Australia: WA locusts bypass brown crops, attack green town lawns

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Locust swarms spent last week often flying past brown paddocks ready for harvesting and swooping on unsprayed council green lawns in WA's wheatbelt.
WA Agriculture Department entomologist, Kevin Walden, said large swarms of locusts had gathered momentum in many areas.
The possibility of more swarms developing rose this week after recent rains in some parts of the wheatbelt.
This has boosted green feed available in the towns, and better chances of locusts' survival.
Locust eggs have been hatching across the state since early September and have entered the adult stage.
Mr Walden said the locusts had ignored many crops and pastures which were too brown and dry to feed on.
Corrigin Bowling Club was forced to implement a major clean-up operation on its home green last week after locusts swooped on its lush surface - the bowling green had not been sprayed before the locusts arrived.
Wickepin Shire chief executive Alan Leeson said his town's cricket ground was still green after it was sprayed recently to protect it from locusts.
The town's bowling green, however, was not so fortunate.
Mr Waldron said, "Sporting bodies invest a lot of time and money into taking care of their facilities, and the people who are responsible for the running of those clubs should do everything they can to prevent any damage or unnecessary cost.
"Even if they have to spray the cricket field or the bowling green or the tennis court and lose play for an initial period of time, it is far better than incurring any long-term damage.
Despite the bad news for community facilities, CBH grain technology manager David Capper said that, with harvest in full swing, the threat of locust contamination had not yet been a major problem.
SOURCE: Extract from report in Farm Weekly, WA, November 23. Top stories.

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