The 2006 Mormon cricket and grasshopper control program is set to begin Thursday, June 1 near the Northwestern Box Elder County community of Park Valley, Utah. Nearly 100,000 acres infested with Mormon crickets are targeted for aerial application of the growth inhibitor, Dimlin. Dimilin is specifically formulated to affect crickets and grasshoppers. The spray program is scheduled to last about one week.

Forty percent of the infested acres are on private range and crop land. The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are offering to assist landowners by paying from 75 to 90 percent of the cost of the application.

"Because of the high percentage of private property infested this year, we feel it necessary to increase our level of support to those farmers and ranchers," said Commissioner Leonard M. Blackham. "Many ranchers simply could not afford the cost of treating so many acres," he added.

Traditionally, just 10 percent of the infested acres in Utah are privately owned. This year that percentage is close to 40.
Crop dusting-type aircraft will apply the Dimilin, using GPS (global positioning satellite) guidance technology. The onboard system allows the pilots to more accurately fly over the coverage area.

The U.S.D.A. reports that Box Elder County is Utah's number one producer of cattle; Utah's number two producer of sheep; and the state's number three overall producer of cash receipts from farming in 2004.

2006 has been a relatively light year for cricket and grasshopper infestation with a preliminary estimate at less than 400,000 acres. In the past, infested acres have topped 4.2 million.

Some of the 100,000 acres of Box Elder County rangeland receives a dose of Dimilin spray.

The UDAF and USDA are working to protect private and public lands from crop eating Mormon crickets.

Posted June 6, 2006