Editing Weed control (section)

==== Seed targeting ====
In 1998, the Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative debuted. gathered fifteen scientists and technical staff members to conduct field surveys, collect seeds, test for resistance and study the biochemical and genetic mechanisms of resistance. A collaboration with [[DuPont]] led to a mandatory herbicide labeling program, in which each mode of action is clearly identified by a letter of the alphabet.<ref name=s1408/>

The key innovation of the Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative has been to focus on weed seeds. Ryegrass seeds last only a few years in soil, so if farmers can prevent new seeds from arriving, the number of sprouts will shrink each year. Until the new approach farmers were unintentionally helping the seeds. Their combines loosen ryegrass seeds from their stalks and spread them over the fields. In the mid-1980s, a few farmers hitched covered trailers, called "chaff carts", behind their combines to catch the chaff and weed seeds. The collected material is then burned.<ref name=s1408/>

An alternative is to concentrate the seeds into a half-meter-wide strip called a [[windrow]] and burn the windrows after the harvest, destroying the seeds. Since 2003, windrow burning has been adopted by about 70% of farmers in Western Australia.<ref name=s1408/>

Yet another approach is the Harrington Seed Destructor, which is an adaptation of a coal pulverizing cage mill that uses steel bars whirling at up to 1500 rpm. It keeps all the organic material in the field and does not involve combustion, but kills 95% of seeds.<ref name=s1408/>