By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
The crickets are coming! The crickets are coming!
In fact, the crickets are already here.
Jeff Banks, USU Extension Agent in Juab County, said
Mormon Crickets are now in the Nephi Valley. They have, and
are, traveling from Dog Valley into the county.
"The state won't sell poison bait to individuals," he
said. "The county could buy the bait and store it at the
county road department shed and it could be disbursed from
there."
Those who want to purchase the bait, farmers and
ranchers of the area, could pay the county for the amount
they receive. The State Department of Agriculture is paying
for 50 percent of the cost and then the individual is paying
the other 50 percent, he said.
Bran treated with Seven is highly successful and draws
the katydid-family members to the poison. They eat, die, and
their carnivorous relatives eat their carcasses and also
die.
Banks said the poison is selling for 45-cents for a
50-pound bag and whatever is not used by farmers will be
bought back by the state.
"It is not like the county would be putting any money
into it," said Banks.
The county would purchase the bait, would be billed
for it, and, meantime, would have collected the funds needed
to pay the county share.
If farmers were not required to pay their share when
the poison was picked up, then the county would have to bill
them.
"We would need a fiscally responsible person to do the
billing," said Wm. Boyd Howarth, commission chair.
That would not be the case, said Banks.
"I estimate that there would be only 15 or 16 farmers
or ranchers who would want to purchase the poison bait," he
said.
Robert Garrett, county road supervisor, said the
crickets are reportedly coming from BLM lands onto private
lands.
Right now, they are beginning to invade the east part
of the county with their squadrons just as they have done to
the western part of the county.
"The crickets are circling the town of Eureka (on the
west)," said Joseph Bernini, commissioner. He said they
started on one side and have made nearly a complete circle
around the community--eating as they go.
Robert Steele, commissioner, said now was a good time
to bait the Mormon Crickets.
"They are nearly three-quarters grown," he said. "If
they eat the poison now, they will died before they can lay
eggs."
Nevertheless, he said, since the crickets have
affected millions of acres they would be difficult to
eliminate without the benefit of Mother Nature working on
the side of the farmer.
"What we need is a few hard winters," he said.
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