Title: ACT/NSW drought affected farmers face new battle
[ABCNews 18 May 2009] Farmers in the Canberra region who have been struggling with the drought now have a new battle on their hands. Serrated tussock is a South American weed that takes over bare earth, particularly during drought. Mitchell Clapham from the NSW/ACT Serrated Tussock Working Party says the weed is spreading at an alarming rate.
"Well in 1995 it was estimated that there was about 500,00 hectares of serrated tussock infestation in NSW and in the latest best practice manual it's estimated that there's something like 2 million hectares in south eastern Australia," he said.
Mr Clapham says it can be hard to identify.
"It doesn't look such a serious weed, it's hard to recognise from native tussock in a lot of areas," he said.
"A lot of people don't realise how significant and what an impact serrated tussock can have on their productivity and growing capacity until it is too late."
The Serrated Tussock Working Party is lobbing the New South Wales Government to appoint a full-time officer to help coordinate the fight against the weed.
It is holding community meetings in Goulburn and Nimmitabel this week to discuss strategies for dealing with the problem.