It has been more than 15 years since the first discovery of fire ants in Queensland and they remain the subject of an ongoing eradication campaign.
The approach to funding and coordinating a national strategy to fight fire ants was once again up for discussion in recent Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meetings. A decision on a forward funding model between federal and state governments will be finalised at the Agriculture Minister Council meeting in July.
In the meantime, Growcom will continue its role as a key advocate for increased government funding to ensure the threat of fire ants on horticultural production remains front of mind and adequately funded.
While the funding model is being finalised, we must recognise our success in containing this pest. Based on spread rates in the US, without our eradication efforts, fire ants could have spread to an area of 69 million hectares by now (within reach of Sydney and west to beyond Charleville).
Another lesson learnt from the US is the cost of failure. The US is now spending more than $US7 billion annually to manage the problem. In agriculture alone, fire ants have disrupted a range of horticultural commodities including citrus, potatoes, cucumbers and eggplants. They have also had devastating effects on the environment and recreational pursuits.
The existing eradication campaign in Queensland has successfully contained this pest to within the south east corner of the state. The challenge now is to eradicate the pest once and for all. This will require continued commitment from government, industry and the community.
It is important that growers involved in the movement and storage of fire ant carriers such as soil, turf and mulch (within or from a fire ant biosecurity zone) adhere to movement controls as part of the new Biosecurity Act 2014 and fulfil their shared biosecurity obligations.
For more information about fire ants and the national eradication program, call Biosecurity Queensland on 13 25 23 or visit www.daf.qld.gov.au/fireants.
