Weed hygiene practices in NSW: Knowledge and practices of landholders, public land managers, weed contractors and agricultural transport operators

Weeds cost the NSW economy over $1.8 million each year through weed control costs, productivity losses, expenditure by public agencies and value lost due to price responses in agricultural markets (NRC, 2014). Good weed hygiene supports weed control efforts and can prevent weed spread. The importance of weed hygiene is reflected in the plethora of policies and guidelines on weed hygiene practices that exist for different sectors. Despite the presence of numerous weed hygiene guidelines, the 2013 National Landcare Survey (de Hayr, 2013) indicated that very few resources were being expended on weed hygiene; only 11% of agricultural businesses surveyed incurred weed hygiene costs. To date there has been limited research into the extent to which weed hygiene is being undertaken in NSW and the reasons it is or is not being implemented. The aim of this research was to explore the extent to which private landholders, public land managers, weed contractors and agricultural transport operators know about and implement best practice hygiene.