“That price gap's a hurdle for a lot of farmers. I feel that I've probably got other farmers that would, but the majority of them would not be keen to spend that amount of money compared to what they could be doing with Trojan.  

 “Most farmers will want to see an economical return from that long term. And because we need that from every aspect of farming. 

 “Farming is a money-making venture. We're not doing it as a hobby. 

 “As Paul suggested, I think probably just picking a paddock at a time is a good strategy. I've run into more issues where people want to go all IPM instantly. That's presented issues, just getting around the farm, monitoring and making sure we don't get any chronic outbreaks.   

“You'll see the value, I suppose, from using products like Vandecor.  

 “You should only have to do one of them [spray] where, in a long spring where, Heliothis or Etiola come in early, you may be doing two Trojans.  

 “It's worked well actually.” Wimmera agronomist Tim Pohlner. 

“IPM isn't just doing nothing. IPM involves the three control options. And there is nothing else. All the control has to come out of one of those three tools. 

“The advice that I give to people, if it doesn't work, then that's of no value to anyone. So, if there's pests there, you have to control them. It's just how you choose to use it. Which products you choose, whether it's cultural or whether it's a pesticide.  

“There's no advantage to anyone in watching insects and other pests destroy their crop. 

“All IPM is, is trying to use things in the best possible way so they work together.” Entomologist Dr Paul Horne  

 

The third episode of our series Planning for Prosperity, sponsored by Action Steel, highlights that while planning is crucial in farming, so too is flexibility.  That using Integrated Pest Management in broadacre farming isn't black and white, all or nothing.   

Take a listen and decide for yourself whether you might begin to introduce IPM at your place.  

The conversation covers what is IPM, how to apply it in a broadacre setting, beneficial versus pests, the cost of applying broad spectrum insecticides versus selective including price, impact on beneficials, resistance buildup, marketing options, and time spent spraying. Monitoring was also discussed and the amount of time required both at the start of implementation and throughout the season.  

With slugs causing severe establishment damage, particularly in the Wimmera, monitoring and control were also discussed with BCG’s Casey Sim explaining BCG’s current Optimising Slug Management project with SARDI.  

This podcast is sponsored by Action Steel. Visit https://www.actionsteel.com.au/ today 

For more information on chemical storage visit: https://www.actionsteel.com.au/downloads/standard-chemical-sheds-brochure-size-price-guide/  

About Dr Paul Horne 

Dr Paul Horne is an entomologist and since 1996 has been owner and director of IPM Technologies Pty Ltd, based in Hurstbridge, Victoria, Australia. 

His work on IPM in a range of crops has taken him to different places including Yemen, Thailand, Spain, Denmark, Indonesia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.  A strong focus of his work has been the implementation and adoption of IPM strategies. This has also involved a strong research component on the impact of pesticides on species of beneficial invertebrates. 

For many years Paul delivered a lecture series on entomology and IPM at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia and now runs online courses in entomology for IPM Technologies.  He has also supervised undergraduate and post-graduate students from La Trobe and Melbourne Universities.  Paul completed both his undergraduate degree and PhD at La Trobe University. 

Paul has written several books on insects and IPM (the two most important co-authored with Jessica Page) and guidebooks to insects in potato crops and brassica crops in Australia. He has published over 70 scientific and conference papers on insects and IPM, as well as many other articles in industry literature.  He has received awards from the Australian Vegetable industry and the World Potato Congress for his work. 

About Tim Pohlner 

Tim Pohlner is an agronomic consultant and owner of AgVantage Agronomy. 

Tim has worked as an agronomist for 18 years and consults throughout the Wimmera and Southern Mallee. 

AgVantage Agronomy helps progressive farmers to maximise productivity and profitability via new technology and farming systems together with proven, best practice basic principles. 

Helpful links: 

https://ipmtechnologies.com.au/ 

IPM videos with Paul: https://www.bcg.org.au/news/?content_type=videos  

Find Tim Pohlner on  

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LinkedIn 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-pohlner-70268487/?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Egoogle%2Ecom%2F&originalSubdomain=au  

Find Tim Reethus on X @TRethus  

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https://www.linkedin.com/in/janine-batters-a5083b166/  

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