Farmers urged to keep up vigilance to help control next locust cycle

Farmers across the State are being urged to maintain their efforts in the fight to control locusts by reporting swarms, looking for egg laying and reporting new hatchings to their local Rural Lands Protection Board (RLPB) or Locust Control Centres.

This will help enable control teams to coordinate quick response efforts.

While recent rain has hampered aerial control efforts in some districts, Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and RLPB control teams have still been able to treat 145 swarm targets with aerial sprays in the past week, covering almost 24,000 hectares.

Another 19,000 hectares have been treated using ground control taking the total area of control effort to 43,000 hectares for the past week. The total area treated during the locust campaign to date is almost 787,000 hectares.

Hatching reports in the past week have again dropped, with 223 new reports in the past week. This brings the total number of reported locust hatchings in NSW to 12,533.

Locust reports have been received from the Armidale (1), Balranald (1), Braidwood (3), Central Tablelands (8),  Coonabarabran (5), Dubbo (28), Forbes (20), Gundagai (6), Hunter (5), Molong (12), Moree (1), Mudgee-Merriwa (16), Murray (3), Narrandera (4), Northern New England (3), Nyngan (3), Riverina (4), Tamworth (6), Wagga Wagga (67), Wilcannia (1) and Young (26) RLPBs in the last week.

Response teams have so far issued enough locust control chemical to treat almost 900,000 hectares.

Control efforts have continued to fight adult locusts in the Coonabarabran, Dubbo, Forbes, Molong, Mudgee and Narrandera districts.

Many areas are continuing to report adult locust swarms. Aerial control is focusing on mid and high-density swarms to help minimise migration and future egg laying.

Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and Australian Plague Locust Commission (APLC) teams have used aerial control to treat a total of 1,960 swarms and bands, covering 321,000 hectares.

Landholders have also continued to play an important role, treating more than 575,000 hectares through ground control.

An increase in new hatchings is expected in coming weeks, as the recent rains will have provided ideal conditions for adult locusts to lay eggs.

Remaining swarms could also migrate to areas that have received a boost in green feed.

Media contact: Trudy Glasgow 6391 3312 or 0427 217 354