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Farm Equipment Sales Slump

Farm machinery sales for the past three months were down by 20 per cent.

The flat September quarter result comes ahead of hay baling and grain harvest, with the season drying off and reducing the likelihood of a bumper crop.

Alan Kirsten, managing director of marketing company Agriview, says agricultural machinery sales are worth $3.5 billion a year in Australia, but farmers and contractors are holding back new purchases.

"The baler and hay tools, mowers and rakes. That market is very subdued.

"We've had our fifth year in a row of declining sales.

"With the dry weather in August and September, it slowed down the hay and fodder production."

Rural property seller Ray White says it's seeing more farms going into receivership, and up for sale.

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LALEXPERT: Sclerotinia cycle and prophylactic methods

Video: LALEXPERT: Sclerotinia cycle and prophylactic methods

White rot, also known as sclerotinia, is a common agricultural fungal disease caused by various virulent species of Sclerotinia. It initially affects the root system (mycelium) before spreading to the aerial parts through the dissemination of spores.

Sclerotinia is undoubtedly a disease of major economic importance, and very damaging in the event of a heavy attack.

All these attacks come from the primary inoculum stored in the soil: sclerotia. These forms of resistance can survive in the soil for over 10 years, maintaining constant contamination of susceptible host crops, causing symptoms on the crop and replenishing the soil inoculum with new sclerotia.