Weeds

Weeds are an integral, if not always desirable, part of Australian grazing systems.

For specific information about weeds and weed management in your area please contact your local land protection officer, local government office or natural resource management group.

Useful ‘weed’ websites include:

• Weeds – Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Western Australia
• Weeds – Department of Environment, Northern Territory
• Weeds – Biosecurity Queensland
• Weeds in Australia – Australian Government
• Weeds of National Significance (WoNS)
• Meat & Livestock Australia’s Weed hub

Weed factsheets and booklets available here:

• Bathburst burr (PDF, 102KB)
• Control of caltrop (PDF, 624KB)
• Creeping lantana handbook: a guide to ecology, control and management (PDF, 3MB)
• Mesquite (PDF, 124KB)
• Onion weed (PDF, 98KB)
• Understanding pimelea poisoning in cattle (PDF, 1.96MB)
• Weedy sporobolus grasses: best practice manual (PDF, 1.2MB)

Pimelea and its management

Toxic pimelea species (desert riceflowers and flaxweed) are native plants found throughout inland Australia on pastoral lands. Three ephemeral species (Pimelea simplex, P. elongata, and P. trichostachya) are poisonous to livestock, resulting in heavy losses in some years. In this webinar Jenny Milson discusses pimelea poisoning in cattle and its management. 47:57 minutes published 19 February 2012 by FutureBeefAu.

Download a copy of Understanding pimelea poisoning in cattle – a 42-page booklet which describes the clinical signs of pimelea poisoning, treatments and management strategies, and includes recent experimental feeding and herbicide trials, plus case studies detailing the personal experiences of producers.