10-7 FB Vole Attack

 You think the grasshopper infestation was gonna be bad in 2010…wait’ll you hear about voles. They’re killing everything in Lincoln County. I’m David Sparks and that’s next. On the north side of the Snake River Canyon through Jerome and Shoshone, into Richfield little rodents called voles have layed haymakers on hayfarmers. Tunneling under farmland and gardens all through the valley, these mouse like enemies of agriculture are racking up huge costs in two ways: finding ways to exterminate them as well as laying waste to entire crops of alfalfa. Lincoln County Extension educator Christi Falen said the voles run in cycles. Last winter was relatively mild and created a favorable environment for them to do a lot of damage to alfalfa during winter months: They’ve wiped out quite a few of the hayfields some of the pastures as well but where it’s really hit hard is the hayfields. Some of them have had to re-seed, one of the growers I talked to wasn’t going to re-seed, he was gonna wait till next spring to compete better against the voles.’ The way to fight voles is with zinc phosphide pellets.