Experts give workshop to combat hoppers

Federal and state officials offered their expertise to ranchers and other residents of Sanders County about a potential grasshopper problem. Two men from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and another from the Montana Department of Agriculture gave a grasshopper workshop to just over a dozen people Friday morning in Hot Springs.

The goal of the class was to prepare landowners for the possibility of damaging grasshopper populations this year, said John Halpop of the Montana State University Extensions Office in Thompson Falls. Halpop coordinated the two-hour workshop, which took place at the Second Home Restaurant.

Based on surveys of the Camas Prairie, Lonepine and Hot Springs areas last fall, Gary Adams, the state plant health director for the Animal and Plaint Health Inspection Service, a part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, feels there is a potential problem of having a grasshopper infestation this year. Adams doesn’t know how many grasshoppers there will be, but said it could be a repeat of the hopper problem the area faced in 2004, when ranchers were engulfed with hordes of grasshoppers. However, 1986 was the worst year he’s seen in his 20 years with USDA.

Halpop said that the extremely dry and warm conditions of 2007 led to the likelihood of a fall egg-lying that may mean a lot of hoppers this year, though Adams said because of the cold spring, hatching hasn’t taken place yet. Halpop said they’re not talking about an epidemic, but that the conditions may contribute to higher than normal grasshopper populations, which more likely will impact eastern Sanders County and western Lake County. Several ranchers were in attendance Friday, including Sanders County Commissioner Gail Patton, who owns a ranch in the Lonepine area, and Senator Jim Elliott, who has a ranch in Trout Creek, although Halpop said they don’t have a big grasshopper problem in the west end of the county.

The three speakers also held a workshop in Ronan Friday. The presenters included Joe Merenz, a Plant Protection Quarantine officer with APHIS, and Ian Foley, a Montana entomologist with the Agricultural Science Division in Helena. All three provided a variety of grasshopper information.

Ranchers and farmers would be most impacted by a grasshopper problem, said Halpop, who added that pastures, rangelands, hay, and even gardens can be stripped of foliage by the critters. “Grasshoppers can consume significant amounts of forage (grasses and forbs), reducing the amount of feed available to livestock and wildlife,” noted Halpop.

Adams, Merenz and Foley talked about grasshopper species, gave biological data about grasshoppers, discussed available pesticides, and touched on early grasshopper detection, and controlling them. The free workshop included a Powerpoint presentation, photographs, pamphlets, and a grasshopper management booklet put out by the University of Wyoming. The team also had grasshopper species samples.

Adams said there are more than 250 species of grasshoppers in Montana, but only about a dozen of them are problem insects. The 2004 infestation was primarily the camnula pellucida — the clearwinged grasshopper. Though there are signs of clearwinged hopper still in the area, Adams said the new problem grasshopper this year will be the melanoplus sanguinipes. It’s the worst one in the country, according to Merenz. “They’re the closest we have to a locust in the United States,” said Merenz.

There were reports of some ranchers having little or no grass left for their cattle after the 2004 grasshopper episode.

A grasshopper can eat six times its own weight six times a day, he said. They can walk, jump and fly. The adults can fly in swarms and will move from one patch of foliage to the next. A single grasshopper can lay 300 to 400 eggs, which start hatching as the air temperature routinely reaches 65 degrees. They like hot and dry conditions. Grasshoppers aren’t as productive when its cool and wet.

Adams and Merenz discussed ways of combating the grasshopper problem and went through some of the pesticides available. Though Adams refrained from promoting any name brands, he talked about the successes of utilizing Dimilin, which is only effective in the early stage’s of a grasshopper’s life. Once the insect reaches adulthood — about three weeks after being hatched — Dimilin won’t work. Adams said Dimilin needs to be applied when a grasshopper sheds its outer shell for a new one, which happens about five times and normally takes place from mid May through June.

He said that grasshoppers hatch at different times throughout the late spring and summer. However, he added that Dimilin is a restricted chemical and can only be applied by a licensed person. He said that Dimilin is safe for bees and can be used in a range of temperatures, but it is expensive. However, he said none of the pesticides are perfect.

Adams recommended targeting “hot spots” of grasshoppers. He said that some people like to treat their entire acreage, while others treat strips of land. Adams said his office favors the “RAATs Concept,” which entails treating strips of land and letting the hoppers move into those treated areas.

Some people use a baiting system, a means of drawing the grasshoppers into the area. They eat the baited material and die.

Merenz addressed ways to distribute pesticides, such as using ATVs, pickup trucks and fixed-winged aircraft. The distribution tool depends on the area that needs to be covered. When using ATVs, said Merenz, a person needs to consider the thickness of the vegetation, the roughness of the terrain, and keep the ATV’s speed at a consistent pace.

“One of the best controls would be right after they hatch to have a cold and wet spell,” said Halpop.

Adams said that he and Merenz are available for questions or advice. They can be reached at 406-449-5210. Adams said they depend on ranchers to tell them what’s going on with the grasshoppers. “We have to rely on you to help us help you,” he told the group Friday.