THE Victorian Government has made $850,000 in rebates available to 22 councils across the state to combat the looming locust plague.

The money will go towards buying insecticide or may be used to pay contractors to spray roadsides.

The Government has also ordered $4.2 million in insecticides to treat approximately 600,000ha of public land.

Details of the council rebate scheme have yet to be released.

Australian Plague Locust Commission director Chris Adriaansen said farmers did not need to contact the commission to access the Government's locust chemical rebate scheme.

Mr Adriaansen said the APLC was not involved in any of the various State Government subsidy or assistance schemes for landholders, nor did it provide or distribute pesticides to landholders for locust control.

The commission has forecast the first locusts will begin hatching in late August in northern NSW and outback South Australia, given normal temperatures over winter and spring.

Further south, the young locusts are expected to begin emerging from their eggs in the Hay and Mildura regions in the first week in October.

Warmer-than-normal weather may bring the expected hatching dates forward by a couple of weeks.

The APLC will keep a register of insecticide stocks to minimise the risk of regions running short, as agreed by federal and state agencies last week.

APLC director Chris Adriaansen said the commission also would work through agribusiness networks to ensure resellers had an understanding of pesticide stocks required by farmers.