Farmers and authorities on alert as locusts migrate to South Australia

Farmers and authorities on alert as Australian plague locust migrates to South AustraliaBy Amelia WaltersABC RiverlandTopic:Agricultural Pest Control2h ago2 hours agoTue 28 Apr 2026 at 5:37amLoading...In shortDepartment of Primary Industries and Regions staff will head to the Riverland to monitor locust migration numbers.The South Australian Plague Locust Commissioner says the department is not categorising the current locust migration as an outbreak, but it is not off the table.What's Next?Migration has also been recorded in the Upper Eyre Peninsula, but the department says surveying is unlikely.abc.net.au/news/locust-riverland-migrate-nsw-pirsa-surveying/106615540Link copiedShareShare articleMultiple locust swarms in South Australia's Riverland region have put farmers and authorities on alert, prompting the South Australian Plague Locust Commissioner to send surveying teams to the region.PIRSA's Michael McManus confirmed adult Australian plague locusts likely migrated from the western areas of New South Wales at the weekend, with first detections reported last week.Mr McManus said a small team of staff will travel to the Riverland in the coming days to undertake monitoring.Loading..."We've started getting calls from several stakeholders … probably five or six different callers at this point who have said they've seen locusts on the roadside or on properties," he said.Detections have been reported in multiple locations, including Loxton, Waikerie, Renmark and Murtho.Mr McManus said the department was not categorising the current locust migration as an outbreak, but that was not off the table."When we say it's reached an outbreak level, it is when adults lay their eggs and when they hatch in big numbers," he said."[These] outbreaks tend to occur in the springtime.Hundreds of locusts have been captured in the Waikerie area. (Supplied: Trevor Scott)"We're going to try to understand how many locusts are in the area, whether they are carrying eggs or likely to be doing any egg-laying activity."To look for that egg-laying activity is not an easy exercise."[This monitoring] will give us an indication of what we're looking at come springtime."'Another blow' to farmersThe last outbreak of the Australian plague locust in SA was in 2010, which required $12.8 million in government funding for chemical spray in the Riverland and Mid North.Loxton North farmer Tom Fielke has seen a surge of locusts on his property in recent days and says if numbers persist, he will begin pest control."If you don't control them, it's going to cost you a lot more than what the chemical and the time and effort would have initially cost," he said.Tom Fielke says it has been 15 years since the last plague hit his property. (ABC News: Will Hunter)"I'm assuming the hoppers will aim for the green paddocks first and leave the cropping paddocks alone for now."It's another concern that farmers don't need at the moment."Mr McManus said if farmers had emerging crops that were green, there was "some level of risk"."Locusts like to eat anything green … if farmers have emerging crops coming out, they can conduct pest control and try to take out that population," he said.'Serious biosecurity issue'South Australian ecologist Kristen Messenger said there were around four main species of grasshopper that had the capacity to become locusts in South Australia."You need heavy, unexpected rainfalls, which we've had across fairly large parts of SA," she said.The insects have been spotted…

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