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Weed Warriors release secret agent on field of battle

April 06, 2005

Greig Bullock Schmidt thumb.jpgSchool children in the New England village of Kentucky are rallying to the support of a local farmer who has spent about $20,000 over the years in a vain attempt to rid one of his paddocks of Paterson’s curse.

The primary-school children believe that a tiny beetle has a better chance of controlling the noxious weed than the chemical sprays the farmer has been using.

Last week, in the guise of Weed Warriors, they released their “biological agent” (600 Paterson’s curse crown weevils) on the farmer’s paddock. They understand that the weevils, like Paterson’s curse itself, are native to the shores of the Mediterranean, and they expect them to do their ecological duty in devouring the tender “crowns” of the weeds. Their project is part of the “Weed Warriors” program supported by the Cooperative Research Centre for Australian Weed Management (Weeds CRC), in which the University of New England is a partner.

Weeds CRC staff based at UNE accompanied the children on their mission. One of them, Dr Susan Hester, explained that the Kentucky project was the first “Weed Warriors” venture in northern NSW. “Here in the New England region, weeds are a particular problem in our national parks and other reserves,” Dr Hester said, “and we need to get schools involved there.” The Weeds CRC’s Education Officer, Susanna Greig (pictured here with several of the Warriors), who is also based at UNE, was delighted by the children’s enthusiasm for the project. She and the Principal of Kentucky School, Mr Phill Roberts, discussed a unit of study about weeds that Ms Greig has devised and written, and that Mr Roberts intends to use in the classroom.

The farmer, Mr Dan Ward, told the children that his problem with Paterson’s curse had begun when he bought and planted a 12-acre paddock with a contaminated batch of seed oats 20 years ago. “I had a paddock full of Paterson’s curse just overnight,” Mr Ward said. “I’ve put a terrific effort into trying to control it, and of course I’ve been unable to sell hay from that paddock. It’s made life very difficult.”

Mr Paul Sullivan, Coordinator of Biological Weed Control for the NSW Department of Primary Industries, spoke to the children in their classroom, preparing them for the task ahead, before leading them into the field. (Mr Sullivan, based in Tamworth, has been asked to coordinate the “Weed Warriors” program throughout NSW.) His colleague, Mr Phil Christian, helped the children arm themselves with the tiny “biological agents” that they then carried off and placed carefully onto the green rosettes of Paterson’s curse. Mr Christian will return to the paddock with the children in six weeks’ time to check the effectiveness of the weevils’ onslaught.

The program also has the support of Landcare, and Sonia Williams, from the local Harnham Landcare Group, was there to urge the young Warriors forward. Ms Williams, who coordinates Landcare groups in southern New England, linking them with the schools, said the Harnham Group was paying for expenses involved in the Kentucky project. “A lot of our farmers will be interested in the Weed Warriors program,” she said. “And they’ll find out about it when their children come home from school.”


Media contact: Dr Susan Hester, Weeds CRC, UNE (02) 6773 2373 or 0423 523 044 (e-mail: shester@une.edu.au), or Susanna Greig, Weeds CRC, UNE (02) 6773 2809.

For photographs, please contact Jim Scanlan, UNE Public Relations, on (02) 6773 3049.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at April 6, 2005 11:01 AM