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Hot, dry weather means more grasshoppers feasting on Sask. crops

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SASKATOON -

James Tansey is standing just outside adjacent hay and mustard fields near Craven when the grasshopper he's holding jumps out of his hands before he can present it during a Zoom call.

"Grasshoppers and insects in general, I just find the broad group of insects to be really exciting. I have since I was very young," says the provincial entomologist.

The mustard field has seen some damage from the critters, not to mention dry conditions and hail damage. The hay field also has grasshoppers, to the tune of six to eight per square meter - close to the point of needing to be controlled.

Grasshopper numbers are high across Saskatchewan this year, according to reports from growers, agronomists and industry representatives, he said. When they find food they like, they eat a crop's marketable flowers and seeds.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, it has been shown in Alberta that even a moderate infestation of 10 grasshoppers per square metre can consume 16 - 60 per cent of available forage.

"We do fairly detailed surveying in the fall of every year and we're about to start this to get a real assessment of the populations, but we're getting lots of reports of spraying, we're getting lots of reports of damage to the point where some of the control products are actually selling out and difficult to get a hold of," Tansey said.

Females lay up to 350 eggs in the soil in the fall. Those grasshoppers-to-be can drown or fall victim to bacterial infections more often in cool, wet conditions. In hot and dry years like this one, they can speed through the development process, he said.

Modeling from the Prairie Pest Monitoring Network shows that grasshoppers were expected to start laying eggs in mid July; they would typically start in early August.

Grasshoppers don't damage all crops equally - it depends on how concentrated they are, and if that particular plant appeals to that particular grasshopper species. Tansey said producers should use economic thresholds of about 10-12 bugs per square metre before spraying, though that changes based on the species in question, the type of crop, its staging and current damage.

"If you're a lentil grower, you've got large numbers of clearwinged which I have seen in the past, you can have lots of grasshoppers without the accumulation of damage. So be aware of that, what kind of species you have, look for the accumulation of damage and that should be your trigger for action."

He said there isn't hard data to show that controlling grasshoppers will affect next year's population - and given how far grasshoppers can fly, it's likely minimal. Next year's weather will be more important.

"They're pretty much dictated by climate. Each of these girls has a potential put about 350 eggs into the ground and contribute greatly to next year's populations, but if it's cool and wet we'll probably see a reduction in grasshopper numbers relative to what we're seeing.

"If it's hot and dry again next year, then the increase is going to continue. And I do have some concerns and many do have some concerns with continued, dry conditions and grasshopper populations."

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