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Weedbuster Week – 12-19 October 2003

Weedbuster Week is a national weed awareness program. The program commenced in 1997 with the co-operation of all State and Territory Governments.

By Department of Primary Industries - 24th September 2003 - Back to News

Weedbuster Week aims to:

• raise awareness and increase public understanding about the problems weeds cause
• help the public make the connection between their gardening, farming or grazing habits and potential land and environmental degradation
• provide the public with the information and skills required to play a responsible role in the sustaining use of the land and water resource and ultimately make the necessary changes in behaviour to help the environment
• foster community ownership of problems resulting in acceptance and support for weed management projects

In recognition of the international year of freshwater this years theme is 'Wetlands not Weedlands', focusing on the serious threat water weeds pose to the health of Australia’s wetlands and waterways.

This year Weedbuster Week will include a range of activities and educational programs to raise public awareness of the impacts of weeds. Across Gippsland activities are currently planned for Bairnsdale, Poowong, Traralgon and Sale.

To check if an event is being held in your area, log onto the Weedbuster website of www.weedbusters.info and select Registered Weedbuster Week Activities. For further information contact your local area Landcare Coordinator.

EYE CANCER OF CATTLE

Eye cancer or malignant tumour is a common condition of the eyeball or eyelid of cattle. It is most common in Herefords or their crosses and is most likely to be seen in older cattle. It is rarely seen in other breeds. Australian climatic conditions, with excessive solar radiation, contribute to a higher prevalence of eye cancer in this breed than in their natural environment in the Northern Hemisphere.

It is illegal to put cattle with malignant tumours, including eye cancers, into Victorian saleyards. It is also illegal to bring these cattle into Victoria without a licence. However, special conditions allowing the sale of cattle with very early stage cancers apply in saleyards.

The recommended method of disposal of cattle with small eye cancers is to send them direct to an abattoir. However, cancerous growths up to the size of a five-cent coin that are not bleeding or discharging may be sent to a saleyard for slaughter.

Cattle with eye cancers between the size of a five cent coin and a 20 cent coin (2-3 cm) that are not bleeding or discharging may go direct to an abattoir at the owner's risk of non payment. Otherwise, they must be treated or destroyed humanely on the farm. They must not go in, or near, a saleyard.

Under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, owners may face cruelty charges if they allow eye cancers to grow too large. In all cases, early detection and treatment or disposal is necessary. As cancer is a notifiable disease, owners should seek veterinary advice when in doubt.

Coloured cards showing various types of eye cancers are available to assist cattle producers deal with this disease. These are available from Stock Agents and DPI offices.

The cards are a guide to the various stages of eye cancers and clearly show what are acceptable at saleyards, what must go direct to abattoirs and what must be humanely destroyed on the farm.

DEVELOPING LEPTOSPERMUM AS CUT FLOWERS

Leptospermum species (commonly known as tea-trees) have had limited use as a cut flower due to the short vase life of the available cultivars. Recent work at DPI Knoxfield has focused on developing a range of Leptospermum cut flowers with long vase life, novel colour forms and varying flowering times.

Leader of the Leptospermum project, Tony Slater, said that selections were obtained from a range of sources which exhibited characters that could make these plants acceptable as cut flowers.

"Two genera and 38 species provided a total of 247 selections," said Tony. "Plants were propagated and appraised on their floral display, growth habit and vase life." Tony added that postharvest treatments and solutions were assessed for their effect on the vase life of Leptospermum. "From these assessments, our recommendations are to cut stems when about 20% of buds are open and consider treating species that are prone to petal drop with anti-ethylene compounds," he said. "Growers should also use good practices of cooling and germicides and encourage the end-user to recut stems and use a flower preservative."

The reproductive biology of Leptospermum has also been investigated and a breeding program established. "The program now has 1,200 hybrids from a range of crosses growing in the field," said Tony. "The first hybrids that have started to flower are showing an interesting combination of characters and we are now concentrating on hybridising a range of superior selections with the aim of producing superior hybrids."

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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