Abstract
Herbicide resistance is an increasing problem in Australian cropping systems, but little is known about how resistance spreads and how farmers can manage their paddocks to minimise its spread. This paper presents a modelling framework for predicting biological processes in agriculture, with particular emphasis on the spatial and temporal spread of herbicide resistance. It includes a model of the population dynamics of weeds growing in competition with crops, a polygenic model of the development of herbicide resistance and gene transfer by means of seed and pollen movement. The modelling framework is used to predict the long-term spread of resistant weeds given different integrated weed management choices combining tillage and herbicide treatments, as well as new technologies such as seed capture at harvest and precision planting systems that allow different treatments for inter and intra-rows. The model's predictions are used to devise management options that minimise the spread of herbicide resistant weeds.