05/24/05 Rain stopped the crickets, what`s next?

The rains of May certainly stopped Mormon crickets from advancing. But now that the rains have passed and the temperatures are starting to climb what will happen to the bands of crickets in Elmore, Owyhee and Washington counties? TSCHOHL "I have no idea. I just don't know." Les Tschohl of the Idaho Department of Agriculture says there's plenty of new plant growth in our wildlands but that doesn't mean that the crickets won't move into farm fields. Tschohl says they have two programs in full swing right now. One is for spreading poison bait. TSCHOHL "And they can report to us where they have sightings of crickets. They can also request bait and we have some distribution centers and they can pick up the bait and they can spread it themselves." And where Mormon cricket numbers are huge they can use aerial spray or drop bait onto targeted areas. TSCHOHL "We have a program with the state of Idaho that allows us to pay two thirds of the cost on private lands and the private landowner pays one third of the cost for the aerial treatments." Tschohl says before and after the rains they had to treat areas along Highway 71 in Washington County where bands of crickets were already on the move. Tschohl says western Idaho landowners who spot crickets and need bait can get help by calling APHIS at 685-6977. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott