Farmers’ Part In Weed Eradication

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31597, 7 February 1968, Page 12

Farmers’ Part In Weed Eradication

Farmers could do more to eradicate noxious weeds than a noxious weeds inspector could ever hope to do, said the chairman of the Banks Peninsula Noxious Weeds Control Committee (Mr W. C. Miller) at the committee’s annual meeting in Little River yesterday.

“With the discovery last December of an outbreak of nassella tussock in the Evans Pass area, it is very important that farmers familiarise themselves with the weed and search their farms thoroughly for any trace of it,” he said. “Our noxious weeds inspector has given the eradication of this weed number one priority, but for him to cover every nook of the peninsula would be impossible. “Farmers as soon as they find the weed should grub it out and then come and tell us, so that we can make sure of any trace of the weed on their property being destroyed,” Mr Miller said.

“We have seen in North Canterbury what can happen if the weed goes unchecked, and therefore it is essential that every farmer does his utmost to get rid of nassella tussock.

“Some farmers complain about our inspector’s work and say that he is being unreasonable to expect land to be clear of weeds within a certain time. It seems to be a failing of man that the inspector is always wrong. He is said to be too tough. I think he is not tough enough, and a greater effort on the part of some farmers is re-

quired if we are to overcome this problem,” Mr Miller said. The inspector (Mr H. W. Fawcett) said that over the last year he had noticed a tendency by farmers to slow their gorse and broom clearance, the economic situation playing a major part in this. Mr Miller was re-elected chairman of the committee, Mr I. Menzies was elected to the new post of deputy chairman, and Mr F. W. Aydon was appointed secretary. The committee decided to inspect the Cashmere area, where heavy infestation of noxious weeds has been reported, in the middle of April.