The locust plague threatens to strike the world's fourth- largest wheat exporter, as rainfall has boosted crop forecasts in the country's east, offsetting a drop in output in the west. The forecast outbreak could cost Victoria's agricultural industry A$2 billion ($1.8 billion) if left untreated and may be the worst infestation in more than 70 years, the state government said in June.
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Australia to Begin Spraying for Plague Locusts, Commission Says
2010-09-02 06:19:49.847 GMT
By Wendy Pugh
Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Australia may begin aerial spraying
of plague locusts from the end of this month and is urging
farmers to report outbreaks, as the most extensive hatchings in
decades threaten agricultural production.
"We are certainly planning a response to the most
substantial start to a locust season for at least 30 years,"
Chris Adriaansen, director at the Canberra-based Australian
Plague Locust Commission said in a media phone briefing today.
Aerial spraying may begin south and southeast of Broken Hill,
New South Wales at the end of September and would probably begin
in Victoria next month, he said.
The locust plague threatens to strike the world's fourth-
largest wheat exporter, as rainfall has boosted crop forecasts
in the country's east, offsetting a drop in output in the west.
The forecast outbreak could cost Victoria's agricultural
industry A$2 billion ($1.8 billion) if left untreated and may be
the worst infestation in more than 70 years, the state
government said in June.
The first locust hatchings were reported in New South
Wales after warmer weather over the weekend increased ground
temperatures, state Primary Industries Minister Steve Whan said
in a statement today.
"Landholders are very keen to make sure this situation is
managed because in most cases they are probably looking at, in
their paddocks at the moment, the best cereal grain crop that
any of them have had in the last 10 or possibly even 15 years,"
Adriaansen said.
Crop Risks
The locusts may be most severe in southern New South Wales
and Victoria, Adriaansen said. Peak hatchings are forecast to
start in parts of those states this month, he said.
Australian wheat production this year is forecast at 22.4
million metric tons, National Australia Bank Ltd. said Aug. 26,
raising its forecast from a July estimate of 22.3 million tons.
Risks to the forecast were from dry weather in Western Australia
and the threat of locusts in the east, the bank said.
Control measures were expected to minimize potential locust
damage, which could range from 1 million tons to 4 million tons
in an extreme scenario where an outbreak isn't contained,
Rabobank's Sydney-based agricultural commodities analyst Wayne
Gordon said Aug. 18.
A shortage of the biological-insecticide Green Guard, used
on organic farms and environmentally sensitive areas, was
expected after a delay of up to eight weeks in orders being
filled because of a problem at a manufacturing plant, the
commission said.
The earliest record of an Australian locust swarm is from
1844. High-density swarms, with more than 50 insects in a square
meter, can eat 20 tons of vegetation a day, according to a South
Australian primary industries website.
For Related News and Information:
Top commodity stories: CTOP <GO>
Top agricultural stories TOP AGR <GO>
Most read Australian news: MNI AUD <GO>
--Editors: Jarrett Banks, Richard Dobson
To contact the reporter on this story:
Wendy Pugh in Melbourne +61-3-9228-8736 or
wpugh@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
James Poole at +65-6212-1551 or jpoole4@bloomberg.net
