Aerial Combat Against Gorse Intensifies As Farm Returns Improve

Many sheep and beef farmers on the Coromandel Peninsula will be using surplus income to fight gorse this season.

This is good news for contractors like Paul Miller, Miller Helicopter Services, who says steep contour and restricted access makes aerial application the most effective way to beat gorse on a lot of hill country farms in the region. However, until recently, farmers haven’t had the surplus income to spend on spraying gorse.

“Over the last 18 months they’ve had extra money in their pockets and this has enabled them to catch up on things like brushweed control,” he says.

“We certainly saw evidence of this last season in the size of jobs we were doing. Farmers who might have sprayed one or two hectares in the past wanted five hectares sprayed last year. We were also seeing new clients coming along who hadn’t done any major brushweed control before.”

Based from Matatoki, near Thames, Miller Helicopter Services performs aerial spraying work in the Thames Valley, North Waikato, South Auckland and Bay of Plenty regions. The established family business was started by Paul Miller - a veteran of more than 30 years flying - and his wife Frouk. Their oldest son, Simon, is a pilot for the operation and Frouk, who has considerable knowledge of the business, handles the majority of the administration work. Paul flies helicopters by day and has a “night job” flying fixed-wing freighters.

Miller Helicopters service a range of dairy, sheep and beef, and arable properties in the region- focusing largely on pasture maintenance work during the winter and moving on to brushweed control in spring.

Paul estimates around 25 percent of flying time is spent on gorse control. Other weeds like blackberry and woolly nightshade are also a problem.

Gorse infestations range from a few scattered plants on easy country to blanket gorse on hard-to-get-at hill country. Aerial application is the best way to combat the latter, although Paul advises clients not to do too much at one time.

“Even if it means talking ourselves out of extra work, the best advice we can give is that farmers put aside one-third of their annual budget for a follow-up spray 12 to 20 months later,” he says.

“That follow-up is very important for effective control.”

Paul uses a wide range of chemicals including Tordon Brushkiller, which, he says, is an ideal herbicide for controlling brushweeds like gorse, woolly nightshade and blackberry.

“Woolly nightshade is a big problem here because it grows among the gorse plants. But Tordon Brushkiller will take out both weeds. It’s a very versatile product and it gives good results in a range of conditions. The gorse breaks down quickly and we seem to get less regrowth.”

Ultimately, says Paul, the decision on which chemical to use is left to the client. “But it would be fair to say that we’ve seen an increase in the amount of Tordon Brushkiller used over the last two years.

“As far as herbicides go, it’s good value for money.”

From a contractor’s viewpoint, Paul says Tordon Brushkiller is an easy product to use. “And the backup service from our local Dow rep is excellent.”

But he also points out that a chemical is only as good as the helicopter operator applying it.

Accuracy is crucial. “It’s not like mowing a lawn, where it’s is easy to see where you have been,” says Paul.

“As an old ag pilot friend of mine said, good aerial application is a matter of guesswork based on experience. But these days, of course, we can use modern technology like a differential global positioning system (DGPS) to replace the old ‘eyeballing’ technique and take out the guesswork.”