Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumDrought-Punched CO Farmers Now Facing Plagues Of Grasshoppers, Mites, Corn Rootworms - Denver Post
Colorado farmers already plagued by a debilitating drought are now fighting the arrival of crop-eating insects who like the hot, dry weather that has settled over the state and elsewhere. "It's to the point where we just feel beat up," said Harry Strohauer, who has already let 500 acres of corn on his 3,500-acre Weld County spread die to conserve water.
Grasshoppers, an annual threat to corn and other plants, are back this year in huge numbers in some areas of Colorado, say agriculture experts.
That includes Strohauer's farm, which also grows potatoes for local retailers. On Thursday, as Strohauer walked down a row of dying corn stalks, swarms of grasshoppers leaped around his head after tearing holes through what used to be a viable crop. In another field, the pests have gnawed entire rows of corn to the ground.
Strohauer said he and other farmers who are watching their once green fields fade away, face the same pricey dilemma. "Do you spend as much as $35 to $45 an acre to spray your fields that are dying, or do you forget about it but guarantee your fields won't stand a chance at all of surviving," he said. Just eight grasshoppers can eat as much as one cow, according to experts. But they aren't even the biggest problem this year.
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http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_21113805/first-drought-now-pests-are-descending-parched-colorado
The Blue Flower
(5,444 posts)isn't praying hard enough.
Iggy
(1,418 posts)in the Bible anyone?
LiberalEsto
(22,845 posts)although technically there isn't much difference between the two
NickB79
(19,258 posts)Seriously, I started seeing grasshoppers in my garden this week and that was my first thought.