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Serrated Tussock Discovered In Yarram Area – All Farmers Asked To Be Vigilant

DPI Catchment Management Officer, Ian Brown and local farmers have discovered a new high priority emerging noxious weed in the Yarram Yarram Catchment areas: Serrated Tussock.

By Department of Primary Industries - 13th March 2003 - Back to News

Mr Brown said that without the vigilance of farmers in the area, this plant would not have been discovered.

"A plant specimen was sent away to the National Herbarium and was identified as Serrated Tussock," Mr Brown said.

This is an aggressive noxious weed, a native of South America and a serious weed of pastures in Victoria. It is a drought resistant tussock grass, unpalatable to stock, which, if forced to eat it, can lose condition and die.

The weed spreads rapidly due to the prolific amounts of seed produced that are wind borne over a wide area.

"Known infestations of Serrated Tussock have been found around the Stratford area and further east and are already in the West Gippsland catchment area, so it was only a matter of time before plants would be found in the Yarram area," Mr Brown said.

With the dry conditions we have been experiencing, the import of grains and fodder and movement of livestock within the region, farmers need to be on the look out for any unusual plants in their pastures.

For further information please contact a Catchment Management Officer at your local Department of Primary Industries office.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: support@gippslander.com

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