Cereal killers swallow profits
Karen Peterson photo
George Biggs harvests his wheat field after a tough dry year fighting cereal leaf beetles.
Karen Peterson photo
George Biggs harvests his wheat field after a tough dry year fighting cereal leaf beetles.
Karen Peterson photo
The wheat heads in George Biggs’ field were shorter this year in comparison to last year. The head on the right was from this year.
Karen Peterson photo
George Biggs harvests his wheat field after a tough dry year fighting cereal leaf beetles.
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Last spring, many farmers spent thousands of dollars to protect their grain crops from the cereal leaf beetle larva before it could completely strip their fields.
George Biggs in St. Ignatius noticed the destruction left by the invasive species as he harvested his wheat fields.
“Up in the combine seat looking out at the grain, I can see where the beetles have been. Their calling card was to harm the grain. I look at the heads on the wheat and the darker heads are where the bugs hit,” he said.
They weren’t through the entire field, according to Biggs. The beetles seemed to run in 10-acre patches. It’s “nice and thick and heavy” where they haven’t been.
“We haven’t got it all harvested yet but I can tell our yield is a lot less. If we hadn’t caught it when we did it would have been worse.”
Ben Selby in St. Ignatius calculated his loss.
“Our yield is down 30 percent. We ended up having a shorter head on the wheat with the dryer conditions and the beetle problem.”
The crop damage made a financial dent.
“A lower yield means less profit. Spraying for the beetle was another expense, and the market is down. That’s farming; sometimes you don’t make much of a profit.”
Ronan farmer Steve Tobol discovered the beetle in his field.
“I caught the beetle early. This year, we ended up spraying and that killed all the bugs. Everything turned out well for me. I had an average to above average yield and the protein count is up,” Tobol said.
Now he’s waiting for prices to come up. This year, he noted, wheat prices are low.
“I need the market to go up so I can break even and make a little. When you end up spraying for beetles your profits are all ate up.”
Lake County Extension Agent Jack Stivers recommends scouting the fields next spring to catch the beetles before they can damage crops.
“I recommend grain producers scout fields early. Once you have your eyes trained to find them, you can catch them before it’s too late. Last spring, we saw a lot of moisture and that equated to a strong population. We had beetle populations in areas that hadn’t seen them before,” Stivers said.
“It can happen again next year. It can happen at any year.
