An economic decision tool for responding to new weed incursion risks in the Australian grains industry (Technical Series #14)
By Rohan T. Jayasuriya, Randall E. Jones and Remy van de Ven

When a weed invasion is discovered a decision has to be made as to whether to attempt to eradicate it, contain it or do nothing. These decisions should be based on economic considerations that account for long-term benefits and costs. Accordingly, the development of a decision support system that can assist decision makers to identify appropriate weed management strategies for dealing with new incursions as they occur is highly desirable. This report presents a bio-economic modelling framework that determines optimal government policy response in terms of the search and control effort of a new weed incursion. The framework takes explicit account of the biological processes involved in weed spread and combines this into an economic decision model.

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Weeds of pastures and field crops in Tasmania: economic impacts and biological control (Technical Series #13)
By J.E. Ireson, J.T. Davies, D.A. Friend, R.J. Holloway, W.S. Chatterton, E.I. Van Putten and R.E.C. McFadyen

It has been estimated that weeds cost Australian agriculture about $4 billion annually (Sinden et al 2004). In Tasmania, about 1.8 million ha is used for production agriculture (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2001). In 1996, the cost of weeds to Tasmanian primary producers in terms of lost production and the cost of control was estimated at $33 million annually (Anon 1996). The primary aim of this technical bulletin is to provide a revised assessment of the cost of weeds to Tasmanian pastures and field crops as well as identifying the weeds that are having the most significant impact on Tasmanian agriculture. It also reviews the current status of all weed biological control programs that have been conducted in Tasmania against some of the major weeds and provides a case study of the successful biological control program on ragwort. The document should serve as a useful reference for those involved in weed control both within the state and nationally.

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An economic evaluation of the research benefits and returns on investment in the Invasive Plants Cooperative Research Centre (Technical Series #12)
by Randall Jones, Garry Griffith and David Vere, NSW Department of Primary Industries

The CRC for Australian Weed Management (CRCAWM) was initiated in 2001 as the second phase of the successful CRC for Weed Management Systems (CRCWMS) and completes its current term in June 2008. Both CRCs are commonly referred to as the Weeds CRC. A new Invasive Plants Cooperative Research Centre (IPCRC) has been proposed to continue the work of weeds research and development at a national level.

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Impact of weeds on threatened biodiversity in New South Wales (Technical Series #11)
by Aaron Coutts-Smith and Paul Downey, Pest Management Unit, Parks and Wildlife Division Department of Environment and Conservation (NSW)

Alien species (weeds and pest animals) are acknowledged as the second greatest cause of biodiversity decline, after habitat loss. Despite this, there is a lack of information on the biodiversity at risk from alien species. This lack has hampered effective management of invasive species at all levels from government policy to on-ground control. Given that the number of new introductions of alien species has increased dramatically over the past century, it is imperative that proper information on their impacts be compiled and disseminated.

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Economic impact assessment of Australian weed biological control (Technical Series #10)
by AR Page and KL Lacey, AECgroup

This report examines the return on investment of the Australian weed biological control (biocontrol) effort. The study has been funded by the Cooperative Research Centre for Australian Weed Management (Weeds CRC). The findings of this study are reported in two sections:
• Section I – Overview of methodology and findings;
and
• Section II – Detailed cost benefit analysis (CBA) of biocontrol projects.

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Weeds in winter pulses: integrated solutions (Technical series #9)
by Di Carpenter and Annabel Bowcher

A guide to the management of weeds in winter pulse crops, looking at the whole farm business and developing strategies involving a wide range of techniques. When well managed, pulse crops can represent an important component of an integrated whole-farm weed management program for annual cropping systems. This publication provides an overview of all aspects of managing weeds during the pulse phase of crop rotation, including what pulse species to choose, weed impacts on pulse production, problem weed species by state, optimisation of the competitive ability of pulses against weed species and weed management using an integrated approach drawn from the suite of available chemical and cultural control methods.

| Part One: page 1-11 (547 KB) | Part Two: page 12-26 (348 KB) | Part Three: page 27-38 (331 KB) | Part Four: page 39-58 (286 KB) | Click here to order |

The economic impact of weeds in Australia (Technical series #8)
by J Sinden, R Jones, S Hester, D Odom, C Kalisch, R James and O Cacho

New economic research undertaken by the Weeds CRC through the University of New England has established that the annual cost of weeds to Australian agriculture exceeds $3.5 billion, and may be as high as $4.5 billion per year. The figure varies because of seasonal conditions, commodity prices and weed infestations, but on average the estimate is an annual net loss of $4 billion. This updates the estimate of $2 billion per year for 1981–82 by Combellack, and compares with estimates for salinity of an annual net loss of $200 million.

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Improving the selection, testing and evaluation of weed biological control agents (Technical Series #7)
edited by H Spafford Jacob and DT Briese

This peer-reviewed publication contains the proceedings from the Weeds CRC Biological Control of Weeds Symposium held in Perth on September 13, 2002. The Weeds CRC’s work in biological control is presented as well as an introduction to the current research that will continue Australia’s world class contributions to general principles of biological control. Content encompasses the prioritisation, selection, testing, evaluation, predictability, acceptability and assessment of the economic and ecological effectiveness of biological control agents for weeds.

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An impact assessment - a report by the Centre for International Economics (Technical Series #6)
by the Centre for International Economics

This report highlights the CRC’s achievements up until 2001 and the avenues through which the CRC’s work will reduce weed costs over the longer term.

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The specification, estimation and validation of a quarterly structural econometric model of the Australian grazing industries (Technical Series #5)
by David Vere, Garry Griffith and Randall Jones

This model’s development closely follows the structural modelling procedures previously adopted in NSW Agriculture and represents an aggregation of that research into a single entity.

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The distribution, density and economic impact of weeds in the Australian annual winter cropping system (Technical Series #4)
by Randall Jones, Yohannes Alemseged, Richard Medd and David Vere

This paper reports on an analysis of the costs of weeds in Australian annual winter cropping systems.

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Recent incursion of weeds in Australian 1971-1995 (Technical Series #3)
Convened by RH Groves, appendix compiled by JR Hosking

This report assigns dates to weed incursions and naturalisations wherever known.

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An integrated economic system and the farm and industry benefits of improved weed management (Technical Series #2)
by DT Vere, RE Jones and GR Griffith

This paper presents a brief review of the methodology of production systems modelling and provides details of the farm and industry modelling methods adopted in the construction of the integrated models. Examples of the application of this modelling system are presented.

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Annotated bibliography of the weed Asparagus asparagoides (L) (Technical Series #1)
by John Scott and Peta Beasley

A comprehensive list of resources available on bridal creeper up until 1996.

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