[ABC News: Fri Nov 27, 2009] Western Australia's Department of Agriculture and Food is urging farmers to prepare for a rapid increase in aggressive summer weeds. The department's Andrew Reeves says unseasonable rain in the great southern is likely to result in the increased germination of weeds such as caltrop, double gees, cottonbush and summer melons. Mr Reeves says the rain also provides a good opportunity for landowners to implement weed control programs.
"Part of the message that we're trying to get out to people is that if they can get out there and treat these weeds early and get good control of the seed bank right from the start, then hopefully they can actually reduce their summer weed set over the course of future summers by killing these weeds before they've got a chance to set flower and seed again," he said.