00:00To the untrained eye, this is just another pasture in the snowy mountains.
00:07But look a little closer and you'll see an invasive weed called African lovegrass.
00:12It's choking out native grasses, rendering farmland unproductive.
00:17It's a big issue and the general feeling I get is it's just too hard.
00:22Ross Sherlock spends more than $100,000 a year spot spraying the weed.
00:27It's not sustainable. We're doing it but there's got to be another way or we'll just go broke.
00:33And the heat of summer has authorities even more worried.
00:36I heard comments like it burns like kerosene.
00:39African lovegrass catches fire more easily than other grasses.
00:43So you'll see a greater intensity, you'll see greater flame highs.
00:47But with African lovegrass, often you're sending more trucks than you would otherwise send.
00:51A local action group is calling for more support.
00:54Landholders probably have the best answers to how we can actually manage the continued conservation of our native grasslands.
01:02Many here would like to fight back by carrying out boom spraying or controlled burns.
01:07But those methods aren't permitted until the weed has taken over more than half the area.
01:13Some producers say this incentivises people to do nothing until the weed gets out of control.
01:18The state government says it is open to addressing these regulations.
01:22Ross and Liz Sherlock want the government to consider supporting individual farm management plans.
01:28But without that approval, enacting them remains illegal.
01:32The dilemma is do we go ahead, break the law and try and conserve some of our native grasslands?
01:38Or do we comply with the law and lose the lot?
01:42Just a lot.
01:43A weed that's weighing heavily on the land and minds of Monero farmers.
01:47BRYN WALKER
01:53DATUL TRAVEY
01:54DATULES
01:56DATULES
01:57DATULES
01:58DESIGN
02:00TREATURES
02:02DATULES
02:03PERMAL
02:04KALAL
02:05PROPERLESS
02:06OR RESPONSIBLE
02:07OUT
02:08PARMERS
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