Farmers with land close to the U.S. border should be careful to check for grasshoppers this season.
That's the word from Extension Agrologist Elaine Moats, who said farmers in the same dry areas that experienced grasshopper problems last year could experience them again.
"Basically the same people picking up grasshoppers with their combines in the fall will see more this spring," she said, which includes land owners in the RMs of Scott, Lomond, and Laurier.
However, the moisture levels from last fall and this spring will help curb the grasshopper population, which thrives on dry conditions, Moats said.
"Moisture increases disease (in grasshoppers), and will help to establish a crop so it can better withstand grasshopper damage," she said.
Moats said the most important defence against hoppers is timing of crop emergence to avoid the peak time of infestation. She expects farmers who had a problem last year will do a little more spraying this year.
The best time for farmers to survey fields for grasshoppers is between May 30 and June 15. Field margins, fence lines, roadsides and crops grown on stubble should be closely watched in the spring.
But the majority of farmers in the Weyburn area should not have a significant grasshopper problem, said Scott Hartley, a provincial insect specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food.
"The overall picture (for the RM of Weyburn) is generally light, in the range of four to eight grasshoppers per square metre. The area surrounding that is even less - in the zero to four grasshoppers per square metre range," said Hartley.
An infestation of more than seven to ten grasshoppers per square metre in most crops will justify control measures. As few as five grasshoppers per square metre in canola and two grasshoppers per square metre in lentils when pods are beginning to form can be economically important
The Sask Ag and Food predictions are based on grasshopper counts between the first week of August and the first week of September last year. The highest numbers were counted in the areas around North Battleford and Lloydminster.
High moisture levels and cool weather will help to slow down development in the south east, Hartley said.
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