Caring for country - Northern and Yorke Natural Resources ...

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On the hop
It’s vitally important to know exactly when to deal with your most unwelcome visitors. Bill Nicholas reports.
Out there in the paddocks, along the roadsides,
creek beds and waterways, across the northern
agricultural districts of South Australia, a potentially
damaging locust plague is waiting in the wings.
A swarm of locusts that came in from southern
Queensland in late autumn has settled across South
Australia and laid eggs. In many areas, ag-scientists
have counted 1000 eggs per square metre. Come the
warm weather, they’ll be hatching.
Plans have been hatched to combat this major locust
plague and the action is now ready to roll, according
to Malcolm Byerlee, chairman of the Northern Locust
Community Reference Group at Orroroo.
“Community reference groups here and in the Mallee
have marshalled the most useful knowledge that was
learned in the last major locusts scare in 2000,”
Mr Byerlee said.
PIRSA’s Locusts Program manager Michael McManus
said community reference groups have played an
essential role in providing feedback on what worked
last time and shaping the new plan of attack.
“Mr Byerlee’s contribution has been particularly useful
because he chaired the last locust campaign and
provided pragmatic advice about winning support of
the local councils,” Mr McManus said.
Local hands-on experience was invaluable for the
Department of Primary Industries & Resources SA’s
division of Biosecurity SA which initiated the Locusts
Operations and Planning Committee. The committee
helped draft a plan from which Minister O’Brien took a
proposal to Cabinet resulting in a $12.8 million locust
response budget.
Mr McManus said this year’s plague is expected to
be one of the biggest on record. Insecticides have
been purchased, and regional councils have spraying
equipment at the ready.
The locust hoppers will be hit swiftly and intensely
when they’ve grown to the ‘mid-star’ stage (between
8mm and 14mm in size) and before they get a chance
to take to the wing, to minimise the number of adults
flying on to other areas.
Mr McManus said there is no benefit in farmers or
landowners spraying on their properties before the
locusts arrive.
“Farmers will simply be wasting their time and money
by doing this,” he said. “The time to hit the locusts is
when they’ve developed as hoppers and have grouped
together in large bands.”
Efforts by government, local councils, natural resources
management boards and landholders in preparing
for this ‘exceptional’ locust infestation have been
excellent, he said.
Regional NRM boards will be working closely with local
councils which have access to $1m in disaster funding
to help with roadside spraying of locust bands and
other mitigation efforts.
Agriculture Minister Michael O’Brien said locusts posed
a serious threat to crops and pasture in the southern
Flinders Ranges and Northern Agricultural Area,
Eastern Eyre Peninsula, the Riverland and Murray
Mallee regions.
“If left unchecked, there are wide-ranging ramifications
beyond the agricultural sector, including damage to
football and cricket ovals, bowling greens, golf
courses, parks and gardens. Swarms could also hinder
regional aviation and cause road safety concerns,”
Mr O’Brien said.
The expected locust plague has the potential to cause
significant damage to SA agricultural production in
spring and summer, he said.
“It’s important to understand that we can’t eradicate
the locust, but we can minimise the damage they
may inflict, with a well-planned control strategy,”
Mr O’Brien said.
In the Mid North and the southern Flinders Ranges,
preparations are well advanced for major aerial
spraying in open country and pastures to complement
work by the Australian Plague Locust Commission
(APLC) and authorities interstate. Aircraft have been
secured to ensure an effective blitz on affected
areas in South Australia.
Northern and Yorke Natural Resources Management
Board is managing ground spraying operations to
control locust bands in the Flinders Ranges, Mount
Remarkable, Orroroo/Carrieton, Port Augusta and
Above: NYNRM Board’s Upper North team leader Kevin Teague with a
chemical misting machine used to spray plague locusts.
Photo: Stacey Shackleford.
Right: Swarming locusts near Mildura, South Australia.
Photo: Excitations-stock
Peterborough District Council areas. It has budgeted
around $250,000 for the work which will be carried
out by Board staff and contractors.
The campaign in the Northern and Yorke NRM area will
be run from Orroroo, where a fleet of contracted fixedwing
aircraft are based. The northern region is suited
to aerial control of locusts because of larger properties,
less water courses that preclude aerial spraying and less
‘sensitive sites’ where aerial spraying is not an option.
Reports of hatching and banding locusts will be
received by local councils, assessed at the PIRSA locust
control centre and reports allocated for action to
either PIRSA survey teams or the NRM ground spraying
operations.
Board staff may be assigned for survey team work
to accurately locate locust hatchings and bands and
prepare a report for the ground spraying operation.
Farmers and residents can help the campaign to
eradicate the locusts in two ways: first, report bands
of hoppers by phoning the special northern areas
hotline on 8658 1456; secondly, fill in and return
consent forms to authorise aerial spraying on
private properties.
The website www.pir.sa.gov.au/locust will be regularly
updated and people can subscribe to e-newsletters and
SMS messages for the latest on the operation.
10 Northern and Yorke Natural Resources Management Board