Troublesome tumble weeds known by many as “hairy panic” are once again piling up on houses and piling up on roads and properties near Narrandera.

Hairy panic is generally used to refer to about seven species of weed, all of which are in the Panicum genus, which produce spherical seed heads that roll with the wind.

The plants grow in pastures, fallow fields and roadside across the country and are most prevalent during the warmer months, with the problematic seed heads typically forming at the end of summer.

Complaints reports and are once again surging off the back of multiple summers, with some people finding three-metre-high piles of the seed heads on roads.

Hairy panic can also cause serious health issue for animals and heightened fire risk.

If they eat large amounts of the weed, sheep can develop liver damage and photosensitisation which makes their skin abnormally sensitive to sunlight.

Rural Fire Service Wagga Wagga zone commander Roger Orr said hairy panic could also exacerbate the spread of blazes when it formed into large piles.

“It accumulates under trees… and adds to that fuel load which potentially gets fire up into the trees,’ he said.

Charles Sturt University plant biology specialist Leslie Weston said land owners could stop the weeds from growing on their property through herbicides and tilling, but ultimately seed heads could still blow in from other areas.

Charles Sturt University crop science specialist Asad Asaduzzaman said the only way to address the problem would be two consecutive years of widespread management practices.

He said extensive weed management, including herbicide use, by landholders and governments would reduce the hairy panic seed bank and bring down numbers.

“One year would not be enough,” Dr Asaduzzaman said. 

This article appeared in the Narrandera Argus, 29 February 2024.