As part of Hort Innovation levy-funded project ‘A strategic approach to weed management for the Australian vegetable industry’ (VG15070), University of New England teamed up with West Australian (WA) based Ivankovich Farms in Myalup and David Grays Aglink in Perth, to run a trial across winter seasons in both 2018 and 2019.

Commencing in 2016, the four-year project looked to identify alternative approaches to weed management that reduced reliance on the use of herbicides and also minimised the impact of chemical resistance.

The trial revealed that planting a cover crop where land would otherwise be left fallow, does effectively control weed-growth, dependent on the species of cover crop planted and how it’s managed.

A range of cereal, grass, brassica and legume winter cover crops species were planted, with each monitored and measured for above-ground weed biomass (including the number and species of weeds present), the weed seed bank and cover crop biomass and ground cover.