Graham Wheeler, Chairman, Tutsan Action Group October 27, 2012 Roger : Welcome back. Tutsan is an invasive pasture weed, spread by wind, water, birds and machinery. It's costing some farmers tens of thousands of dollars annually. Graham Wheeler is a farmer and chair of the Tutsan Action Group. Graham, can you tell us a bit about tutsan. Graham : Tutsan is a very voracious weed. It's very invasive in any sheltered paddock or steeper hill country. It invades the native bush. It can grow under shade. It's got a very large root system. It's very hard to get chemicals down into to get very good control. It's in every area from Cape Reinga to the Bluff. Large infestations in the Ruapehu, Waikato and Bay of Plenty especially. Graham : It was probably brought into New Zealand as either a garden plant or a natural health remedy. It's a relation of St John's Wort and that was brought in for depression. This cleans the liver of people but when stock eat it, it actually ruins their liver and gives them similar effects like facial eczema. Roger : How long have you been dealing with tutsan on your property? Graham : I've been spraying it for over twenty years. And the last five years, I've been spending fifteen thousand dollars a year, costing four hundred dollars a hectare for helicopter spray and the big thing about it is you can't just spray it once, you have to keep going back and get