Swarms of plague locusts are devastating pastures at Banana in central Queensland.

Beef producer Wallace Gunthorpe said he had not seen anything like it in 20 years.

“I’m 60 and I’ve only seen swarms like this twice in my life,” he said.

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“There’s at least 10 acres of them. They cover the trees and yesterday they almost blocked out the sun.

“They sound like helicopters and you can’t believe it until you see it with your own eyes. It’s eerie.

“A photo doesn’t do it justice, that is why I filmed them so people can see what I’m talking about.”

The locusts are eating Mr Gunthorpe’s pasture and the leaves off the trees, and what grass they do not eat is left fouled by faeces and flattened, inedible for his Red Brahman cattle.

Known by those in the bush as “drovers prawns”, the locusts are proving a good food source for birds.

“The crows are sitting on the fences as full as googs just looking at them, as they just can’t eat any more,” Mr Gunthorpe said.

As the day cools the locusts stop flying and lie on the ground, taking to the skies in the morning after the sun warms up the soil and air.

Mr Gunthorpe said he was not sure when they would move on, but hoped it would be soon.

“It’s a real spectacle. Old mother nature – she’s so powerful,” he said.

– ABC