By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The drought across Kansas earlier this fall continues to have impacts into the fall. Farmers are well aware of the impacts of the dry conditions on their crops, but now city dwellers are seeing a side effect of the drought: grasshoppers. Cottonwood District Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent Alicia Boor explained why there are so many of the insects this year.
"Grasshoppers are really influenced by the dry weather," she said. "It increases their egg survivability. They'll eat anything, but the increase in broadleaf weeds has really helped them grow up and be much more prosperous."
Boor said with the size the grasshoppers are now, they are also migratory. That makes them difficult to control in town.
"Unless they are absolutely terrorizing an area, the recommendation is to wait them out," she said. "You spraying your yard is basically helping your neighbor out. The only way to really control them is to get your neighbor to spray for them, then they would not be in your yard."
With a lack of forage this late in the year, Boor said the insects may find their way to young alfalfa and wheat fields that are green and luscious. Producers should scout their fields for damage, and if the fields are large enough, consider spraying for the pests.
Crickets are also on the move heading into the cold months. Boor said they are more of a nuisance than a threat.
"They're not biters, they're not going to attack you, they're really not going to eat much of anything," she said. "They're just trying to come inside because they know it's going to get cold. That's why you're seeing so many of those."