The Hoppers Are Coming
—Yet Again

Numbers from a fall grasshopper survey show that producers in the Provost area will again be facing increased numbers of the insects this spring, summer and fall.

Experts say that numbers are up, and this is consistent with what was expected for this year, as last year was a building year for the outbreak.

“Everyone should be aware of the grasshopper threat and some areas just have to be more aware than others,” says Jim Calpas, provincial integrated pest management specialist with Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Edmonton. “The general rule is if you had a grasshopper problem last year, you are looking at an increased problem this year.”

One of the experts in the field, Dr. Dan Johnson, a research scientist who works as a professor at a research centre in Lethbridge told the The News in a telephone interview that most species of hoppers benefit by dry weather and with a weather pattern like that the insects are not so susceptible to disease.