SOUTHERN Yorke Peninsula farmer Graham Hayes has dedicated much of his working life helping to develop a greater understanding of snail behaviour and lifecycle, as well as management methods.
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He was recently recognised for his outstanding contribution to the nation’s grains industry with a GRDC Recognising and Rewarding Excellence Award.
Graham, with wife Raelene, son Chris and daughter-in-law Simone, farms at Warooka and Honiton, which is considered to be the global epicentre of pest snails in agriculture.
Having to deal with four introduced species of snail which thrive in the region’s mild Mediterranean climate, Graham has been on a lengthy crusade to combat the pests, which arrived on YP from European origins more than a century ago.
Graham has had significant amounts of grain rejected and in one year alone (1999), he incurred production losses of $143,000.
“Snails are just part of our life – we have to deal with them,” he said. “I’m determined to do everything possible to control them.”
For the past few decades, Graham has worked with the GRDC and research organisations, such as SARDI and Charles Sturt University, to build knowledge and devise management tactics.
He was instrumental in the production of the GRDC-supported Bash ’Em Burn ’Em Bait ’Em integrated snail management publication, has hosted various trials on his property – including the release of parasitic nematodes and flies and the use of video cameras – provides snail samples for research and has numerous people from throughout the world visit him and seek advice.
“I even had an orchardist from the Greek island of Rhodes contact me asking for help as he’d been over-run with conical snails,” Graham said. “He’s in Europe where the snails originate from, but there is more information available in Australia on snail control than there is in Europe.”
Graham’s vast experience in dealing with snails has led to the establishment of an effective baiting regime based on the latest research-borne knowledge on the importance of bait timing and the use of equipment – including a locally-made crusher – to eliminate snails from the grain.
“As a result of working with entomologists and from practical experience across many years, the harvest we have just had was one of our best ever,” he said.
“We were able to deliver 1040 tonnes of canola straight to the silo without any rejection.
“We can deliver canola free of snails and free of damage to the oilseed.”
Graham received $25,000 as part of the award, which he will use to continue his crusade against snails.
