For more than a decade, graziers across Queensland and northern New South Wales have been baffled by a mystery murderer in their paddocks, costing billions in lost productivity. But there's finally been a break in the case.
The culprit behind pasture dieback which began in Queensland has finally been identified as mealybugs.abc.net.au/news/mealybugs-causing-pasture-dieback-qld-nsw-management-trial/102213404For more than a decade, graziers across Queensland have been baffled by a mystery murderer in their paddocks – watching helplessly as their lush green pastures turned yellow and died without explanation.
And now, farmers like Chris Roffey hope a new trial investigating best management practices means they can move on, control it and recover.The first signs of a problem in Queensland's pastures was discovered in 2011 in the state's north, and since then it has spread through central and southern areas and into northern New South Wales.On Mr Roffey's property at Gaeta, about 100 kilometres west of Bundaberg, he and his two brothers first noticed pasture dieback in 2016.
The committee estimates the economic hit to productivity because farmers cannot use their paddocks exceeds $2 billion.Just five years ago researchers still had no clue what was killing Queensland's grasses. The females produce their young during the winter and immature mealybugs cause widespread damage the following spring.This breeding cycle goes some way to explaining how dieback can seem dormant, then in just a few months run rampant.But Dr Hauxwell said the tiny creatures posed a "massive biosecurity threat" for graziers."Look for these mealybugs, learn what to look for, what the symptoms are, what [they] actually look like.
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