Marlborough weed spray contractors Don and Roger Boese are facing a busy season as farmer demand for their service increases. The Blenheim-based father and son team is encouraging farmers to adopt an annual weed maintenance programme.

Don Boese, a veteran of 17 years in the chemical application business, says better farm prices are a welcome relief for farmers and contractors. He says low farm returns in the previous ten years have forced noxious weed control well down the priority list.

"A lot of farmers have tried to cut costs by doing the work themselves. They've tried to fit in weed spraying with other important farm jobs, but found that they haven't been able to spray weeds at the right time for effective control."

But this year farmers are budgeting for weed control and calling in professionals like the Boeses to do the job.

"Some of our biggest clients are hill country stations that employ several staff for stock management but can't afford to dedicate one person to weed spraying on a full-time basis. So we go in with four or five guys and do the job in two weeks."

A large proportion of the Boese's work is controlling gorse and broom on hill country farms (the biggest is a 41,000 hectare station) between the Marlborough Sounds and Kaikoura. Don Boese says a typical job will involve spraying scattered weeds (usually ten to 20 plants a hectare) that are two-to five-years-old. He says many farmers use aerial application to control heavy infestations and then employ groundspray operators to clean up seedling regrowth.

Don and Roger, who are registered chemical applicators, say there is no secret to effective gorse control. "Gorse is not hard to kill. It's just a matter of using the right technique and the right chemical."

The Boeses use a marker dye and their preferred herbicide for gorse and broom is Tordon* Brushkiller.

"We regard Tordon as a premium product," says Don. "It's the only product you can use all-year round and know that it is going to do the job properly," he says.