Herbicides have come to play an important role in the control of weeds in Western Australian cereal crops, with some estimates showing that sufficient herbicide was applied to treat every hectare of cereal grown in 1984.
While the use of herbicides reduces competition from weeds, they may have a hidden cost. As chemicals which affect plants, herbicides may also affect plants, herbicides may also affect and damage the crop which they are protecting. The crop may possibly fail, and some or all of the economic benefits obtained from the chemical control of weeds may not be realised
