Tag: grasshopper infestation

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KDD and Klamath Ag To Face Ongoing Grasshopper Problems in 2024

Dead grasshoppers on Stateline Road near Lower Klamath Refuge

Hanging a new calendar on the wall is usually a time to look ahead at the promise of what a new year brings.

While we’d like to reminisce about the highlights of last year and look forward to what could be, we’re unfortunately plagued by a problem from 2023.

Grasshoppers.

For Klamath Drainage District family farmers, and pretty much all of Klamath ag, last year’s grasshopper infestation is promising to pay off in troubling dividends. What seemed to start on Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge spread throughout the Klamath Basin, initially devastating farms along Stateline Road, spread like a virus to surrounding communities and irrigation districts. 

In KDD, grain crops lost tonnage, as did hay crops. Healthy pastures were stripped of foliage, requiring beef ranchers and other livestock producers to find ground outside the district or use acres they’d hoped to use later in the season. KDD farmers and ranchers also paid for more grasshopper treatment than usual to fight the pests.

In short, the grasshopper infestation was not only an ecological disaster, but also an economic disaster for Klamath Basin farmers.

At the end of November, the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) released its 2023 Grasshopper and Mormon Cricket Report. The report covered the damage done to Oregon agricultural producers due to infestations of Mormon crickets and grasshoppers all through the state, and that report would instruct the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) of economic losses and potential programs to help mitigate the insect damage.

Much to the dismay and chagrin of Klamath ag, the ODA’s report indicated there was very little damage caused by grasshoppers to area producers, and furthermore, no economic damages.

This graphic was taken from the ODA’s 2023 Grasshopper and Mormon Cricket Report to show grasshopper survey densities. The red outline added to emphasize the Klamath County area.
This graphic was taken from the ODA’s 2023 Grasshopper and Mormon Cricket Report to show estimated grasshopper damages.

On December 12th, 2023, Klamath County Commissioner, Dave Henslee, held a workshop with the Board of Commissioners to discuss the 2023’s grasshopper damage and the ODA’s report. At the meeting, attendees heard report after report of the damage and losses Basin farmers suffered from the grasshoppers. Klamath Water Users Association’s director of water policy, Moss Driscoll, estimated the ripple effect of economic damage could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars in the course of following years.

Image of Tim O'Connor, KDD Rancher, from Klamath County Board of Commissioners' December 12, 2023 Work Session about the Klamath Basin grasshopper infestation.
KDD Rancher, Tim O’Connor, giving testimony at the Klamath County Board of Commissioners’ December 12, 2023 Work Session about the Klamath Basin grasshopper infestation.

Towards the end of the meeting, ODA’s director, Lauren Henderson, joined the discussion via Zoom and indicated that the report had been merely taken out of context; ODA’s pest monitoring sites didn’t capture the same number of bugs that the rest of the Klamath Basin was seeing, and only affected Federal lands, 6,000 acres of which are in KDD. 

Eventually, he did concede that Klamath ag did indeed suffer losses. And thanks to Cody Holthouse from the ODA, who joined Mr. Henderson on the phone, the department is still taking grasshopper damage reports.

Unfortunately, there will be more for KDD patrons and the Klamath ag community to report.

In the December board meeting, we heard reports of hay bales being opened up and the centers of them being emptied out, due to grasshoppers that were baled in the forage eating their fill. At auction, average calf weight was down. And if that isn’t enough of a financial brunt for farmers and ranchers to carry, banks are backing away from financing operating lines and loans. 

There’s also the worry of grasshopper eggs being spread in the district through feeding livestock the infested hay. Unless there’s a vicious, hard freeze, the eggs will likely hatch in 2024, exacerbating the 2023 grasshopper problems. 

Getting In Front of the  Klamath Basin 2024 Grasshopper Infestation

Fortunately, Klamath Basin ag’s voice has been heard and work is being done to try and head off another potentially disastrous grasshopper infestation.

The week of January 29th, KDD is hosting a session with ODA director Lauren Henderson to talk about what happened in 2023, and hopefully out of the discussions a plan for 2024 will evolve. When a date and time are confirmed, we will share it on the KDD Facebook page.

Image of the Oregon Department of Agriculture's 2023 Public Grasshopper Survey Report Form
To fill out this form, please visit https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/9fb3cf8db4b64d93812eff265128a2b7

Regardless of whether or not members of the ag community are able to make it to the meeting, we strongly recommend taking time to fill out the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s 2023 Public Grasshopper Survey Report Form (you can click on the image on the right to access the reporting form). At this time, the ODA is committed to receiving these reports, and they will help the department ascertain the level of damage 2023’s infestation caused.

To help head-off future infestations, especially those starting on the Lower Klamath refuge, we need policymakers to commit to getting water to our wildlife refuges. As they found on the Klamath Marsh in 2013, drought conditions worsened grasshopper outbreaks. By supporting plans such as KDD’s restoration project, future grasshopper plagues can be minimized. 

With all of the other challenges Klamath Basin family farmers and ranchers face, it’s unfortunate that grasshoppers appear to be another ongoing blow being dealt to our communities. Hopefully another infestation won’t materialize in 2024. If one does, we will be prepared so we can minimize the damage to our local economy and ecosystem.

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2023 Grasshopper Infestation Hits Lower Klamath

Clearwing grasshopper near Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge clinging to car window

Grasshopper Infestation Attacks Lower Klamath Wildlife Refuge, KDD and Klamath Project

Driving the thin line of pavement that divides Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge and the fields and farms that make up the Klamath Drainage District is getting messier. 

Instead of enjoying the the birds and other wildlife that live in the area or marveling at the variety of crops and the people working in the fields in KDD, the ping-ping-pinging of grasshoppers splattering across windshields and sticking to the hoods and grills of cars and pickups are requiring drivers to pay more attention to the road. In their rearview mirrors the desiccated carcasses of the grasshoppers dance in the breeze like the leaves from trees in the fall. 

Clearwing grasshopper near Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge clinging to car window
Grasshopper on Stateline Road near Lower Klamath Wildlife Refuge clinging to the window of a pickup

While Upper Klamath Lake might be known for the tiny midges that leave the front-ends of cars looking fuzzy and green, unfortunately for the last two years, Lower Klamath is getting known for grasshoppers. LIke the midges, they cover windshields with bug-guts and goop that seems nearly impossible to clean. 

However, unlike midges, the roads can at times become slick with the remains of grasshoppers crushed on the road. Even worse, the grasshoppers damage crops, impacting not just the production of pasture and hay crops but also lettuce, potatoes, and wheat along with the much-needed grasses and other plants that provide food for the wildlife in KDD.

Even worse yet, the grasshoppers aren’t confined to just KDD. People first started seeing the hoards of hoppers in early June, mostly along Stateline Road, reporting the carnage that covered their cars in Facebook posts. As their numbers and hunger has increased, they’ve spread to Merrill, Malin, Tulelake, and even Poe Valley. There’s also reports of heavy grasshopper numbers in Langell Valley.

How did this happen?

Recall the Bureau of Reclamation’s infamous, historic dewatering of the Tule Lake and Lower Klamath Lake National Wildlife Refuges. The droughting of those refuges left thousands of acres open to ravages of the wind, sun and pests. Pests such as grasshoppers.

Without water in Lower Klamath refuge, the eggs and then nymphs have been able to mature and reproduce. Water in the spring helps drown out the young grasshoppers and eggs, which helps keep their populations under control. If you also add the delayed irrigation season by the Bureau on top of the dried refuges, the Klamath Basin becomes the ideal breeding ground for the voracious pests.

In our region, we’ve seen this pattern before, most notably on the Klamath Marsh. Looking at articles about grasshoppers and their devastation on the Klamath Marsh, there’s a common thread between: a lack of water in the spring and being cut-off from irrigation water. And a drive along Stateline Road, drivers will see the same thing.

The interesting thing about what we’re seeing in KDD and Lower Klamath Refuge is that there is tangible evidence between a dry refuge and a wet one. Driving along Stateline, the areas where you find the most grasshopper carcasses littering the road – not to mention more of the pests smearing their guts across windshields – is where Lower Klamath has yet to receive any water. However, as you get close to the Oregon Drain and towards Highway 97, the number of grasshoppers embedding themselves into your vehicle goes down. There’s much fewer of their exoskeletons littering the road, and less of them getting stirred up by traffic.

The bodies of dead grasshoppers littering Stateline Road between Lower Klamath Lake National Wildlife Refuge and the Klamath Drainage District
Grasshoppers flying over Stateline Road to Klamath Drainage District fields
Where Lower Klamath refuge is getting water from KDD, there’s hardly any grasshopper carcasses on Stateline Road

Does the water Klamath Drainage District provide to part of the Lower Klamath refuge mean there’s less grasshoppers in that area?

Not necessarily, and it becomes complicated due to the fact not all of the refuge is underwater.

Walking along the side of the road, grasshoppers still flutter from the green vegetation offering food and protection for them that’s growing in the ditch. With protection and food, there’s very little motivation for the grasshoppers to try and flee from the refuge to KDD for safety. And while the irrigated fields of KDD and water in Lower Klamath helps keep the grasshopper population in check, the area is still plagued by all of the grasshoppers, eating, mating, and laying eggs in the part of the refuge the Bureau of Reclamation has allowed to go dry. 

Also worth noting is the number of birds in both areas along Stateline Road. In the area where the grasshoppers are rampant versus the part of Lower Klamath that’s receiving water from KDD, you’ll see more blackbirds (mostly redwing and yellow-headed blackbirds), meadowlarks, sparrows, swallows, blue jays, and even ravens and crows. Between habitat and water, these birds are likely helping keep the grasshopper populations in those areas in check. 

This particular species of grasshopper, clearwing grasshoppers, are native to the Klamath Basin, which means they’re part of the ecosystem. In any ecosystem, there are natural checks and balances to help keep various species in check. Historically Lower Klamath National Refuge was never the haven for grasshoppers it is now due to the fact it had always been under water. 

However, with the Bureau of Reclamation’s focus on single-species management of Upper Klamath Lake and the Klamath River, governmental officials have created a catastrophe in our ecosystem. As a result migratory birds and other Klamath Basin wildlife bear the brunt of the Bureau of Reclamation and Federal government’s poor water management policies, which is further worsened by adherence to a rigid Endangered Species Act. And now wildlife and farmers alike are having to deal with the unintended consequences of Federal decisions that fail to take entire ecosystems into consideration. 

This catastrophe is not only affecting Klamath Basin wildlife, but also the Klamath Basin economy. As area family farmers and ranchers grain, hay and other crops fail, that will echo throughout the Basin’s economy, where one dollar produced by agriculture is used nine times throughout the community. In KDD alone, unofficially, farmers and ranchers are discussing losses in the hundreds of thousands of dollars in each of their operations.  

The solution to ending this grasshopper plague is simple. Provide water for Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge and for Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge. This simple solution will help keep the hoards of grasshoppers under control and provide the necessary habitat needed for the birds traveling the Pacific Flyway as well as for the wildlife that make these refuges and surrounding fields their home.

Getting these pests under control will also benefit the Klamath Basin economy, as ag receipts would reflect higher yields which equates to more money to be spent throughout the community. And, if the Feds and Reclamation took KDD’s recommendation of using the Klamath Project as designed, not only would there be more grasshopper abatement, cleaner water could be sent down the the Klamath River for salmon.

Egrets in the reeds in Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge with water provided by Klamath Drainage District patrons
In contrast to the parts of Lower Klamath refuge that haven’t received water, egrets and other birds take advantage of the water provided by KDD and its partners

In the end, this ecological catastrophe could have been avoided. Instead, we have migratory birds desperately searching for habitat, farms throughout the Klamath Project still going dry and a grasshopper infestation nearing biblical proportions. The Klamath Drainage District and its patrons will continue to do our best to provide water to the Lower Klamath refuge, but ultimately the Bureau of Reclamation and the Federal government need to readdress how they manage water in the Klamath Project and take into consideration the unintended consequences of their water management policies.