Fireweed is a member of the Senecio family. It is a daisy-like plant with endearing yellow flowers. With awesome capabilities for such an innocent looking weed. It is climatically adaptable, quick off the mark when season break makes germination feasible, putting out it's first seedhead within days of germination, so that it has replenished the stock of seed within a fortnight of germination. It then goes on to rapid vegetative growth and eventually produces great masses of light, easily blown seed. If it's only disadvantage is that it can outgrow most useful pasture plants it may be able to be ignored.
But the sad fact is that, like other Senecio plants, it produces a poison, pyrrolizidine alkaloid, which causes irreversible liver damage in cattle and humans. Evidence of toxicity may not become apparent until some time after the alkaloid is ingested. In humans the acute illness has been compared by the US Food and Drug Administration to the Budd-Chiari syndrome. In cattle the typical effect is ill-thrift and occasionally death, more often in drought or with cattle moved into an infested area from an area which is not yet infested, though it is spreading rapidly. The toxin can contaminate milk from dairy cattle grazing on infested pastures and meat from beef animals grazing infested pastures. The weed can be eliminated from pastures by poison spray, but the sprays would affect wanted pasture species with which the fireweed was growing and we face rapid recovery of the fireweed from the large reserve of seed in the pasture and trouble in marketing our milk and meat products because of the poison residues contained therein. No country has yet put a limit on products for pyrrolizidine alkaloid residues but as the science of detection continues it's rapid advance it is only as matter of time.
A more insidious effect in cattle is the retardation of growth and restriction of growth potential, because of the irreversible liver damage. This is evident in coastal cattle in the rapidly spreading area of infection from Queensland to Victoria and the feedlot industry refuses to take affected coastal cattle because of their inability to put on the rapid weight gain necessary for profitable feedlot operation.
When I first moved up to the North Coast of New South Wales fresh from Botany and Biological Control studies at Monash University I instantly suspected the local fireweed as a recent import from it's superior weed performance. However the local Department of Agriculture agronomist confidently assured me that it was an Australian native. I was not convinced but lacked the resources to prove him wrong. Eventually my attention was drawn to University of New England research which established that the coastal infestation was indeed of overseas origin. BM Sindel showed that it had come from the African area, was poisonous from germination to dessication as hay or whatever, and had biological control potential. (Plant Protection Quarterly 1:163-172 1986). After considerable representation my efforts to get biological control for fireweed resulted in the Meat Research Corporation project QDL.003 being set up. Significant work by Dr JJ Marohasy in Madagascar and South Africa produced insects which could control the coastal fireweed. These were tested as shown in the Final Report of the MRC Project (December 1995) and showed that the insects affected not only overseas varieties but the native Senecio lautus also. SHOCK! HORROR! S. lautus has the same effect on cattle and humans as the overseas plant but... NSW Agfact P7.6.26 1994 page 9 says:- "All insects tested to date have (also) fed on the native Senecio lautus complex. This means that these insects are unlikely to be approved for release". There is faint hope in that David Sparks, Masters student for M Ag Sci UQ is continuing the study on the insects involved.
I know the tragedy of a biological control gone out of control - we are infested with cane toads on our farm. They were introduced as a biological control for pests in sugar cane, didn't do that job well but are a nuisance to us all. But if all the native plants threatened by the insects proposed for fireweed were put up for an auction for Plant Variety Rights noone would bid a cent for them. The most unreasonable greenie would not see these native fireweeds as worth stirring about. Yet the Australian Nature Conservation Agency (ANCA) must agree prior to their release. Richard Amery, NSW Minister for Agriculture says "It has been the policy of ANCA not to agree to the release of agents which may affect native Australian plants".
We need protection against proposals which are against Australia's long term interests. But the arrangements which are set up to give effect to this should NOT be used like a "Catch 22" to frustrate efforts which are in Australia's best interests and do NOT upset the ecological balance of any Australian environment. These insects are not rabbits, not bitou bush or cactus; no environment will be worse off if both overseas and native Senecio plants were completely removed.
I appeal to everyone to think about this and exert whatever pressure they can to see that commonsense and the common good prevail. Australia will be a better place without fireweed, overseas or native!
Suitable contacts could be your local federal and state members of parliament; your farm organization(why not move a motion at the next meeting?); the state and federal ministers responsible for agriculture AND those responsible for the environment (which is the lesser for having fireweed in it!)
With the best will in the world these things take time. At 76 I doubt I will be still farming when biological control of fireweed actually occurs. But I will be damned if I will let that stop me from urging action in Australia's best interests.
Nat B Wheatley B Com M Env Sci FCPA MACS
Email nwheatle@nor.com.au
PS. The authorities are seriously concerned about pyrrolizidine alkaloid poison because they have banned the import of any plant of the Senecio family. The colonial government was not so careful when it brought fireweed seed as impurities in the hay bought to sustain it's military horses on the long sail journey to New South Wales. So it is hypocritical to hide behind procedure to deny farmers protection from the effects of past government action and the public from the effects of pyrrolizidine alkaloid toxin. Every organization and political party which claims to support the rural community and farmers should support urgent action to introduce biological control of fireweed. I appeal to you all to pressure them until it is introduced.