Crop and weed sensing technology has existed as a research tool in Australia since 1984. The concept was originally developed by researcher Warwick Felton at the DPI Tamworth. The reliable application of the concept in agriculture has only recently been possible with the commercial release of 'Weedseeker' and 'Greenseeker' selective application equipment by US based company N-Tech Industries. Selective spot spraying technology was commercialised in the USA seven years ago and has found wide commercial application around the globe in all types of agricultural environments. Sensors can be used to selectively apply herbicides, insecticides, fertilizers and fungicides to plants in a wide range of agricultural situations including cotton, broad-acre, horticulture and viticulture. Merrilong Pastoral Company at Spring Ridge in northern NSW imported the first 64 Weedseeker sensors for broad acre use into Australia in 2002 using matching grant money provided by AFFA under the 'Farm Innovation Program'. Anywhere a product can be targeted to the plant and not bare soil, the weedseeker can provide large savings and big environmental benefits. DPI research in Northern NSW has shown that average weed cover in fallow paddocks is as low as 20% of the paddock area. This means that often 80% of the herbicide applied falls on bare soil and is wasted. This is inefficient, expensive and environmentally unstainable. There are now 13 commercial spray-rigs across NSW and Qld operated by both farmers and contractors achieving large reductions in fallow herbicide use and savings of 80% and better

Producers, agribusiness advisors, researchers and natural resource managers in the drought-stricken dryland grains and mixed farming regions of Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia are working together to respond to a drier and more variable climate. Representatives from the Bureau of Meteorology, the Bureau of Rural Sciences, Meat & Livestock Australia, the Birchip Cropping Group and Managing Climate Variability have teamed up with local producers and advisors to develop responses to climate change that can be applied on farm.

This is the sixth edition of a listing of L WRRDC-funded R&D - the publication also includes a list of projects sponsored by the National Land and Water Resources Audit (Audit). This document includes both current research projects, and all projects completed under the management of the Corporation or the Audit. The listing of current R&D projects is arranged under our R&D topic and priority areas, and includes a brief description of all the major, commissioned R&D programs that the Corporation manages, or in which it is a funding partner. The Audit's projects are detailed in the section on Consultancies

With climate change predictions pointing to Australia's climate becoming even more variable, farmers are looking for more accurate seasonal forecasts that can be interpreted to help them make better decisions about planting,

This booklet is part of a series that describes the status of data and information relevant to national indicators agreed under the National Natural Resource Management Monitoring and Evaluation Framework. It specifically reports on the status of information relating to indicators of community and social processes relevant to or affected by NRM programs as well as measures of the adoption of sustainable development and production techniques. These indicators are based on the following headings: * Land managers' capacity to change & adopt sustainable management practices * Capacity of regional organisations and social and institutional foundations of NRM * Community

The National Land & Water Resources Audit (the Audit) has been developing a set of natural resource condition indicators as part of the agreed National Natural Resource Management Monitoring and Evaluation Framework. These indicators have identified a range of fundamental data and information needs, without which monitoring and reporting of the health of Australia's natural resources will continue to be difficult.

The National Land & Water Resources Audit (the Audit) and Bureau of Rural Sciences worked with state and territory governments to develop a national baseline of native vegetation extent for the year 2004-2005. Native vegetation mapping was collated by the Audit for the Australian Native Vegetation Assessment 2001. This data is maintained through the National Vegetation Information System (NVIS) and now includes mapping to 2004. The NVIS database was first used to approximate the remaining extent of native vegetation for the 2001 assessment. However, this data represented the extent of mapped vegetation rather than a baseline of native vegetation existing at any particular point in time.

There have been significant organisational, research, education and extension achievements throughout 2007–08.

To demonstrate the benefit of pest control in cotton/grain systems as it relates to native vegetation and native remnant communities. This will be done by understanding:(i) the contribution that native vegetation and native plant communities are making to growing populations of key beneficial insects (predators and parasitoids) and pests;(ii) whether a high native remnant : arable land ratio results in greater pest control; and(iii) the spatial scale at which native remnants contribute to the ecosystem of pest control.

The non-urban areas within 150 kilometres of Australia metropolitan centres are undergoing rapid change and fragmentation, and in many cases, intense conflict. They are the sites of all outer urban expansion; are important sources of environmental, natural and human resources; produce over one quarter of the value of agricultural production; are the locations of much urban water; and contain 50 per cent of threatened biodiversity. The research project, "Change and continuity in peri-urban Australia" aimed to investigate the current state and future possibilities of peri-urban regions in Australia and to contribute to the growing international literature in this area. Peri-urban regions are those areas on the urban periphery into which cities expand or which cities influence. They are usually not homogenous and often contain a disorderly jumble of residential, commercial and rural-residential land uses, often interspersed without apparent order.