06/27/06 Idaho Mormon cricket infestations

They have been showing up in southwestern Idaho for several years and yes, the Mormon crickets are back for a return engagement this spring and summer. SIMKO "The biggest areas of concern again as it was last year is Owyhee County for some heavy infestations of Mormon crickets and then we're also seeing a hot spot, a relatively new hot spot in northern Washington County and the southern part of Adams County." That's Ben Simko of the Idaho Department of Agriculture. He says the outbreak of crickets this year is not nearly as bad at prior years when swarms of crickets were reported on the hills near Horseshoe Bend and in Elmore County around Bennett Mountain. SIMKO "Had control programs for several years now and we've had pretty intensive control projects in 2004 and 2005 to help suppress populations and also we suspect that Mother Nature has helped us out on some of the spring weather to kind of mitigate some of the hatches or the severe populations in Elmore County and some of the other areas." USDA and the Idaho State Department of Ag do cooperate on aerial and ground treatment programs on federal and state lands. The worst year was 2004 and Simko says they can see the infestation subsiding somewhat since then. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott