SHOWERY weather forecasts did not deter enthusiastic agricultural industry motorbike riders from revving up to the fourth instalment of the ADAMA Australia 2-wheel crop trials tour in WA recently.
This year staged through the State's Midlands and Avon Valley regions, the ADAMA WA 2-Wheel Trial Tour attracted riders from Geraldton, out to the eastern Wheatbelt and down to Bremer Bay and included a combination of fresh faces as well as "tour veterans'', some of whom had upgraded their wheels for the event.
Based from Calingiri, the tour visited crop research sites from Wongan Hills down to near Toodyay and York, all while taking in plenty of scenic backroads and visits to Mount O'Brien near Wongan Hills and Moora Citrus, established by one of the tour's repeat riders, Michael Brennan.
ADAMA Ausralia WA market development manager Bevan Addison said heavy rainfall on the first evening had many riders recognising the value of a good quality tent rather than a $30 online special.
"There were some leaky camps and a few wet sleeping bags, but a hearty brekky provided by Calingiri community volunteers had everyone smiling and raring to go in the morning,'' Mr Addison said.
"Despite scary radar images and patchy rain all of day two, riders managed to stay dry at the trial sites and the weather didn't impact the tour, however it did make for some interesting riding on some of the dirt roads for those on road bikes with slick tyres.
"There were a lot of shiny Harleys and sports bikes that will take some cleaning to get them back in pristine condition.''
Mr Addison said sites near Wongan Hills included use of the company's new Group E pre-emergent herbicide, Ultro, in lupins, and residual grass herbicide, Tenet, in canola, and featured fungicide compatibility work with liquid UAN to assess canola crop effects.
Ultro also was included in tank-mixtures alongside other new and existing herbicides at a lupin site in the Avon Valley and showed "premium ryegrass control''.
"It is probably the best ryegrass controller I have ever seen in grain legumes,'' he said.
"It does a great job when conditions are good and doesn't fall over when seeding and early season conditions are poor.
"It has been robust and reliable across the many sites and seasons we have tested in the long development process of this product.
"For ryegrass, brome and barley grass, it is effectively new to the market and offers a unique mode of action.
"There is no other Group E (herbicide) in the broadacre market."
Mr Addison said its very soluble, so for their system of dry-sowing lupins, or seeding into dry, sandy soils, it activates quickly and controls weeds right from the start of crop life.
"It activates more readily than many other alternate herbicides," he said.
"Ultro also provides long-term control and suppresses any grass survivors.
"By the end of the season, there is usually a lower panicle count and less grass seedset with Ultro compared with alternative herbicides.''
Mr Addison said Tenet, which was only available in limited volumes this season, highlighted the potential for expanded use opportunities other than just using pre-emergent grass herbicides in canola.
"Mainly used pre-sowing for ryegrass in canola, Tenet is being investigated for registration of expanded use patterns to help suppress and control secondary germinations," he said.
Other sites visited in the Avon Valley included landscape rehydration research being conducted by Tierra Australia and Ringa Civil, as well as a trial investigating ADAMA Australia's new post-emergent broadleaf herbicide tank-mix partner, Priority, with existing, locally-developed broadspectrum broadleaf herbicide, Quadrant and alongside other alternative tank-mixtures for wild radish control.
Mr Addison said Priority was a low residual Group B herbicide containing the active ingredient, florasulam, and also was included in mixtures with LVE MCPA in the trial.
"This performed extremely well and the farmer where the trial was located was so impressed that he used 25mL/ha of Priority with 440mL/ha of LVE MCPA 570 and Uptake spray oil to control large radish in the remainder of the paddock and it achieved very good results," he said.
"Due to waterlogging, he was unable to get onto the paddock at the preferred earlier spraying time, as many farmers experienced this year.''
Mr Addison said Priority was highly compatible with many commonly used herbicides and helped to further broaden the broadleaf weed control spectrum.
"It targets over 50 broadleaf weeds such as capeweed, doublegee and self-sown grain legumes including lupins, field peas, vetch and chickpeas, as well as TT (triazine-tolerant) and RR (Roundup Ready) canola," he said.
"It cleans things up without the risk of soil residual carryover for following sensitive crops.''
New developmental grass and broadleaf herbicides also were included in a range of mixtures for grass and broadleaf weed control in future cereal crops.
ADAMA Australia's new Maxentis and Proviso fungicides for use in canola and cereal crops were also inspected in a canola trial that highlighted their compatibility when mixed with common herbicides including clethodim and atrazine, as well as with liquid UAN.
Maxentis is a unique co-formulation of two of the world's most effective fungicides, prothioconazole and azoxystrobin, while Proviso is a novel prothioconazole fungicide featuring ADAMA Australia's unique Asorbital technology, which enables enhanced uptake and systemic activity for improved efficacy, compatibility and crop safety.
Mr Addison said while there was limited crop disease at the trial site, feedback from wider grower use of the new fungicides, mainly in canola this season, had been very encouraging.
During the final day of the tour, the group also viewed machinery systems and soil amelioration strategies near Walebing, where they gained an understanding of what could be achieved in hard-packed gravel country using suitable machinery and horsepower.
For further information on ADAMA Australia's trials throughout the WA agricultural region, growers, agronomists and consultants can contact their local ADAMA Australia representative.
