The toll of tussock

A new video has explained the struggle many landowners in Victoria, including here in Moorabool, face battling a highly invasive grass.

Created by the Victorian Serrated Tussock Working Party (VSTWP), which has a strong presence in the Bacchus Marsh area, ‘The emotional impacts of managing Serrated Tussock’ details the toll that fighting serrated tussock takes, in the words of those fighting it.

Pentland Hills farmer and Landcare member Alan Morton is one of those who appears in the video, and says the battle has been going for decades.

“Myself and many of my neighbours have been battling serrated tussock here for 25, 30 years. In this area, there’s a lot of people putting in a huge amount of time trying to control it. Serrated tussock’s had a terrific toll on a lot of people who are trying to run a genuine farming enterprise,” Mr Morton said.

“You get a hot north wind or a big south-westerly change, and that blows and blows. People like myself who are doing our bit to control it on our pad, are affected by neighbours who haven’t done their bit, and they share the love of all the seed blowing all over the countryside.

“It’s really about all of us doing our bit.”

To watch the video, and learn more about serrated tussock, visit the ‘Victorian Serrated Tussock Working Party – VSTWP’ Facebook page, or head to www.serratedtussock.com.