Oklahoma State University
Stillwater, OK

Oklahoma Alfalfa
Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service
Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station

TIMELY CONTROL OF GRASSHOPPERS

 

Summer is the time to control grasshoppers. Producers should not wait until they are winged and large, when control is difficult or impossible.  

Eight to nine adult grasshoppers per square yard should cause alarm to forage producers. That many grasshoppers can eat as much as a cow. Grasshopper problems will not go away until hard freezes come in late fall.  

Grasshoppers normally build up on field edges, and that is the best place to scout and treat when high numbers begin developing. Treating border areas is much cheaper than treating whole fields.  

The following partial list of insecticides may be useful in controlling grasshoppers in areas where the number of small grasshoppers has reached the economic threshold.  
 

Chemical Control of Grasshoppers in Alfalfa  
 

Product  

Rate per Acre  

Malathion  

1-1.25  

Sevin®  

1.5  

Parathion   (Ethyl or Methyl)  

0.5  

Cygon® or DeFend®  

0.5  

Furadan®  

0.25  

  
Carefully read and follow all label directions before using any pesticide.
 

Phil Mulder, Extension Entomologist 
Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology 
Oklahoma State University

  Previous Page