FARMING groups and politicians have come together to put buffel grass on the agenda ahead of the Federal election, with the Labor Government expected to call an election in the coming days.
A proposal to make buffel grass a weed of national significance has drawn a strong response from the industry in recent weeks, including Cattle Australia chair Garry Edwards saying the plant needed an Order of Australia Medal at the recent Northern Territory Cattleman’s Association conference.
The main concerns are about large-scale efforts to eradicate the plant that is a vital pasture on many grazing properties across the country.
Kennedy MP Bob Katter urged the Government to abandon the proposed listing.
Bob Katter of Katter’s Australian Party.
“Buffel grass wasn’t brought here by accident – it was introduced because it’s one of the best options we’ve got. It holds the soil together and keeps the cattle fed even during drought,” Mr Katter explained.
“The Gulf and Peninsula were built on buffel, Brahman, and bitumen.
“Buffel grass is essential to the northern cattle industry, and to label it as a weed would be counter-intuitive, turning all of the North into a weed-infested dust bowl.”
Mr Katter said buffel’s deep-rooted resilience has dramatically improved rainwater efficiency and environmental sustainability across Australia.
“Buffel grass is not some noxious weed—it’s an improved pasture grass. It holds the soil together, soaks up the rain, and has improved sustainability while reducing erosion,” he said.
“Meanwhile, terrible invasive species like lantana, prickly acacia, rubber vine, and feral cats and pigs, should be demanding our attention. Why on earth are we wasting our time even talking about this?”
Part of a wider issue
Lloyd Hick
AgForce Queensland Cattle President Lloyd Hick said the buffel proposal was part of a wider trend of the current Government making decisions without any industry input.
“This is not an isolated issue. It is part of a broader pattern of decisions being made without industry input, with disastrous consequences for agriculture and Australia. If the beef sector does not push back hard on this, it will be taken as a win and another critical pillar targeted next.
“Producers are increasingly frustrated as time and energy that should go into food production is spent pushing back against agenda-driven ideas and re-educating city-based decision makers who think they understand the land—but don’t.”
Securing the right to graze buffel a focus of Cattle Australia
Cattle Australia chief executive officer Dr Chris Parker said it was not fair to put buffel grass alongside other well-known pests.
Chris Parker
“It is flawed ideology for buffel grass to be considered a weed of national significance when it has positive environmental, social and economic impacts for Australia, and is absolutely vital for Australia’s agricultural and livestock industries. Buffel grass shares no characteristics with actual weeds of national significance,” Dr Parker said.
“When compared to the environmental impact of lantana or blackberries, buffel grass should not even be in the same conversation.
“It is essential to the production of millions of kilograms of beef for Australian and international markets. In 2024, Australia exported 1,972,000 tonnes (carcase weight) of beef and the red meat supply chain employed more than 430,000 people, contributing tens of billions of dollars to the national economy, and buffel grass has been critical to that success.
“It is clear there needs to be an urgent reform of the process used to assess the impact of non-native plant species, to ensure plant species of economic and agronomic significance are not targeted, and immediate action should be taken to establish buffel grass as a Primary Production Strategic Asset.”
Qld LNP Government joins campaign against buffel listing
Queensland Nationals senator Susan McDonald said the Qld state government had joined the campaign against the buffel listing.
“The whole process lacks transparency, its impacts are unknown and details about who would manage buffel grass are non-existent,” she said.
Susan McDonald
“There are suggestions biological controls may be implemented but that might harm native plants and animals, in addition to the economic prosperity of regional Australia.
“There are far too many questions about this process which is being undertaken without any consultation with industry, and I will be joining State Primary Industries Minister Tony Perrett to ensure Queensland isn’t subjected to this outrageous and dangerous declaration.
“It’s also concerning that the Albanese Labor Government is targeting buffel grass while known pests such as pigs, canetoads, fire ants, fall army worm and navua sedge are still proliferating and causing enormous damage.
“It is yet another example of this government rushing to appease activists by attacking primary industries in this country, particularly beef production.
“Labor has banned live sheep export, it has banned net fishing in North Queensland, it has launched damaging water buybacks in the Murray Darling and it is happy to sacrifice farming land for solar and wind farms.
“The people of Australia should be extremely concerned that our food security is being undermined by its own government.”
Buffel grass seed was introduced into Australia via the Afghan camels which were released into Central Australia more than 80 years ago. This grass was then observed to greatly improve feed availability in sparce and poor-quality areas.
We produced some of the first commercial quantities of American Buffel Grass and later Biloela Buffel grass seed available to the industry from 1960 to about 2000 at our property in Central Queensland.
During this period, I have witnessed the transition of the cattle grazing country in Queensland, NSW, SA and NT from poor natural grass pasture with poor stocking rates and cattle dying in poor times to the thriving pastures which support our fantastic beef industry.
Buffel grass, Green Panic and Rhodes grass planted with a long-term legume like Seca Stylo produces the best pasture available for the low to medium rainfall areas which produce most of the beef which feeds these people with little knowledge of where beef actually comes from.
Improved pasture can produce up to 5 times the beef per acre.
Without buffel varieties as the base grass, where is the beef to feed these people going to come from, “plant based” or some other synthetic creation.
During our production time, we sold American Buffel seed to merchants who exported it overseas for the purpose of revegetating and rehabilitating degraded and desert country into usable pasture to help feed their people.
Where are the people with no farming knowledge moving to next on their weed list – Green Panic or Rhodes Grass?
For all my farming years I have witnessed plenty of natural wildlife eating Buffel Grass in preference to the naturally occurring grass species.
How is this fantasy to kill buffel grass going to be achieved? All chemicals currently available to use will kill all grass species including the native species when used.
To the people who came up with this idea, I give you a comparison – to remove buffel grass from the beef industry setting it back 50 years would be to remove the computer from your industry and give you a pen, paper and an encyclopedia (a book containing knowledge and facts) to look up for information and expect you to produce the same amount of work each day.
A true predator weed, couch grass is taking over thousands of acres of cattle country reducing stocking rates, but we do not hear about this problem.
The focus of these groups should be on true weeds that actually harm and reduce pasture quality for the beef industry, such as Parthenium, rubber vine, mother of millions, lantana or some cactus varieties.
Parthenium is a true weed of significance.
In my farming years parthenium has spread from the garden to the paddock and takes over your country. Parthenium which can kill cattle, has spread through vast areas of the Queensland countryside, and now into Northern NSW, at an alarming rate each year.
There is not enough chemical in Australia to contain parthenium, this true weed, now that it is flourishing unchecked despite huge efforts to control its spread because people did not control it when they should have.
Support the fight against this “ideological proposal ” from those who have no vested interest except to feed their own pockets and misplaced ideologies, By attempting to decimate the productive tools that contribute to the sustainability of cattle production, the aim seems to be to reduce our great beef industry to a regressive state of struggle.
Russell Wells
Central Queensland
As I understand it, the sale and distribution of a plant on the WoNS list is prohibited by law.
The sale of produce such as hay pasture seed would have to have an accompanying declaration to say that is weed free. Livestock undergo quarantine and cleaning, and machinery movement needs a wash down certificate to declare it weed free.
This would impose a major bio security burden on the rural sector across Councils, mining, energy, tourism, transport, as well as agriculture.
Furthermore if the livestock sector is going to meet its obligation around net zero, buffel grass is going to play significant role.
The irony in the NT is that buffel has been banned by a government that has little revenue already. The pastoral industry, largely assisted by buffel, is the states biggest income producer. Much of the states revenue relies on buffel. It defies logic
Industry representatives engaged in national weeds policy since 2020 would be aware of the National Established Weeds Priorities Framework NEWP.
29 established weed nominations currently undergoing detailed assessment, including buffel grass, rats tail grasses & African lovegrass. There are MLA & NFF industry rep’s on the NEWP Steering Group. For more details – https://weeds.org.au/national-established-weed-priorities-newp/.
It simple beggars belief that the likes of GRT and African Lovegrass are in the same sentence as Buffel grass.
Beef Central Marie’s link leads to the names of the NFF and MLA members of the NEWP. Clearly they should be on there to represent us all. Can you please ask them to explain how they feel they are performing in terms of representing us? And why the nomination of Buffel grass, arguably Australia’s most productive pasture species, was ever accepted!
Scientists have known for years, that buffel grass flows the most carbon into the soil.
I don’t understand what they are worried about, dieback is going to wipe it out anyway!!!
Well done Beef Central. We all need to keep the pressure on and publicly expose the people behind this push to put Buffel grass on the WONS list. If they are successful, and we end up with a Labor, Greens, Teals federal government, they will push on towards biological control.
How on earth was the NT Government convinced the to declare it a weed there? Can we learn from that mistake?
Maybe Bob Katter MP needs to show his support for the Agricultural industry and announce that he will no longer support any labor/ Green backed policies that directly/indirectly impact the Agricultural industries. As well as no support for labor in the event of a hung parliament come election time.