The NSW harvest is imminent and preparations are well under way for the rush of harvesting equipment from Queensland to be checked at the border for parthenium weed.

Rigorous border inspections are an essential component of the NSW strategy aimed at preventing parthenium weed from establishing in this State.

Grain growers are urged to strengthen the defence by insisting on seeing documentation that harvesting machinery has been cleaned and inspected before it enters the farm.

Noxious Plants Advisory Officer for NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) at Armidale, Philip Blackmore, stressed the importance of checking the inspection certificate.

“The greatest parthenium weed threat comes from central Queensland where thousands of hectares are known to be heavily infested,” Mr Blackmore said.

“Harvesting machinery has been identified as the main carrier and while most operators thoroughly clean their machinery before they reach the border, some headers require more cleaning.

“The certificate means that the equipment has undergone a 19 point inspection by NSW DPI’sborder staff and includes a declaration by the operator that each of the relevant parts has been cleaned.”

He cautioned farmers to avoid using contractors unable or unwilling to show their border inspection certificate, when it’s suspected the contractor has worked recently in Queensland.

The clean-down and inspection procedures provide the best possible protection but cannot totally eliminate the risk of spread as tiny seeds can remain trapped in inaccessible parts of the harvester.

As an added precaution, growers can protect their own property by carrying out their own inspection.

Mr Blackmore said efforts to keep the weed out of the State are proving to be effective, with around 50 sightings on farms and another 12 on non-farm private property since the first outbreak was discovered in 1982.

“There have been a number of sightings on roadsides from the Queensland border in the north, to Deniliquin in the south but these are always treated promptly and therefore of lesser concern to authorities.”

He said it was vital that every infestation was identified early so that control measures could be carried out before the infestation became too extensive to be effectively treated.

Contact Philip Blackmore, Armidale, (02) 6773 2413.

This story appears Agriculture Today.