Pest gobbles up grass so push goes on for spray

MARK TAYLOR/Waikato Times

PASTURE PEST: Black beetle has been feasting on resistant ryegrass.

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Waikato farmers are being urged not to rely on supposed black beetle-resistant ryegrass like AR37 – and to spray their pastures with Round Up to get rid of the pest.

Farmers attending a DairyNZ drought management field day at Carian and Sarah Tully's farm, near Thames, complained about the damage the insect had done to their pastures, which were also suffering from drought damage.

Peter Walters, who farms at Otorohanga, said his trial paddock of AR37 had a level of 60 beetles per square metre.

"After two years of growing AR37 it's destroyed."

DairyNZ scientist Chris Glassey said AR37 was not as resistant as first thought.

"The larvae still feed on the roots of AR37, it only protects against adult black beetle," he said.

DairyNZ consulting officer Wayne Berry told farmers: `You are not listening to our biggest message.

"We are in the Waikato, which is predisposed to the black beetle, and we have got to spray the buggers out.

"We have been using AR1 and the black beetle has been having a merry old party at our expense.

"Identify the worst four or five per cent of the farm. Get a chemical spray, like Round Up, and put it on. Then spray it out come spring, planting chicory, maize or turnips," Mr Berry said.

"It's not going to stop the black beetle unless we all get on board.

"It's getting frustrating for me, as a consulting officer, because the message is not getting out there."

Kevin Robinson, who farms on the Hauraki Plains, said RD1 was still selling AR1 but "not pushing it like they used to".

Meanwhile Hauraki Vet Services vet Neil Haywood reminded farmers to continue dosing their animals with zinc as a precaution against facial eczema because the weather hadn't cooled down enough to kill the spores that caused the disease.

- © Fairfax NZ News