The drought this year in the Northern Plains has brought an unwelcome visitor especially to Western South Dakota and that’s grasshoppers. SDSU Extension Field Entomologist Patrick Wagner says thanks to a mild winter and the drought, grasshopper populations have exploded.

He says the hoppers have been feasting on pastures and are now moving to crops and even into towns

Wagner says there are different treatments producers can use to try and control the grasshoppers depending on the crops infested and when you make application.

Wagner says thresholds also vary.

Wagner says he’s seen several grasshoppers in sunflower fields in Western South Dakota this year.