The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is reporting that the grass and other forage grown for livestock to eat in the winter are being consumed at such a pace by grasshopper infestations that ranchers in many states may be forced to sell their cattle. That, according to Carson Walker’s article for the Associated Press.States being affected by the infestations are Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arizona, Colorado, California, Oregon, Washington, and particularly Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. Walker reports that in “far southwest South Dakota, there more than 60 grasshoppers per square yard.”
To combat the infestations different techniques are being tried or considered. One option is spraying the forage land. The federal government, according to Bruce Helbig, state director for plant health with the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) in South Dakota, has a program designed to protect the forage land in 17 western states. The government will pay the cost to spray federal land, they will cover 50% of the cost to spray state land, and private landowners can expect federal assistance for about one-third of their spraying costs. Another option is for ranchers to spray alternate sections of their fields. The theory being the grasshoppers will eventually move through a sprayed area.
According to Walker’s article, Bruce Shambaugh, state plant health director with Wyoming’s Cheyenne APHIS office, believes the infestation is just part of a natural biological “cycle.” He attributes the number of grasshoppers to weather and other natural factors. Shambaugh predicts next year will be worse than this year’s infestation. Much of the areas with the worst infestations have been suffering through a long drought as well.
The combination of the drought and grasshopper infestations might be enough to force western ranchers’ hands, and cause them to sell their cattle before they normally would.
To read Carson Walker's article for the Associated Press click here.
Posted: 08/21/09
