Extension Entomologist Predicts High Grasshopper Year in 2020

An entomologist with the University of Wyoming Extension Service predicts that 2020 will be a high grasshopper year.

Scott Schell said mid-May through June is the best time to check for grasshoppers hatching in large numbers, and said those who had lots of grasshoppers last year or already have them hatching this spring should start treating them now.

Treating the grasshoppers early in the spring before they become adults is the best way to reduce their numbers, he said. He suggests looking in areas that warm up first, like south-facing slopes or borrow ditch banks.

Schell said grasshopper outbreaks are hard to prevent when spring weather is favorable to their survival, and conditions that may have reduced grasshopper predators or pathogens are beyond the landowner’s control.

He said bare ground favors some pest grasshopper species, so good grazing management to reduce bare ground is one possible prevention method. He said the best way to get comprehensive control is to work with neighbors who have infestations.