Seeds are also spread on machinery, in hay, water, mud and the droppings of animals. Each plant produces up to 120,000 seeds annually. Nassella normally flowers and seeds between October and December. Herbicides such as Dalapon or glyphosate are also used but are not nearly as effective as grubbing. Disposal Chemical Control Roundup is used in some situations but is ineffective on large plants.
Physical control is the most effective control method.
It is important that land management practices enable ready detection and eradication. Every effort should be made to prevent plants seeding, especially on new sites, and to prevent the spread of seed by the movement of livestock, produce, machinery and soil. All sightings of this plant should be reported to a Noxious Plants Officer who will organise for its control. Nassella tussock probably arrived in NZ from its native South America late last century. Active and intensive control programmes have markedly reduced its density to the extent that it no longer causes any major reduction in agricultural production, however it is still recorded on many sites throughout NZ where intensive control work continues to ensure infestations do not increase in size.