The grasshopper forecast map indicates that the risk of economically significant grasshopper populations will be low for Saskatchewan in 2007.

In the southern region, sampling at a number of sites showed light infestations.

Areas in the southeast were identified with a few light infestations that could represent economic risk to more sensitive crops such as lentils.

The forecast map is based on adult grasshopper populations observed during a 2006 fall survey by Saskatchewan Crop Insurance.

This information provides an estimate of eggs that can survive over winter and hatch the following spring, presenting a potential risk to crops for the 2007 growing season.

The actual severity of a grasshopper infestation will primarily depend on weather conditions in the spring, as well as the level of last summer's grasshopper infestation in a given area.

Producers should therefore be aware that actual levels of infestation locally or in individual fields may differ from those predicted in the 2007 forecast map.