Beef industry asked whether fast spreading weed still has fans

Queensland livestock producers are being asked whether they want to keep Gamba grass around or not?

The CSIRO wants funding to develop biocontrols to get rid of it.

The Northern Territory is being smothered by the grass which even became an issue at the recent August elections.

Since its re-election, the cash-strapped NT government has formed a "Gamba Army" and is recruiting 45 people to try and contain it.

For years the Territory government has been handing out free chemicals to pastoralists and landholders in a so far abortive effort to stop its spread.

For the Territory, and the north of Western Australia, Gamba has simply been too successful since it was introduced from Africa in the 1930s as a highly palatable cattle fodder crop.

It was planted throughout pastoral and agricultural areas.

In 2019, the NT government estimated Gamba affected up to 15,000 square kilometres of the NT, but has the potential to affect 380,000 square kilometres across northern Australia.

Across northern Queensland it has adapted well to Cape York and in the Mareeba area.

Gamba can grow to more than four metres high and while some pastoralists claim success managing it and cutting it for hay, it is highly flammable and creates intense bushfires.

The NT's volunteer firefighters have claimed the spread of Gamba grass is threatening lives.

Gamba grass is a declared national weed regarded "as one of the most significant threats to ecosystems and livelihoods in the NT".

It is a "declared pest" in WA where it is being contained to a "small infestation" in the East Kimberley.

Researchers are using satellites to map its spread across northern Australia.

AgForce Queensland is asking producers whether they should support the CSIRO's bid to find a biocontrol to stop it.

Gamba is still valued by some northern livestock producers as a pasture grass as it is said to be able to carry 40 times more cattle than native grasses.

CSIRO is investigating the development of biocontrol options, such as fungal pathogens, worms, and an insect stem borer, to be introduced to reduce the plant's spread.

This is in addition to existing chemical control and regulations.

AgForce is being urged to support CSIRO's biocontrol nomination to the Environment and Invasives Committee and members are being asked whether they believe Gamba is friend or foe.

Members can contact AgForce by emailing vitellim@agforceqld.org.au to have their say.