Farmanco Facts - November 2025 Edition
- tnankivell
- 14 hours ago
- 3 min read
Thanks to Farmanco team members — David Cameron (Moora) Michael Monaghan (Busselton) Giles McMeikan (Roleystone) Greg Easton (Rivervale) and Holly Mackie (Albany) and External contributors, Dr Mike Ashworth and Dr John Duncan (UWA) for their articles.
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Budworm Behaving Badly: Vantacor and Other Options
David Cameron (Agronomy Consultant)
Native budworm (Helicoverpa punctigera) is the most common budworm species.
Earlier and heavier moth flights are leading to damage in wheat and barley.
More pulses are being grown. Budworm is particularly damaging to these crops.
Vantacor® is a new option for pulse crops with longer residual activity and softer on beneficials.
The prevalence of budworm as a pest has increased in recent years. They more frequently attack susceptible crops in areas where in the past this has been rare. In areas where they have been common.
Division 296 Part 2: The Welcome Backflip
Michael Monaghan (Farm Management Consultant)
Tax on unrealised gains removed.
Two thresholds.
Thresholds will now be indexed.
Implementation date now mid-2026.
This update is being written following major changes to the proposed legislation announced by the federal treasurer Jim Chalmers in mid-October.
Precision Agriculture Software in Australia: Making Sense of a Complex Landscape
Giles McMeikan (Agronomy / Precision Ag Consultant)
The last decade has seen enormous growth in the adoption of Precision Agriculture (PA) across Australian broadacre systems.
What remains a sticking point for many growers and advisors is the software layer.
The software landscape continues to evolve rapidly.
Australian producers have access to a range of platforms, designed to manage data, generate prescription maps and connect on-farm activities to the cloud.
Australian producers now have access to a range of platforms designed to manage data, generate prescription maps, integrate information across different machines, and connect on-farm activities to the cloud.
Tile Drainage: Managing Waterlogging for Productivity
Greg Easton (Farm Management Consultant)
Diagnose in wet conditions; install drains when dry.
Always check the outfall before construction.
Drain both the landscape and the soil.
Undertake installation in stages.
Ensure compliance with local, state, and federal environmental regulations.
It’s not often that an agricultural investment delivers a one-year payback. During a Farmanco management and agronomy professional development tour of Esperance, we visited a site where subsoil drainage had been installed— with remarkable results.
Terrad’or: Update to Pre-Harvest Weed Control
Holly Mackie (Agronomy Consultant)
Terrad’or is only proposed for wheat to control ryegrass, radish, sowthistle and prickly lettuce.
Pre-harvest applications of Terrad’or will not be registered in barley due to strict international MRL limits for cereal grains.
Terrad’or application timing will be slightly later than Sharpen and sledge but earlier than glyphosate; offering a good opportunity to get on top of ryegrass before it matures.
Terrad’or (Tiafenacil) offers a new approach to managing annual ryegrass through seed set reduction at medium milk to early dough stage in wheat. Paddock applications of Nufarm’s Terrad’or have recently gone out (pre-harvest in wheat) under the limited area research permit PER94204.
Predicting Weed Patches before they Strike
Dr Mike Ashworth (AHRI) and Dr John Duncan (UWA)
Weeds are a major cost on Australian dryland farming enterprises.
The problem is made harder by herbicide resistance.
Despite these challenges, traditional agronomic practices have remained, with managers working reactively.
It’s the buried seedbank that needs to be monitored and controlled.
Weeds are a major cost on Australian dryland farming enterprises, increasing input and labour costs, reducing yields and grain quality, and ultimately squeezing farm profitability. The problem is made harder by herbicide resistance, which chips away at the reliability of once-dependable products.
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