The heightened surveillance comes as the arable industry prepares for the second year of its second black grass response initiated in Mid Canterbury last year.
If there was any chance of black grass appearing it was most likely to show its face at flowering time.
Black grass has been a biosecurity issue in the Mid Canterbury region since the first response operation following the spillage of red fescue seed contaminated with black grass in July 2013.
At this stage there’s been no indication of a link between the two separate outbreaks.
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) black grass response team, including Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) staff and industry stakeholders met last month for a response update on planned surveillance this season.
As black grass was known to flower in December and January in Canterbury, surveillance would be stepped up during that time and continue until all risk of flowering for the season was over.
Black grass was a herbicide-resistant, invasive weed that competed with cultivated crops.
It had proved to be one of the toughest weeds to control on European and United Kingdom cropping farms.
The initial biosecurity breach cost seed company PGG Wrightson Seeds $357,000 and sent a message of responsibility to other industry organisations following the charges laid by MPI.
The biosecurity response was initiated in a partnership between Federated Farmers, FAR, Canterbury Regional Council (ECan), Ashburton District Council, NZ Grain and Seed Trade Association and PGG Wrightson.
Anyone suspecting they had found black grass should take a photo and call the Pest and Disease Hotline 0800 809 966 to report it.
In Britain a new post-emergence herbicide for spring use on winter wheat was set to offer 10% better control of black grass than its predecessor, Atlantis – enough to turn the tide on black grass infestations, the UK Farmers Weekly reported.
Monolith from Bayer was being positioned as a specialist grass weed herbicide that could give a 0.3t/ha yield benefit.
Bayer had removed the broad-leaved weed herbicide iodosulfuron from Atlantis and added propoxycarbozone, a second black grass active.
That change coupled with an increased amount of mesosulfuron had improved black grass control over Atlantis by an average of 10% in 19 independent trials.
The new herbicide also performed more consistently, meaning a grower who saw only a 16% control of black grass with Atlantis could potentially achieve 53% with Monolith, Bayer said.
Ben Coombs, the group’s cereals herbicide manager, said that in the trials Atlantis offered between 16% and 94% control while for Monolith the range was just 53% to 95%.
Meanwhile, the industry’s seed and grain crop readiness and response biosecurity – the farm border project is set to get under way.
