07/20/2008

Associated Press

Grasshoppers, grasshoppers, everywhere.

Baker County is in the midst of its worst grasshopper infestation in more than two decades. As a result, officials have been staging an all-out assault from the ground and the air.

Helmuth Rogg, an entomologist and pest program manager with the Oregon Department of Agriculture, says the last big grasshopper outbreak dates back 22 years.

A 2007 survey conducted by the ODA predicted the potential for a problem this year and prompted the department to alert local landowners and local officials, he said.

This past week the ODA began its 2008 survey after a series of aerial and ground pesticide applications.

"If the spraying kills enough this year, will that take care of it, or will this be a problem again next year or for years to come?" is the question the 2008 grasshopper survey will answer, Rogg told the Baker City Herald.

The species that has infested Baker County this summer is the Camnula, which devour wheat, alfalfa, potatoes and other crops, Rogg said. Northeastern Oregon has the low precipitation and sandy soils that are ideal egg-laying grounds for the insects.

Two consecutive years of drought have made those conditions optimal.

"One female can lay 200-plus eggs per season," Rogg said.

While normally grasshoppers are an important part of the ecosystem — they are a source of food for birds and other animals — they are also the largest consumers of prairie and rangeland in the United States, "way ahead of cattle, bison, deer or anything else," Rogg said.

Without treatment, the grasshopper invasion could get worse, he predicted.

"Generally, grasshopper populations keep building over a period of up to four years before they crash again, due to lack of food resources, predators and diseases," Rogg said.

Rogg was working out of La Grande, but when funding for the Eastern Oregon entomologist was cut in March, he accepted a position in Salem and has been commuting to help landowners and staff at the OSU Extension Service in Baker County address the grasshoppers.

Rogg says his old position should be restored to help farmers and ranchers with insect problems, which he maintains will increase with global warming.

The recent pesticide applications have cost farmers and ranchers thousands and is not likely to solve the problem this summer, said Jan Kerns, a Haines-area rancher and member of the Oregon Board of Agriculture who is urging legislators to restore a cost-share program to help pay for the spraying.

"Those that were missed will go back to lay their eggs where they hatched," she said.

Kerns and Rogg are calling on landowners to help with the grasshopper count that began this past week, and to also participate in fall planning for future grasshopper control efforts, based on the count.

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Information from: Baker City Herald, http://www.bakercityherald.com/