Velvet leaf panic

I wrote about the "worstest, mostest agressivest weed in the whole world", velvet leaf, Abutilon theophrasti for Get Growing last week. I've been amazed by the reaction to the discovery that velvet leaf is now growing across Southland, having been sown en mass along with fodder beet for winter feed for cows and I suppose sheep. It's not as though there has been an isolated outbreak of velvet leaf from some garden or other, or even a spill from a seed-carrying truck as with the recent black grass in Canterbury. No, this seed was sown on farms all over the region. The Ministry for Primary Industries somehow contrived to source fodder beet through a seed company (hat-tip Ray) from an unusual source and it was "contaminated" with Abutilon theophrasti which grew happily here in Southland and is now setting it's own seeds. Panic has gripped the authorities, along with, I suspect, feelings of guilt and fear at being sued by farmers who stand to lose a great deal of income, should this plant get established here. Hence the huge, sustained and very expensive efforts to seek and destroy the plants. Not much comment in the media about how the situation arose, why the decision was made to import from an infected area and why the seed was not "clean". It's a major botch-up by MPI, I reckon and a very expensive one. Our own regional council is redirecting much of its energies away from its core functions into this search and while we are assured that MPI will pay back what we've had to spend, Environment Southland is losing valuable time in the fight to protect the waters of Southland from those other threats that have long been identified. This is not a good situation to find ourselves in. At all. Here are the PDF versions of my article.