NSW Riverina residents have been inundated with the dreaded 'hairy panic'.
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Temora resident Glenn Sheehan returned from a week away on Friday night to a backyard overrun by the weeds.
"We drove in at about 9.30pm and I looked around and I just thought, 'what is that?'. It just didn't compute at the time," Mr Sheehan said.
Over the weekend, the nightmare has accumulated as wild weather continues to blow the weed into the town.
"The wind is making the situation much worse, it's all coming in from the east. My house faces west and it's just everywhere," Mr Sheehan said.
"It's almost at the height of my car. That's the worst I've ever seen it."
In Cootamundra, Kirsty Philpott is also battling against the worst infestation of weeds she's seen in her 25 years in the town.
She said she awoke on Saturday to a backyard full of hairy panic, almost to the height of her doorway.
"We cleaned it all up and immediately, it all came back," Ms Philpott said. "There were 10 of us cleaning it, it took us an hour but it was pointless because it's all there again."
Between Sunday's rain and the weeds, Ms Philpott felt stuck indoors, worrying that should she or her young children venture outside they may get lost amid the mess.
"When it's raining the wind doesn't pick it up as much, when it's wet it might actually be easier to clear away," she said.
"But until the wind and the rain goes away we can't really get out there to clear it again."
IN OTHER NEWS:
Over in Coolamon, Charles Sturt University plant biology professor Leslie Weston is facing her own weed worry as the hairy panic encroach on her paddocks.
Although not quite as extreme as what's been seen to the north of the region, Professor Weston has still seen an increase lately.
Although most of what is found in this region is a complex mix of several introduced and native species, for the past decade, the majority of the Riverina's problem has come from Hillman's panic grass, according to Professor Weston.
"It's a new species, panicum hillmanii, which was first detected in north Victoria, through Bathurst and Forbes," Professor Weston said. "It spreads by wind and congregates then it starts to disperse. It can travel more than 100km with a bit of wind."
Some of it can be quite toxic to livestock, so Professor Weston advocates for clearing and managing it as quickly as possible.
"You can eradicate the seed set by mowing or grazing it early," Professor Weston said.
Once established though, it will require herbicides to remove. Early intervention is not always easy though, as the weed can be deceptively dormant for a time.
"As it rolls, the seed dislodges and remains on the soil surface until it's worked in by animals or machinery," Professor Weston said.
"Over time you can out-compete it through management, but if your neighbours don't do the same, it will blow back in."