He has been the lone ranger for the Inverell Shire Council area as biosecurity officer, but he will soon be able to tap into a broader network of support in what's feared to be a troublesome season.

New England Weeds Authority (NEWA) will be expanding its operational area to include Inverell Shire under a Memorandum of Understanding for the next twelve months, Biosecurity Officer Rachel Betts explained.

It's something that may be more important than ever, coming into a Spring after years of drought.

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"With everyone buying in fodder and hay from right across Australia, there is that potential for weeds that we haven't seen before to start growing here," he explained.

It's concerning, considering seeds can remain viable for 30 years.

Ms Betts said Armidale, Uralla and Glen Innes had already seen Black Eyed Susan pop up, brought in with hay from Victoria. Inverell has been lucky to have none of it "so far", Mr Riley said, however said the Shire did have one plant of Parthenium weed.

Mr Riley has spent the past five years working in Inverell area as the Biosecurity Officer, coming from his previous 30 years as a private contractor for weed spraying.

Clearly passionate about his job, he gave an example of a 'win' moment.

He was recently called to Pindari Dam after the recent extensive rains, with some locals calling in a strange plant floating on the dam's surface, washed in by recent flood inflows.

He received the results the morning he chatted to the Times, and said the result confirmed his suspicions.

"It was Celery Buttercup - which is poisonous to goats, horses, sheep," he said.

"It was obviously growing in one of the hollows up there and the inflows washed them out - because they are not normally a floating plant," he laughed.

"That was thanks to the vigilance of the men out at Pindari Dam - they notified something strange and sent a few photos in."

In a collaborative effort with the DPIE, council, NEWA, Mr Riley sent off the biological matter to the Botanical Garden in Sydney, who identified the plant. He will now send out an alert notifying landholders of the potential threat.

Mr Riley assists landowners with weed/plant identification and discuss weed control techniques including appropriate herbicides for the situation.

The pair say talking to your local Biosecurity Officer (weeds) is important if you notice an unfamiliar plant on your fenceline, in your paddock or feed out area.

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New England weeds Authority will be responsible for the annual works program in the Inverell Shire Council, which includes property inspections, weed management and control works on public land as well as the conduction of education and extension programs.

Mr Riley will play a key role in these programs.

"Most of the weeds we currently control in the New England tablelands were introduced through stock feed and vehicle movements," Ms Betts explained.

"Vigilance plays an important part on the weeds we have to control in the future."

For more information download the NSW WeedWise app from the app store or online at weeds.nsw.dpi.gov.au.

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