Army fights locusts DPR/TV/1615

The Army was quick off the mark when the call came two weeks ago for assistance in helping fight swarms of locusts which are damaging crops in Central Queensland. The locusts are swarming in billions and an Army group of 140 men from Enogerra has spread out over an area from Claremont-south east to Bauhinia Downs and from Duaringa in the east to Peak Downs in the west. Army pilots are assisting in the fight spotting swarms and hopping the ground fighters from point to point. Two soldiers have swapped their guns for spray misting machines which force out the spray in a fine cloud which settles on the crops. It is deadly to the locusts and the soldiers take no chances with it - they don protective masks as they work long hours in the paddocks. At Emerald the Army has established a command post to control the fight. Major George Mansford briefs an Army pilot on the days task. The Army fight against the locusts has been on for more than two weeks and although the swarms have been held it is too early yet to say if the battle is won. Eighty three year old farmer Mr Bob Jones was battling the locusts with his wife using a stirrup pump and bucket before the fumes made his wife ill and the Army came to his aid. Despite the formidable odds the soldier teams are making an impact and in the hundreds of acres they have sprayed locusts are dying in their millions. Councillor Ted Staal Chairman of the Central Highlands Locust Committee was asked what he thought of the Army's Efforts. The locusts are still there but so is the Army and they are keeping at it.