The APLC has already fielded more than 500 phone calls about the locust situation in Australia.

According to one phone operator, the APLC received around 100 calls about locust activity in April alone.

"The range of calls would go from people who want to know whether or not they should drive during a swarm to others reporting egg-laying or swarms, and even to those who want to offer advice or voice their concerns about how bad things look and why that is the case," the APLC said.

About 50 reports of locust activity have been lodged by email and "a surprisingly large number" have been reported through the APLC's website, the APLC said.

The internet reporting system did not exist during the 2003-2004 locust plague.

Call 1800 635 962 to report locust activity to the APLC.

VFF locust mapping concerns

Distribution of Australian plague locusts for the month of March from the Australian Plague Locust Commision. This is the most recent distribution map available from their website.

The President of the Victorian Farmers Federation, Andrew Broad, is urging landholders to report locust egg-laying activity so that the sites can be effectively mapped and monitored.

In a press release from the VFF, Mr Broad said that reporting this activity is essential to avoid damage to "farm production, sporting facilities and private gardens, as far East as Melbourne."

Here they come...

Australia's drought has finally broken - and with the flooding has come huge numbers of locusts across south-western Queensland, the Riverina, central and western New South Wales, the Eyre Penninsula, northern Tasmania, and this week, Victoria.

Locusts have already devastated crops of livestock feed across the country, and farmers are now putting their planting programs on hold to try and minimize further damage.

The locusts still have two more generations of hatching remaining and excellent seasonal conditions inland mean that locust egg numbers have doubled. If weather conditions over the winter are right, this spring Australia will see one of the biggest locust plagues the country has seen since 1973.

The vast spread of the locust infestation is the crux of the problem. As locusts are most effectively annihilated in their nympheal stage, the government is preparing for an extensive spring campaign to minimize devastation to crops.

This blog will look at how farmers, the Australian Plague Locust Commission's and state agencies are preparing for the outbreak in the coming months.