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Ag News

January 7th.

By Department of Primary Industries - 16th January 2009 - Back to News

SAY CHEESE VICTORIA

Victorians are the biggest cheese consumers in the country, eating 88,395 tonnes of cheese in the 2007/2008 year according to the latest figures from Dairy Australia. New South Wales residents were the second biggest cheese lovers, consuming 56,256 tonnes of cheese over the same period. In terms of what cheese Australians prefer, natural Cheddar cheese has the highest market share, accounting for 53.3 per cent of total volume sold.

Consumers are still supporting the speciality, cheese segment in a bigger way with a growing number of both blue and white mould cheeses in the supermarket. The same goes for snacking cheeses, be they for children’s lunch boxes or adult lunches, for both in-home or out-of-home consumption.

SUMMER WEED CONTROL

With heavy rains in many parts of the country over the past month most farmers will have already started thinking about their summer weed control programs. Generally, it is vital to get on top of weeds early and prevent seed setting, but it is just as important to ensure chemical spraying is done safely and responsibly.

Equipment set up, weather conditions, legal obligations and the products themselves play a huge role in chemical spraying and here are a few tips to make sure everything goes to plan.

• Ensure you read the product label thoroughly and understand all the requirements and advice to make sure the job is done as effectively as possible. Many products require weeds to be actively growing and not under heat stress for the chemical to work.
• With several product labels now requiring strict weather conditions for spraying (for example all 2,4-D products require a wind speed of 3-15 km/hr while Roundup® PowerMAX requires 4-12 km/hr and others have a temperature limitation), ensuring weather conditions are appropriate is more important than ever.
• As a general rule ideal spraying conditions include:

1. A steady wind of 3-15 km/hr blowing away from sensitive areas, unless there are specific label requirements
2. No inversion layer present
3. Temperatures below 28ºC
4. A delta T (ΔT, which is related to temperature and relative humidity) of 2-8

• More information about weather is available now then ever before but only use these tools for planning as the weather that really matters is the actual weather on the day at the location of spraying.
• Products containing any form of 2,4-D require a coarse to very coarse spray (droplet size) to minimise the risk of off target spray drift. This is not only vital to preventing damage to nearby sensitive crops such as grape vines but will also save you money as any chemical you lose from drift is a waste. Standard flat fan nozzles cannot achieve this droplet size so consult your local nozzle retailer for advice. While larger droplets reduce your risk of drift they do not eliminate it and spraying should never take place in unsuitable weather conditions.
• Talk to your neighbours about your intentions. Communication before spraying can help prevent any problems later.

Setting time aside to adequately plan any spray program to ensure chemicals are used safely and responsibly is in everyone’s best interest. It will protect crops and trade markets and start the 2009 season off in the best possible way.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com