this year, with a summer that has seen ideal growing conditions and the proliferation of weeds."
Presenters at the field day are Janice Dowe, Nicole Frost (Agronomist, S&W Seed Co) and Neil Stringer (farmer and chemical certification trainer). Topics to be discussed include:
- Pastures: perennials vs annuals
- Grass and legume options
- How to accurately check and calibrate a spray unit – nozzles, pressures, and pumps
- Ways to improve spraying effectiveness.
