Fields of gold hide creeping enemy
THE fields of gold dotted throughout the state may look pretty, but many of the bright blossoms are actually an insidious weed suffocating the state.
Farmer turned businessman Malcolm Ryan was shocked to see cape weed running rampant throughout much of Tasmania while travelling for work and to see his partner, Cheryl Reid, at her Warrane home.
“I always take notice. Whether it’s gorse or weeds I love looking at the countryside,” he said.
“This year I’ve just seen an absolute explosion of it, it was rampant. Last year when I was driving around I did notice patches of it, but now the hills are alive with it. It’s all just yellow.”
Mr Ryan said he grew up on a 195ha farm at Elliot and remembered harvesting ragwort with his father.
“It was in the late 1990s I think that the Department of Primary Industries released the ragwort beetle. Now there’s virtually no ragwort at West Ridgely or Elliot, or most of Tasmania.”
Now, he’s hoping for a similar solution to the state’s cape weed crisis.
“You can’t go out and spray for cape weed, it’ s too far gone,” he said.
“We’ll have to find an insect or a grub that’ll eat it.
“It produces thousands of seeds and they’ll stay viable for 10 to 15 years in the ground.”
In Warrane, Ms Reid is also embroiled in the battle against cape weed.
“I’m a very proud homeowner and like to keep my lawns manicured. Malcolm and I put in hours to restore the house ,” she said.
“But the front lawn is a constant battle because my neighbours have masses of cape weed in their yards .”
She said the flowers were pretty,, but that was the only positive.
“It becomes quite large, the size of the palm of your hand or larger. Nothing underneath it can grow — it suffocates everything and it’s very invasive.”
She said something needed to bed one immediately.
“Let’s not let the state turn yellow.”
A Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment spokeswoman said capeweed was common in pastures, lawns and home gardens and dies off in late summer and that much of what had recently appeared was “most likely already there”. “Capeweed is not a declared weed in Tasmania but the department provides detailed management and control guidelines for property owners to help prevent the weed spreading further,” she said.
“Property owners are encouraged to control capeweed, as well as avoid introducing capeweed into areas where there is none by taking precautions when moving animals, machinery and equipment between sites.”