Sharing the knowledge of hundreds of stakeholders, the 19th NSW State Weeds Conference addressed prevention and elimination of weeds in Armidale.

Conference convener Wayne Deer said one of the biggest conversation topics this year is the introduction of  the Biosecurity Act 2015.

“It is a learning curve I think for everybody, landholders particularly are having to come to a general understanding of what their biosecurity responsibility is,” Mr Deer said.

“The more that we can look at prevention, elimination and eradication of weeds, the better off it’s going to be for the agricultural sustainability of land owners.”

Uralla Weeds Officer Russel Smith said biosecurity goes beyond the cost to the economy.

“There’s a couple of reasons why we need to manage weeds, and that’s going to be for biodiversity to protect our wild areas – Oxley Wild Rivers, Dorrigo National Park – all unusually well preserved areas,” Mr Smith said.

“But, if these weeds were left to go rife, we’d lose the flora and fauna of those areas.

“The other reason is human health, we’ve got weeds that come in that affect people with respiratory problems – some of them are toxic to animals or humans.”

In NSW, weeds cost the agriculture industry more than $1 billion annually.

The Biosecurity Act collapses 10 previous pieces of legislation into one.

The conference held A Great Debate, where academics and professionals discussed the benefits and drawbacks of the new legislation.

“It’s an opportunity every two years for weed professionals to gather together and not only hear excellent talks and presentations but to network and catch up on ideas that are happening across their areas of work,” conference convener Wayne Deer said.

More than 200 delegates came from as far as Western Australia, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory to hear innovative presentations.

The 19^th Biennial NSW State Weeds Conference was held at the University of New England.