Grasshoppers Are Prowling The Fences In North Dakota.

Yeesh. What a year...next please!

OK, next up grasshoppers.

jerks.

"In my 25 years of farming and ranching  I've  never seen anything like this," says Steeke. "They're eating it down to nothing. You can see my 300 acres of barley, all you can see is they've eaten it to the ground. There's nothing left."

That would be Trevor Steeke a Rhame, North Dakota farm and ranch guy interviewed by KFYR-TV.

Click on that link and you'll see how grasshoppers are inundating across the Montana line as well.

He says the best thing producers can do, is keep a watchful eye out for the insects, and consider spraying to keep the populations down.

So what says North Dakota Stockmen's Association Vice President Julie Ellingson?

grasshoppers are now moving and becoming a widespread problem.

How about the east coast? Here's Fargo's Valley News Live

A new report from NDSU shows grasshopper numbers are increasing in North Dakota, potentially leading to a greater loss in crop production.

The report shows the percentage of fields infested with grasshoppers has grown from 28% in 2017 to 65% in 2021.

That story is already a week old...so the reporters are probably dead by now. hoppercide I'd suspect.

Don't Panic...

Unless your crops and grasslands are currently getting eaten by grasshoppers in a drought. I say don't panic, because folks will tell you about bad years and good years, and how hoppers appear in one area and not another.

All the same...thanks to Prairie Public-here's an excerpt from their report; figure the story has gotta be about 1931...

There are stories of clouds of grasshoppers that blocked out the sun. Entomologists say this is believable. Some species of grasshoppers have been found flying as high as 9,000 feet. In their enormous numbers they could, indeed, darken the sun.

They crunched under foot and ate anything that didn’t move. They wiped out acres of crops. They ate paint off buildings and varnish off the handles of farm tools. Some farmers considered themselves lucky to harvest a mere two bushels of wheat per acre.

Let's go back to Trevor from Rhame...he's experiencing this today.

Thrive and stay safe y'all...

and read the full Prairie Public grasshopper plague story here

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