Large grasshopper population in several Western states
7/28/2021 12:00:00 AM
CATEGORIES:
Agriculture
Plants & Wildlife
AFFECTED AREAS:
Arizona
California
Colorado
Idaho
Kansas
Montana
North Dakota
Nebraska
New Mexico
Nevada
Oregon
South Dakota
Utah
Wyoming
Start Date: 7/2/2021
-
Grasshopper populations remained unusually high in parts of the West, notably in Montana and Oregon, amid heat and drought. Grasshoppers were also problematic in Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas and Arizona and more mildly in Utah, California, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska. Hot, dry periods allow grasshopper numbers to increase due to fewer natural diseases to limit population increase than during cool, wet periods.
Agri-Pulse (Sacramento, Calif.), July 21, 2021
The grasshopper population was so large in the West that ranchers feared for their rangelands. The 2021 grasshopper hazard map produced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture indicates areas with more than 15 grasshoppers per square yard in Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Arizona, Colorado and Kansas. More than 2.6 million acres of Montana grasslands were to be sprayed with insecticide to kill the grasshoppers.
CNN US (Atlanta, Ga.), July 2, 2021
Sources
