Technical Bulletin No. 9 – 31.07.25

In the northern Mallee, reports of Etiella and Heliothis may create more activity in the coming days and weeks. For the southern Mallee, most growers are looking for more rain to protect yield potential, and late fungicide sprays have gone out on wheat.

In the Wimmera (North, Central and West) soil moisture levels are good (explained later in this bulletin) and there are isolated reports of armyworm activity that warrant some monitoring, particularly in cereal on cereal rotations.

Some action points from recent BCG events: leave the fenceline and get out into your crops to assess for potential frost or heat stress damage, adjust your header set up ready for the coming months, succession planning is an ongoing process and farming is about decision making and we can only influence the quality of our decision making by acting more consciously on the best available knowledge.

• Some modest rainfall tallies received across western Victoria last weekend with hopes for more rain on ANZAC day
• Generally, growers have continued with their original sowing plans and made small modifications if required
• Conscious of high reliance on IMI tolerant crops in rotations, some Mallee farmers have made varietal changes eg CoAXium® barley to make use of Group 1 herbicides for grass control, where residues from the prior crop allow.

• Sowing programs are generally continuing as planned with close attention paid to emergence of dry sown crops.
• BCG’s sowing program is approximately 20 per cent complete.
• With ongoing challenges with accessing feed, lower wool prices and shearing costs, many producers are responding by downsizing flocks or shifting more focus to lamb production.