MFBF urges APHIS to keep grasshopper control tools

BOZEMAN, Montana — The Montana Farm Bureau Federation (MFBF) has submitted formal comments to the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) regarding its upcoming Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for grasshopper and Mormon cricket suppression. MFBF is calling on the agency to preserve proven control methods and expand support for farmers and ranchers battling multi-year pest infestations across Montana.

Grasshopper and Mormon cricket infestations continue to pose a severe economic and environmental threat to agricultural producers operating on federal, state, and private lands across the state. MFBF emphasized that losing critical treatment options would devastate local livestock and crop production.

"It is well documented that grasshoppers compete with cattle and other herbivores for forage and are more likely to become a threat in areas with less than 30 inches of rainfall annually," said Cyndi Johnson, President of the Montana Farm Bureau Federation. "The statewide average rainfall for Montana is only 15 to 19 inches yearly, making the whole state susceptible to grasshopper damage. Grasshoppers can consume up to 50% of their body weight each day in forage, compared to cattle, which consume 1.5 to 2.5%. Just 30 pounds of grasshoppers will eat as much as a 600-pound steer calf in a day. In many areas of the state, we saw concentrations of 50 to 100 grasshoppers per square yard—far above the threshold for economic damage."

In its submission, MFBF reviewed the four alternatives outlined in the APHIS EIS draft, noting that they strongly support Alternative 1 and 4, which maintain safe and proven control measures. Montana producers heavily rely on EPA-registered chemical insecticides—including carbaryl, diflubenzuron, and chlorantraniliprole—applied via the Reduced Area and Agent Treatments (RAATs) method. RAATs have proven highly effective and cost-efficient, allowing limited funding to treat significantly more acreage.

The bureau worried that severe curtailment of pesticide use would prove harmful as without direct treatment, monitoring and mapping offer little practical relief.

“Due to Montana’s checkerboard land-ownership pattern, blending federal, state, and private lands, ranchers face insurmountable financial and logistical barriers trying to treat contiguous 10,000-acre blocks without APHIS cost-sharing and coordination,” Johnson said.

The idea to use biopesticide treatments would be ineffective, as these products remain largely unavailable and have shown low efficacy in field trials. Producers cannot afford to exchange proven chemical, physical, and biological controls for unproven alternatives.

MFBF reminded APHIS that under the Plant Protection Act of 2000, the agency is mandated to execute a program that controls grasshoppers on federal lands to protect vital Western rangelands.

"Treatments through the APHIS Grasshopper and Mormon Cricket Suppression Program have significantly reduced pest numbers, saved forage for livestock and wildlife, and helped bring nature back into balance," added Johnson. "We appreciate APHIS’s work and urge the agency to select an Alternative that keeps every effective tool available for our producers."