Taming the Tussock

One of the most time consuming and expensive things most farms will have to deal with is managing weeds. It can be a never ending issue. One of our biggest problems here is Serrated Tussock. It can take over very quickly if not controlled and nothing really eats it so the more tussock you have the less decent food you have for stock. And then there is the Patterson's Curse and Sifton Bush. We were free of Patterson's Curse until a couple of years ago, but a neighbour bought in some contaminated feed during the drought so we are now tackling that too. Amazing how fast the weeds can spread. We are spot spraying this week. I hate using chemicals but at the moment it seems to be the only way to deal with the problem until we get it to more managable levels. There is just too much to take out by hand. We are making headway, though it may take a couple more years to get the tussock hit on the head. Frankly, we need more stock and more fences too to better manage it. We are building them up slowly. The paddocks are looking so much better than they were during the drought when we bought the place though - they have gone from bare and overgrazed to lush and well covered. It all takes time, and we just have to keep on top of those weeds.....