THE DIRECTOR of the Australian Plague Locust Commission (APLC), Chris Adriaansen, is confident the locust control effort is on track, in spite of the difficulties faced in co-ordinating a multi-state response to the pests.
There have been murmurings from farmers in Victoria and South Australia that possible lapses in control in NSW, particularly in the vast western pastoral zone of that state, could undermine their respective efforts.
However, Mr Adriaansen said all authorities were working well together.
“We are stressing to all landholders that this will be a three-tiered effort, with landholders, the state governments and the APLC all working together.
“Currently, the APLC is involved both in co-ordinating ground countrol, through designated zones in northern Victoria, eastern South Australia and western NSW, along co-ordinating and collaborating efforts between the three states.
“The APLC does play a role that crosses state borders, but each state will also assist in dealing with its own situation – we have been working with all of them for the past six months in getting things ready.
“We’re confident we’ve got as few potential gaps in the control as we possibly can – people may be worried because they think something specific is not getting done, but the fact that there are different approaches to control is not a concern.”
Chairman of the NSW Farmers' Association grains committee, Mark Hoskinson, said he was satisfied with the way planning had been conducted between the APLC and the NSW state government.
“I think the locust situation has seen everyone working well together. NSW Farmers has been in constant contact with the APLC and the NSW government, and at this stage there are no issues with the way things are being handled.
“Our big concern, obviously, is that hatchings may take place in the north-west of NSW, where they are not patrolled, and take to the wing before there is a chance to control them, but we hope this situation will continue to be monitored.”
Mr Adriaansen said there were pros and cons of control in the pastoral country of western NSW and eastern SA.
“Obviously, there are some vast distances to be covered, but there are less restricted areas such as residences and water courses where you cannot aerially spray, so it is easier to get across.”
Mr Adriaansen said hatchings could potentially have begun in north-west NSW, but because of the wet conditions, landholders had not been able to monitor the situation.
“We’ll have to wait until next week, when bands will be visible by plane, to see what the situation is like.”
Meanwhile, in spite of reports of concerns about a problem also arising in south-western Queensland, Mr Adriaansen said control in the autumn should limit problems there.
“We did a fair bit of control in south-west Queensland in autumn, some 200,000 hectares, obviously there will still be locusts about, but the problem will be worse further south,” he said.
It is now a matter of waiting for the swarms to emerge.
Mr Adriaansen said the cold weather, which has delayed hatchings, would not stop the locusts from eventually emerging.
He said an issue if the cold continues would be that the locust swarms disaggregate in the nymph stage, making it hard to pick up until they are on the wing and capable of quick damage.
Hatchings coming back may also give authorities a narrower window of opportunity to control the locusts.
The other climatic issue is the abundance of feed, which will help locust survival rates.
“Generally we talk of a 15-20pc survival rate of hatchlings – that figure could be as high as 50pc this year, given the large amount of food available.”
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