Blue Heliotrope Bus

Filed in Recent News by February 24, 2016

BLUE Heliotrope has plagued the Upper Hunter for more than 100 years, but help is at hand with new techniques using tropical grasses and cropping to eliminate the weed.

Blue Heliotrope in flower in the Upper Hunter

Blue Heliotrope in flower in the Upper Hunter

The South American plant is currently flowering beside roadways, triggering hay fever and presenting a toxic hazard to livestock, but it can be controlled and the local land services (LLS) is hosting a bus trip to Binnaway for local farmers to tour farms where it has been successfully eradicated.

Bob Freebairn OAM and agronomist is guiding the tour of John Aitkin’s Binnaway property.

“Individual farmers like this one will tell a story to these people who come to the field day where he has lifted his productivity and profitability has probably trebled or quadrupled,” said Mr Freebairn.

“You no longer worry about stock being killed by the weed which happens particularly in droughts, because it’s the last plant eaten and it’s quite poisonous in that scenario,” he said.

“I think it is costing farmers in New South Wales many millions of dollars on lost production and the solution that we are offering is not just to beat the weed but often lift low fertility country into good cattle or sheep fattening country,” Bob Freebairn said.

Mr Freebairn said it is a weed which can be fought farm by farm.

“It would be nice if everyone in an area did it because there would be less seed bank about, but individuals can do a lot to get the weed under control,” he said.

“This particular property they are going to probably had in excess of 1,000 hectares of it 20 years ago and he’s pretty well successfully prevented it from being a major issue on his property.

“One of the biggest issues is for people to identify it before it becomes a problem and for places where it is already a problem well they have to take more drastic action,” he said.

“You’re fighting fire with fire, you are planting a pasture that can outgrow the weed, provided you plant the pasture carefully and with control,” Bob Freebairn said.

 

  • DATE: Tuesday, March 1
  • TIME: Pick-up Sandy Hollow 7am and pick-up 7:30am at Merriwa LLS office, returning to Merriwa then Sandy Hollow by 6pm.
  • DESTINATION: On-farm at “Clarefield”, Binnaway.
  • CATERING: Food and beverage supplied
  • COST: Free
  • BOOKINGS: Hunter Local Land Services: 02 6540 2400
Copyright 2024 © Wavelength Group Pty Ltd.    
Site map protected by patent. All rights reserved. Sitemap Terms and Conditions | Google Recaptcha Privacy | Terms