How to manage serrated tussock
Serrated tussock has infested more than 250,000 hectares of land in Victoria, and has caused great damage to agriculture and native grasslands.
Now is a good time to inspect your property for serrated tussock, due to the increased visibility due to frost bleaching.
In frost prone areas, the tussocks are bleached a golden yellow to white colour by frost during late autumn and winter.
Serrated tussock has white swollen leaf bases (like a shallot) while the tips of old leaves often have a bleached fawn tip.
The change in colour makes the plants easier to spot in a paddock, making now a good time to do a survey of your property.
The recent rains and autumn break in some parts of Victoria has been good for crops, but unfortunately, also good for the growth of serrated tussock.
Controlling serrated tussock before the plant goes to seed is critical to prevent further spread, lost productivity and increased control requirements.
Serrated tussock (Nassella trichotoma) can be a long-lived perennial that can invade poor soils and survive fire, drought and frost.
Surveying and treating plants over winter and spring is ideal to prevent the huge early summer seeding events. Seeds are spread by the wind, machinery and also by water and animals.
The seed remains viable in the soil for more than 10 years and can dominate if there is no competition from other pasture species.
Depending on the size of the infestation, winter plants can be removed manually using a hoe or spade, or spot sprayed using a registered herbicide when the conditions suit.
Recently- germinated seedlings will appear bright green until they are bleached by frost, and will be erect and stand out from the other grasses in a pasture.
The Victorian Serrated Tussock Working Party (VSTWP) has a host of information on treatment options and case studies, including videos and information sheets that can be posted or email to landowners.
The VSTWP are asking landowners to conduct assessments of their properties before spring, when the grass starts to flower.
Serrated tussock flowerheads develop a distinctive purple colour as the seeds ripen in late spring and early summer.
For the past six years the East Gippsland Beef Conference has been welcomed by local beef producers as an opportunity to get together, compare notes with old friends and make new ones.
The 2020 East Gippsland Beef conference, originally planned to be held in August in Bairnsdale, won’t go ahead due to the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions.
However, farmers still have an opportunity to go online and hear from a range of experts as part of an Agriculture Victoria webinar series that has been rolled out in recent months and is designed to take extension activities online.
South East Meat and Wool Program Regional Manager Lindsay Hyde said they were working to make the webinar program as flexible as possible to reach as many farmers as possible.
“So far, over 1200 farmers have registered for them. Farmers can either view the webinar or listen to it by calling in on the day or listen to a recording of it later at a time that best suits them.
During winter you will be able to see the plants easily when they are bleached a lighter colour.
The VSTWP has developed an online video and information sheets to help landowners identify the noxious weed, which can be viewed at www.serratedtussock.com, and clicking on identification.
“We’re keen to get the message out to Gippsland farmers that we are still here and working hard to support them, particularly those farmers in drought and fire affected regions of Central and East Gippsland.
“The webinars are just one of the initiatives we’re providing that are designed to support farmers and the agriculture sector in Gippsland,” he said.
Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) have also been delivering a webinar series on Productivity and Profitability with industry experts including Dr Alison Gunn of Herd Solutions. Dr Gunn is known to many East Gippsland farmers through her work as a coordinator of one of the Gippsland BetterBeef Network Groups and a forum facilitator at last year’s East Gippsland Beef Conference.
Agriculture Victoria is working in partnership with the MLA to coordinate the Back to Business program in Victoria, with the aim of providing tailored one-on-one business planning and technical support to red meat farmers in fire affected areas.
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