Thursday, April 29, 2010

Grasshoppers In The West Could Spell Trouble

The following article is courtesy of Alan Nation of the Stockman GrassFarmer.  Credit goes to him as the author of this piece.  Read below.  Have any thoughts?

Grasshopper Explosion Predicted


Monday, 29 March 2010

The western United States could experience its worst outbreak of grasshoppers since 1985 this summer according to the USDA. A federal survey of 17 states taken last fall found critically high levels of adult grasshoppers in parts of Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming, the Wall Street Journal reported. "The population could be very, very high this year," said Charles Brown, who manages grasshopper suppression for the USDA. Unfortunately, the USDA spent nearly all of its $5.6 million grasshopper budget counting the grasshoppers and currently has no money for suppression efforts. If there is a warm and dry late May and June, experts warn the West may not grow a crop of any kind this summer.

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