More than 450 delegates from Australia and overseas attended the 15th Australian Weeds conference held in Adelaide recently.
Weeds are a major threat to Australia's biodiversity and the conference provided an opportunity to showcase weed management expertise, and a forum for people involved in the fight against the weed menace to share their experiences.
The theme for the conference was 'Managing Weeds in a Changing Climate'.
One group of delegates had the opportunity to visit the HARDI facilities where they toured the factory where the new COMMANDER is in production and then saw one put through its paces, which was a great experience for all.
Weeds cost Australian farmers an estimated $4 billion a year, which is more than the combined estimated costs of salinity, soil acidity, soil degradation and the millions of dollars which governments provide in drought assistance to farmers.
Weed management strategies include preventing new plant species being introduced, identifying new weed problems early, reducing weed spread and strengthening research with the focus on cost-effective and sustainable programs.