The Victorian Serrated Tussock Working Party (VSTWP) has officially launched an educational video and a comprehensive guide designed to help regional landowners combat the costly impact of serrated tussock through best-practice grazing and pasture management.
The newly released multimedia package, titled Better Grazing, Better Pastures: Reducing the Impacts of Serrated Tussock, delivers practical, research-backed tools demonstrating how proactive land management can serve as a property’s most effective natural defence.
Serrated tussock (Nassella trichotoma) remains a severe threat to Victorian landscapes, drastically reducing livestock carrying capacity, choking out productive native or introduced pastures, and releasing specialised chemicals that actively inhibit neighboring plant growth.
To counteract this, the VSTWP’s new guidelines emphasise that keeping competitive, healthy pastures is the most critical preventative measure. Specifically, land managers are urged to maintain over 80 to 90 per cent ground cover year-round.
According to local agricultural research, maintaining a pasture height of at least two to three centimetres — or roughly 800 to 1200 kilograms of dry matter per hectare — creates a physical barrier that heavily suppresses the ability of airborne tussock seeds to establish in the dirt.
VSTWP communications and engagement officer Ivan Carter said the economic advantages of early, integrated pasture management far outweigh the alternative, noting that treating a large, established infestation can cost at least five times more than early intervention.
“Prevention and early intervention are significantly cheaper than trying to treat a large, established infestation,” Mr Carter said.
“By implementing strategic rotational grazing, giving paddocks time to rest, and keeping ground cover high, land managers can use their own pastures as the first line of defence. These new resources are designed to equip Victorian farmers with the practical science and tools they need to protect their land and boost productivity.”
Mr Carter noted that landowners had consistently requested specialised resources regarding grazing heights and pasture management in different accessible media formats.
“We want to thank Agriculture Victoria, and Graham and Heather Fagg for their involvement in the video, as well as the use of their farm for the filming location,” Mr Carter said.
The guidelines also underscore the reality that overgrazing remains a primary entry point for weed infestation, with short paddocks, stock pushing through fence lines, and bare earth created by pests like rabbits opening up the soil for tussock seeds to embed. The VSTWP suggests implementing rotational grazing rather than continuous set-stocking to allow deep-rooted perennial grasses like phalaris, cocksfoot, and fescue to properly rest, regenerate, and out-compete weeds.
