NorthwestJuly 14, 2003

Associated Press

BOISE -- One of the worst infestations of Mormon crickets in 60 years is subsiding with no reports of major crop damage in Idaho.

A succession of mild winters and drought combined to create an invasion worse than last year.

The crickets that survived poisonous bait laid out by farmers and federal land agencies are settling down to lay eggs and die.

Mir M. Seyedbagheri, Elmore County agricultural extension agent, said the only crickets still migrating hatched later in the higher elevations near Gooding.

About 500,000 acres of Idaho land were infested.

At the peak, crickets were spread out across 160,000 acres in Elmore County, Seyedbagheri said.

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Poisonous bait was used there. Seyedbagheri said it worked very well due to the cooperative effort of county residents to distribute the material.

So far, no major crop damage has been reported, with most of the insects focused on public land, Idaho Agriculture Department spokeswoman Julie Pipal said.

The federal Animal Plant Health Inspection Service had planned to use aerial insecticides, but that plan was shelved after environmental groups sued to stop the spraying. Instead, the agency opted to continue using poisonous bait.

"We're winding down on treatments," service spokeswoman Meghan Thomas said. "It's getting to the point where treatment's not effective because Mormon crickets are no longer feeding."

As of July 2, the agency has treated 14,425 acres with bait, Thomas said. Because the bait was spread out, it will protect nearly 75,000 acres, she said. Hay and alfalfa farmers have been spraying with chemicals on private land since gaining approval from the state in early June.

Brad Hoaglun, executive director of the Idaho Hay Association, said the spraying appears to have worked.

No one knows at this point whether enough crickets were killed to avoid another large infestation next year.

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