WEEDS AWARENESS: Serrated Tussock germination

Yass Valley Council biosecurity weeds officers have reported seeing a higher than usual germinations of Serrated Tussock across the Yass Valley, particularly in the eastern area.

Senior Biosecurity Weeds Officer with Yass Valley Council, Mr Brett Lees, is urging local landholders to be vigilant for young Serrated Tussock plant.

“Serrated Tussock is a serious weed of pastures that has a significant impact on carrying capacity,” Mr Lees said.

“Its presence also greatly reduces land value, and because serrated tussock is not palatable to stock, because it is high fibre and low protein content, animals grazing on serrated tussock become malnourished and lose condition.”

“Following the recent good rain and coming off the back of years of drought and the associated decline in pasture cover, the level of germination has been surprisingly high.”

Mr Lees encourages any landholder who is concerned about serrated tussock on their land to contact Yass Valley Council Biosecurity Weeds Officers, the Local Land Services or your local agronomist.

“The best time to treat serrated tussock is when the plants are young and not fully established. An established infestation of mature Serrated Tussock plants is very difficult, lengthy and expensive to manage,” Mr Lees says.

Yass Valley Council iosecurity weeds officers would like to remind landholders of the importance of exposing the roots and removing all the soils from the root ball when chipping out Serrated Tussock plants.

With the good rain recently falling across the Yass Valley, many residents are taking advantage of the softer soil to manually chip out Serrated Tussock plants in their paddocks. Senior Biosecurity Weeds Officer with Yass Valley Council, Brett Lees, is urging local landholders to be mindful of knocking off any soil that remains on the plants roots to prevent regrowth of the removed plant.

“Serrated Tussock is a tough and very persistent weed,” Mr Lees said. “It is capable of surviving with not much root cover and regrow when moisture arrives.

“We have recently found a number of tussock plants that were removed by landholders several weeks ago have started to re-establish following the recent rains. The damp soil has allowed the roots to grow into the ground."

2 September 2020

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