08/13/08 Dealing with Grasshoppers

Dealing With Grasshoppers. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. Yesterday we talked with Helmuth Rogg supervisor with the Insect Pest Prevention and Management Program for the Oregon Department of Agriculture about the increasing grasshopper problem in Eastern Oregon and the cyclical nature of the outbreaks. ROGG: What happened in Eastern Oregon is last year we had seen an upswing of the population and we reacted to it and we made some surveys there. We had some farmers spray but then by the end of last year we had about 600-thousand acres infested in northeastern Oregon. If we wouldn't have had that cold and wet weather this spring we probably would have been up to our eyeballs in grasshoppers. Due to the lateness of the season growth inhibiting sprays we either not applied or applied too late and according to Rogg, the numbers will continue to grow. ROGG: In any case we will see that population, we still the see the populations grow at the moment out there in northeastern Oregon and we will have outbreaks coming up in 2009 as well. Grasshoppers are voracious eaters who can compete with cattle for grasslands as well as moving into grain crops. He says it's important to locate the adult grasshoppers where they are right now. ROGG: What they do as soon as they hatch into the adult they start to mate and to lay eggs so we need to find the areas where the adults are at the moment. That gives us an indicator of what will happen next year because in the area they will lay their eggs for next year. Not only are the grasshoppers responsible for devastating crop losses but Rogg says as they migrate they create other problems. ROGG: Portland International Airport has a grasshopper issue which might not be so important, however grasshoppers attract birds to feed on them and that's where you run into trouble because birds and planes don't go together well. And so we have to look at that and see if we have to do an emergency treatment there to reduce the risk of planes getting hit by birds. In addition to the grasshopper problems Rogg says that some areas of Idaho along the Oregon border are seeing some big issues with the Morman cricket and are trying to treat those areas. If you are seeing an extra large number of grasshoppers or crickets on your property be sure and contact your local county extension agent. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.