Weeds: Come clean, go clean

I recently spoke with Jay Mohr-Bell from Matheson Station about weeds.

"I think weeds are one of the biggest issues in the NT and I'm especially concerned about weeds spreading along roadsides."

"Weeds competing with your plants for moisture and space are one of your biggest costs. We have an opportunity of a lifetime to keep weeds out and keep the area clean... With margins so tight, its understandable that people often don't react until they start seeing their bottom line affected. But some stations are dealing with massive problems and spending $10,000’s on weed control, and you have to think, that’s how many extra cattle I have to sell each year.”

"My approach is 'come clean, go clean.'

When I leave my place I want to leave clean and I want to come home clean too. That means blowing weed seeds out with an air compressor before you leave an infested area and having a washdown site."

Washdown bays can be simple to set up. For example, Tony Searle at Melaleuca Station uses an old concrete pad with grass downslope to promote infiltration, and a swale (shallow depression for storing water) to capture remaining run-off (pictured below).

 

Recommendations for simple washdown bays are:

· Find an area where weeds are not likely to be spread from (e.g. gentle slope, no waterway, no traffic or stock) and where any germination can easily be detected (e.g. cleared area)

· If not concreting, use decent sized gravel as a pad to stop mud forming and attaching to vehicle on exiting. Or use steel girders to drive onto.

· Create a basin by grading a small swale with minimum catchment area above it.

· Set the area up with a light and gurney

· Check for weed establishment and control weeds bthey seed.

 

For more information and a check list of locations to check for weeds on machinery, click here.