Weeds and plant diseases
At Local Land Services, we support you to fulfil your responsibilities to manage pests, weeds, and diseases under Australian biosecurity legislation and run a profitable farming enterprise.
Maintaining pest and plant biosecurity helps to prevent risks that could negatively impact your business and our agricultural industry, markets and economy.
Regional Weed Plans
Thank you to landholders, community members, industry representatives and agencies who provided feedback on the draft Regional Strategic Weed Management plans which guide regional management of weeds throughout NSW for the next five years. The exhibition period has now closed.
The 11 plans, representing different regions across NSW, are used to explain how each region will work together to identify, minimise, respond to and manage high-risk weeds over the next five years.
Regional Weed Committees developed the draft plans with Local Land Services and the NSW Department of Primary Industries.
Feedback is now being incorporated and the Regional Strategic Weed Management Plans will be finalised in early 2023.
What is plant biosecurity?
Plant biosecurity includes strategies to manage insect pests and diseases that are a risk to plants.
Plant biosecurity protects the Australian economy, environment and community from the negative impacts of pests, diseases and invasive weeds such as crop loss and threats to native ecosystems. Plant surveillance activities help to identify potential risks from both exotic and industry-identified priority plant pests.
There are several legislated quarantine or protected zones within NSW regulating the movement of high-risk products. These zones include banana protected areas, rice pest exclusion zones, citrus quarantine areas, and seed potato protected areas.
Exotic plant pests include disease causing organisms (bacteria, virus, fungus), and invertebrates (insect, mite, snail, nematode) which cause damage to plants and are not present in NSW. Examples include Tomato potato psyllid, Myrtle rust, Citrus leprosis, Cotton boll weevil, and Fall armyworm.
Be aware of plant biosecurity threats
Biosecurity is essential to ensuring the safety, wellbeing and prosperity of all natural resources, animals and people in NSW. Ensure pests and other contaminants do not enter your property via soils, fertiliser, seeds and seedlings. Routinely monitor for pests and identify risks. It is important to be aware of the pests, diseases and weeds in your region and those found in and around your property. Conduct an induction to explain required hygiene practices for people, equipment and vehicles on your property.
Australia’s isolated position and strong quarantine regulations have allowed us to avoid any serious biosecurity threats and maintain a ‘clean and green’ reputation.
To minimise the risk of introducing plant pests and diseases into NSW, specific pests and diseases are proclaimed under the Biosecurity Act and movement of items associated with these proclaimed pests or diseases are regulated.