Grasshoppers, Flea Beetles Causing Concern For Farmers

Farmers are continuing to deal with grasshoppers.

 

John Gavloski is an entomologist with Manitoba Agriculture & Resource Development.

 

"What is happening this time of year is some of their preferred food that they feed on, they like things that are lush and green, things like your cereal crops, a lot of your roadside vegetation, when that's being harvested or cut or just maturing, it gets them moving and they will move into things such as canola, soybeans, things that they will feed on but often not the preferred choice and with those crops we often caution people, just watch for potential edge effects. Sometimes, it's not something that you need to spray for, other times you might want to be doing the edges if they're moving in from other crops."

 

Gavloski notes some farmers are also seeing high levels of flea beetles in canola.

 

"They're coming out now as fall adults. They will feed for a while before they go into their overwintering site...Right now it's mainly crucifer flea beetle that we're seeing a lot of and they're quite abundant in some fields."

 

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.