Pastoral invaders examined

The battle some Marlborough farmers face with pastoral weeds nasella tussock and Chilean needlegrass was shared with regional council, Department of Conservation, Landcare Research and weed contracting staff from around the country last Thursday.

More than 80 people took part in the Biosecurity New Zealand Institute Conference field trip to three Marlborough farms.

In Marlborough, 91,000 hectares is affected by nassella tussock and 3500ha by Chilean needlegrass.

Nasella tussock is unpalatable to stock, while the drill-like seeds of Chilean needlegrass stick to the wool of sheep and push into the skin of the animal, eventually killing it or making its meat inedible.

The visitors' first stop was Tony Turnbull's 800ha sheep and cattle farm, Jedburgh, where Mr Turnbull told them constant effort was needed to deal with nasella tussock.

It was spread over 500ha of his Redwood Pass farm and cost $15,000 to $25,000 a year to control, he said.

The worst-affected areas – about 15ha to 25ha – were sprayed by helicopter, with the remaining areas grubbed by two or three people over nine weeks.

The group then travelled to Blind River, where semi-retired Cable Station Rd farmer Rex Dodson's trial plot gave them a taste of the devastating effect Chilean needlegrass could have.

Mr Dodson had patches of the grass across his farm and while he was semi-retired as a farmer, he was "not retired on needlegrass", he said.

Marlborough District Council senior biosecurity officer Ben Minehan said the council was continuing to consult the Environmental Risk Management Authority (Erma) on the potential use of Task Force pesticide on both weeds.

Task Force contains the chemical flupropanate and the council has previously asked the authority for full registration of the chemical.

The authority was expected to make an environmental and research report on the pesticide's use soon, Mr Minehan said.

Grassmere farmer Doug Avery also spoke to the group at his farm, Bonavaree, about the challenges of farming dry pastoral country sustainably, while a final stop was made at Yealands Estate in Seaview.

- The Marlborough Express

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