Grasshopper Numbers Growing In Missouri

Jul 24, 2014

Farmers should scout and, if needed, spray for grasshoppers now, said University of Missouri Extension entomologist Wayne Bailey. Grasshoppers are reported in almost every county in the state, he said.

“Numbers of small grasshoppers are exceedingly high this year in many areas of Missouri and insecticide application may be needed for control,” Bailey said.

Insecticides can kill most small grasshoppers easily. Apply insecticide on borders of fields and crop rows at this time to reduce numbers before grasshoppers move into crop fields.

It is unusual for grasshoppers to be seen this early in the season in soybean fields, Bailey said. Early-season control becomes even more important if predictions for a dry end-of-season come true, he said.

Grasshoppers feed first on grasses and weeds in non-crop areas. When conditions are dry, grasshoppers travel from field borders to crop areas to find more green leaves, Bailey said. They can quickly strip leaves of crops.

Most severe damage occurs after several dry seasons. Cool, wet weather during egg hatch reduces numbers.
More than 100 species exist, but only a few are common in Missouri crops.

Brown, gray or green in color, they grow up to 1 ¾ inches long. They have large hind legs for jumping and prominent heads with large eyes and complex mouthparts. Adults have two pairs of wings and can readily fly or jump when disturbed.

Source : missouri.edu

Video: Spring 2026 weather outlook for Wisconsin; What an early-arriving El Niño could mean

Northeast Wisconsin is a small corner of the world, but our weather is still affected by what happens across the globe.

That includes in the equatorial Pacific, where changes between El Niño and La Niña play a role in the weather here -- and boy, have there been some abrupt changes as of late.

El Niño and La Niña are the two phases of what is collectively known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation, or ENSO for short. These are the swings back and forth from unusually warm to unusually cold sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean along the equator.

Since this past September, we have been in a weak La Niña, which means water temperatures near the Eastern Pacific equator have been cooler than usual. That's where we're at right now.

Even last fall, the long-term outlook suggested a return to neutral conditions by spring and potentially El Niño conditions by summer.

But there are some signs this may be happening faster than usual, which could accelerate the onset of El Niño.

Over the last few weeks, unusually strong bursts of westerly winds farther west in the Pacific -- where sea surface temperatures are warmer than average -- have been observed. There is a chance that this could accelerate the warming of those eastern Pacific waters and potentially push us into El Niño sooner than usual.

If we do enter El Nino by spring -- which we'll define as the period of March, April and May -- there are some long-term correlations with our weather here in Northeast Wisconsin.

Looking at a map of anomalously warm weather, most of the upper Great Lakes doesn't show a strong correlation, but in general, the northern tiers of the United States do tend to lean to that direction.

The stronger correlation is with precipitation. El Niño conditions in spring have historically come with a higher risk of very dry weather over that time frame, so this will definitely be a transition we'll have to watch closely as we move out of winter.