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APLC Locust Control Operations
Locust control by the APLC is part of a national cost-shared response program to reduce the impact of major infestations on agriculture. Locust control in eastern Australia is the joint responsibility of stakeholders - with landholders, state agriculture agencies and the APLC each playing a role at the appropriate local, regional and interstate scale. The level of activity of each will vary depending on the location and magnitude of the infestations, and all three sectors may be involved simultanaeously during very large outbreaks.
The APLC only undertakes aerial control against substantial targets of locust bands and swarms. APLC control is largely confined to its area of operations, as defined in the MoU negotiated between the federal and member state governments. The main control agents used are fenitrothion, fipronil and Metarhizium. Locust control by the APLC is not intended to provide protection to individual crops or properties. APLC locust control follows the principal of population intervention, where control is applied during a build-up of a population, which might otherwise have a significant impact on Australian agriculture as a result of further breeding or migration.
During times of locust control, the APLC issues regular Locust Management Advice which gives an update of areas where control is about to or has recently taken place, the insecticides used and the amount sprayed. (Landholder responsibilities may be laid down in relevant state legislation.)