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Australian canola growers have new technology options including hybrid and herbicide technologies, which have offered yield and profitability advantages in other canola-growing regions of the world. This study compared the yield and gross margins of hybrid and open-pollinated (OP) canola from different herbicide tolerance groups: triazine-tolerant, Roundup Ready, Clearfield and conventional across a wide range of environments in south-western Australia, and in the National Variety Trial network in southern Australia to investigate the relative advantages of these technologies. There were significant differences in yield responsiveness between hybrid and OP canola, the magnitude of which was determined by the growing-season rainfall/available water to the crop. Hybrid out-yielded OP canola in favourable environments where rainfall was high and the growing season was long. However, in areas of low rainfall where yield potential was low, hybrids showed little yield advantage over OP. In contrast, there were no differences in yield response between the four herbicide tolerance groups across the rainfall zones. The economic analysis showed that the break-even yield for hybrids versus OP canola was 1.25t/ha for triazine-tolerant canola, 0.7t/ha for Roundup Ready canola, and 1.7t/ha for hybrid Clearfield canola. The gross margin analysis suggested that hybrid triazine-tolerant, Clearfield and Roundup Ready canola was more profitable than the OP system in the medium (growing-season rainfall of 265–330mm) and high (330mm) rainfall environments, but not profitable in the lower (<265mm) rainfall area because the cost associated with hybrid seed outweighed the small yield benefit. The sensitivity analysis indicated that±10% changes in canola price and seed cost shifted the break-even yield by±0.1t/ha. Our study makes a case for Australian canola breeders to maintain OP canola varieties, rather than shifting their focus entirely to hybrids, to underpin continued productivity and profitability in lower rainfall areas.

The article focuses on developing critical skills in taxi techniques in aviation. These techniques include knowing the taxi performance date of the aircraft, developing a solid taxi plan, estimating distances using standard ramp concrete blocks, being cautious about shadows, using distance measuring tools, considering proper lighting and putting reference marks. It emphasizes to stop the aircraft when in doubt and reassess.

The author explains the essence of situational awareness towards flight safety in the U.S. Mobility Air Force. He believes that pilots need situational awareness to devise successful mission planning before flights to adapt to the inaccuracy of flight navigation systems. The author comments that aircraft windows can boost situational awareness of pilots by providing them frontal view, although they must also know the difference of objects to enable them to see their targets or destinations.

The article stresses the importance of checklists or job guides especially in the aviation and maintenance professions in the U.S. Recent trends showing maintenance and aircrew members in the Air Mobility Command (AMC) not following or using checklists have been found by the Safety Investigation Boards to be the cause of mishaps. Results of investigation detailing four different type of checklist errors and their negative consequences are presented. The two types of checklists, normal and emergency are described.