Tactics for integrated weed management
| Management tactic | Most likely % control (and range) | Comments on use |
|---|---|---|
| Crop choice and sequence | 80 (70-95) | Rotate to a triazine tolerant crop in heavily infested areas |
| Herbicide tolerant crops | 95 (90-99) | Using pre- and post-emergent applications of triazine herbicide in triazine tolerant crops will almost eradicate most species of silver grass |
| Improving pasture competition | Variable | Reduces seed production, helping to maintain a low incidence of silver grass in a pasture |
| Burning residues | 50 (30-70) | Use a hot fire back-burning into the wind |
| Inversion ploughing | 90 (80-99) | Use a plough with skimmers to bury seed more than 75mm deep |
| Autumn tickle | 60 (50-80) | Depends on seasonal conditions |
| Delayed sowing | 75 (50-90) | Works well in most seasons. Tends to fail on non-wetting soils |
| Fallow and pre-sowing cultivation | 70 (50-90) | Generally works well. Cropping using full soil disturbance with late sowing to enable use of knockdown herbicides plus cultivation |
| Knockdown (non-selective) herbicides for fallow and pre-sowing control | Up to 95 | Applying in fallow will prevent seeding of silver grass in the year prior to cropping or pasture sowing |
| Double knockdown or 'double knock' | 80 (70-95) | Preferred in dense infestations where shading can reduce effectiveness of a single spray |
| Pre-emergent herbicides | 80 (70-95) | Triazines are very good on most species of silver grass |
| Selective post-emergent herbicides | Up to 95 | If silver grass is the main component of the pasture there will be a loss of winter fodder. The treated pasture should be resown in the following season or renovated to increase the component of desirable species |
| Pasture spray-topping | Up to 85 | Timing is critical. Heavy grazing leading up to topping will induce uniform head emergence. Gives the ability to keep desirable pasture species while reducing the incidence of silver grass |
| Silage and hay - crops and pastures | Up to 90 | Cut for silage when 75% of advanced seed heads have seeds that are just filling. Control regrowth |
| On-farm hygiene | Variable | Contaminated hay should not be moved to clean areas |