Hay in McKenzie County will be plentiful this year
By Ashleigh Plemper
Farmer Staff Writer
As an unrelenting drought gripped western North Dakota for the last several years, it finally let up earlier this spring with much of the county receiving plenty of precipitation from March through mid-July. Which means those harvesting hay are much happier this season.
But they aren’t exempt from the pesky little buggers that love to feed on their plush fields.
“Grasshoppers have been a challenge in a lot of areas and also blister beetles in our alfalfa,” says Jarvis Sorenson, who ranches south of Watford City.
While grasshoppers can be found within close range of the hay, feeding on it, blister beetles usually aren’t far behind considering that they feed on grasshopper eggs. And alfalfa blossoms specifically, are a preferred food source for blister bugs.