Weeds
Weeds impact our economy, environment and community through lowering their production or degrading their values. All landholders, whether on an urban house block, a 10ha hobby farm or a 1000ha cattle production enterprise have a general biosecurity duty to control weed species and prevent new weed species from establishing on their land.
There are certain actions a small landholder or hobby farmer MUST legally take to be biosecure. These are detailed in the Biosecurity Act 2015 and supporting legislation and include rules around:
- priority weeds that MUST be reported - these are known as ‘State priority weeds’ and ‘prohibited matter’
- priority weeds that should be targeted and not be sold or moved in certain regions of NSW - these are known as ‘Regional priority weeds’
- having the right accreditation, registrations, certificates and permits.
Local Land Services offers a range of resources and on-the-ground advice to help small farm landholders with:
Managing weeds on small farms
No matter where you are in NSW, you will be covered by a Regional Strategic Weed Management Plan.
These Plans categorise weeds for their Local Land Services Region and provide some basic outcomes for you to work towards to be compliant with your biosecurity duty.