Skeleton weed

Control recommendations

Control methods for this declared plant can be found in the Skeleton Weed Program's best management practice guide and control program documents, available below. Recommendations are reviewed annually based on chemical availability and research trials.

See also the section on 'Biological control of skeleton weed'.

Reporting finds prior to undertaking controls

Contact your local DPIRD Office, skeleton weed Local Action Group, the Pest and Disease Information Service or use the MyPestGuide Reporter App prior to completing any chemical controls.

Chemical recommendations for application on skeleton weed are reviewed and published annually and presented into a best management practice guide which is available to skeleton weed infested landholders and interested persons, with chemical mixes which will vary depending on the land use (crop, pasture, plantations or organic farms etc).

You may also be eligible for landholder assistance, support and advice through the Skeleton Weed Program which is funded by the Grains, Seeds and Hay Industry Funding Scheme. 

Chemical considerations

When using any agricultural chemicals please ensure that you always follow instructions on the label and any permit. Users of agricultural chemical products must always strictly comply with the directions on the label and the conditions of any permit. To view permits or product labels go to the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority website.

The department has developed the Skeleton Weed Program with support from the Grains, Seeds and Hay Industry Funding Scheme. The Program aims to manage skeleton weed in WA’s wheat growing areas.

The main objective of the Program is to assist landholders to eradicate skeleton weed and to prevent its further spread within WA. This is achieved through strong support from:

• The department
• an effective control program for affected properties
• the detection of newly infested areas via a targeted surveillance program before skeleton weed can become established.

The Program provides significant benefits for grains, seeds and hay industries through its eradication and management program, successfully eradicating skeleton weed from a number of properties and limiting the spread across the grain and hay growing areas of WA.

An important mechanism for delivering the project activities is achieved through the funding of Local Action Groups (LAG’s). These groups undertake the delivery of program activities in a particular area (usually a shire or group of shires) thanks to strong local support in their communities.

Background and funding

The first report of skeleton weed in Australia occurred near Marrar in New South Wales in 1917. Although details are unknown, it most likely entered as seed with vine stocks, in animal fodder or bedding from Southern Europe. It spread throughout the south-eastern Australian wheatbelt during the 1920s to 1940s, dramatically reducing yields and proving difficult to control. Over time, three distinctive forms emerged, a narrow-leaf (most common), an intermediate-leaf and a broad-leaf form, distinguishable by the basal rosette leaf shapes.

The first skeleton weed detection in Western Australia (WA) occurred at Ballidu in 1963. Following the discovery of several large infestations in the Narembeen shire in 1973, the Skeleton Weed (Eradication Fund) Act 1974 was passed by Parliament to enable grain producers to self-fund ongoing eradication efforts via a levy on grain producers. This arrangement remains in place, but now operates under the Biosecurity and Agriculture Management Act 2007. The levy is reviewed annually and supports both the Skeleton Weed Program and Three-horned bedstraw (Galium tricornutum Dandy) Program. (Cook DC. Benefit-cost analysis of skeleton weed (Chondrilla juncea) management in Western Australia).

The program is delivered by DPIRD under a service delivery arrangement with the Grains, Seeds and Hay Industry Management Committee. The Committee acts under the Biosecurity and Agriculture Management Industry Funding Schemes (Grains) Regulations 2010 to manage prioritised pests affecting the grains industry. The Grains, Seeds and Hay Industry Management Committee is funded through contributions raised on the sale of grain, seed and hay.

Services provided by the program are only available to landholders who contribute to the Grains Industry Funding Scheme through the sale of grain, seed or hay. Landholders not under the scheme but who have skeleton weed on their properties are still required to meet their obligations under the program but at their own cost. 

Program strategies

• Improve landholders’ ability to find and eradicate skeleton weed.
• Increase landholders’ awareness of skeleton weed as a highly undesirable weed.
• Widely publicise descriptions and pictures of skeleton weed to help landholders identify infestations.
• Inform landholders about the most up-to-date techniques available for the management and eradication of skeleton weed.
• Provide assistance with searching and eradication.
• Encourage local grower groups (Local Action Groups) to participate in cooperative surveillance and reporting of infestations.
• Encourage Local Action Groups to assist in the management and eradication of skeleton weed in their local areas.
• Implement practical compliance regimes in affected areas.
• Provide landholders with incentives to report infestations.
• Provision of winter control treatments where landholders are compliant with program requirements.

Summer searching and surveillance

The Skeleton Weed Program undertakes annual summer surveillance of paddocks with high chances of having skeleton weed. 

The department has been carrying out a targeted surveillance program since 2002 with the objective to find infestations in areas considered a high risk of having skeleton weed. This program also raises awareness of the presence of skeleton weed on high risk properties. It occurs on non-infested properties between December and March in grain growing areas.

Properties chosen for surveillance are considered to have a high probability of having skeleton weed, due to being near or adjacent to a current skeleton weed infested property. Other properties are identified from analysis of current infestation locations, and predictions of spread from these locations.

Surveillance involves checking a minimum of three paddocks over summer (preferably crop stubbles) on each selected property. The aim is to search up to 300 hectares per property.

Landholders or managers will be contacted via phone and correspondence to advise of impending scheduled surveillance and confirm which properties can be searched. Paddocks should be livestock-free and unsprayed for four weeks, and allow 5-10 days before departmental searching of harvested paddocks; this will allow skeleton weed to grow above the stubble.