FarmTalk – Brome grass control in retained stubble systems

BROME GRASS is one of the most costly weeds in Australia and is the number one grass weed enemy in many regions. It is highly adapted to modern farming systems and is difficult to control without careful planning. The key to successful control is integrated weed management (IWM) that aims to kill existing weeds, prevents seed set, depletes the seed bank and avoids re-introducing seeds in to the system using a combination of herbicide and non-herbicide control measures. Using non-cereal crops in the rotation can provide more opportunities for brome control. Although pre-emergent herbicides are often not as effective on brome as what they are on other grass weeds they are still an important component of IWM strategies for brome. If relying solely on pre emergents for brome control in cereals it is important to get brome numbers down first.

This Farmtalk covers pre-emergent herbicides for brome control in stubble retained systems including research outcomes of brome control in Mallee sands.