Mr Bush has introduced a perennial pasture establishment program to provide competition against the tussock and to improve the effectiveness of a long-running spraying campaign.

Serrated tussock has become a significant problem during 10 dry years on the Goulburn property he manages, “Chatsbury”, and has been proving difficult to contain, particularly in the steeper, rocky country.

His initial approach was to engage a contractor to spot spray the tussock but that ended up being “like a dog chasing its tail”.

“It took him almost two years to cover the whole place and by the time he had done that it was almost worse than when he had started,” he said.

Mr Bush said he then turned to boomspraying with a tractor on the open, arable country and using a helicopter to spray in the rougher areas.

Unfortunately, the chemical used to control the tussock, fluproponate, also knocked out the native grasses.

It was then he decided to try sowing perennial pastures which were more able to withstand the chemical and allowed him to continue using herbicide control on the tussock.

Full story in The Land, January 14.