The higher rainfall across many grain growing regions in 2016 has provided farmers with more opportunities for summer cropping.
But, weeds also stand to gain from the additional soil moisture, putting additional pressure on summer fallow spraying programs.
Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) principal research fellow, Dr Bhagirath Chauhan, said agronomic trials measuring the effect of early canopy closure in summer crops were consistently resulting in lower weed biomass and higher crop yield.
"Our research in mungbean, cotton and soybean have shown that more even plant spacing across the paddock is more important for weed suppression than increased seeding rate, and this is best achieved through narrower row spacing", he said.
Read full story about how ultra-narrow rows ramp up competition on weeds
