Ogden Valley News | 1999-07-01 | Page 2

Page 2 The Ogden Valley News Volume I, Issue X July 1999 The Ogden Valley News Staff: Shanna Francis Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] E-Mail: [e-mail] Jeannie Wendell Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] Opinions expressed by advertisers, columnists or letters to the editor are not necessarily the opinions of the owners and staff of The Ogden Valley News. Guidelines for Letters to the Editor Letters should be 300 words or LESS. Letters must be signed and the address of the writer submitted. The Ogden Valley News reserves the right to edit or decline printing of any submissions. Announcements Sought As a community service, The Ogden Valley News will print local birth, wedding, obituary, anniversary and missionary farewell and homecoming announcements free of charge. We invite residents to send their announcements to: THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS P O BOX 130 EDEN UT 84310 If you would like your submitted items returned, please send a stamped, selfaddressed envelope. The Ogden Valley News, while respecting all property recieved, will take no responsibility for lost or misplaced items. Please remember to keep a copy for yourself. Invitation for Articles The staff of the Ogden Valley News welcomes the submission of articles by our readership. We invite you to submit local historical accounts or biographies, articles pertaining to contemporary issues, and/or other material that may be of interest to our readers. We also invite you to submit to the paper, or notify the staff, of local events, births, weddings, anniversaries, mission homecomings and farewells, and death announcements. Eagle Scout and other awards that have been earned by the reader, family members, neighbors or friends are also sought. While the staff of the Ogden Valley News invites the submittal of information and articles, we reserve the right to select which material will be considered for publication. All material, to be considered, must be submitted with the full name, address and telephone number of the person submitting the material. Aid for Suppressing Grasshopper and Mormon Cricket Infestations Compiled by Shanna Francis Grasshoppers, locust, and Mormon cricket infestations within the state are running rampant. A biological insecticide, registered with the Environmental Protection Agency, called NOLO BAIT is available to help farmers and other property owners combat the damage that can be caused by these western pests. NOLO BAIT, unlike chemicallybased insecticides, contains a naturallyoccurring spore called Nosema locaustae that infects grasshoppers. The disease that results from this infection is activated once the spore is ingested by the grasshopper. Infection and sickness to the grasshoppers from this insect pathogen begins upon ingestion of the bait by the grasshopper. Grasshopper death will begin in three to six weeks. The insect pathogen multiplies in infected grasshoppers and will pass from grasshopper to grasshopper and can remain active for several years. The infection is lethal to 58 species of grasshoppers, locusts, and some species of crickets. In essence, when a grasshopper consumes the spores, it is like giving them the flu or giardia. NOLO BAIT is a suppression bait made from flaky wheat bran that is sprayed with the Nosema spores. It is non-toxic to humans, livestock, wild animals, birds, fish, non-target insects, other life forms other than grasshoppers, or water resources. NOLO BAIT has no restrictions around bodies of water and can be used up to the water’s edge, as directed by EPA regulations. As a grasshopper or cricket suppression tool, NOLO BAIT does not work rapidly. It is a subtle disease that is naturally occurring and takes time to develop to levels that can be readily identified. By putting out the bait at the minimum label rate of 1 lb. per acre equivalent, you are performing what is called an “inoculative” release. This will begin the disease process in the population present at that time; however, depending on the grasshopper population densities and varying age groups at the time, the level of inoculation will vary. Heavier concentrations of the bait may be necessary depending upon concentration of grasshoppers. For instance, if you have more than eight (8) grasshoppers per square yard and put out one pound to the acre one time, you will probably have serious competition for each flake of bran among the grasshopper population. Quite possibly there will be a large percentage of hoppers that don’t even get one flake to themselves. In this case, there will be many that will not become infected, at least until they begin consuming those grasshoppers around them that have become sick enough to become attractive as a food source to the healthy grasshoppers–grasshoppers are cannibalistic–thereby spreading the disease. Because grasshoppers are extremely migratory and can move over great distances, it is optimal, if within economics, to inoculate your area frequently throughout the season. This will help to spread the infection further and aid in long term control. NOLO BAIT may not work as quickly as some would like, but used correctly, it will have a noticeable impact on populations in the long term. Due to the nature of the disease, the effects will vary according to age and species of the grasshopper, and the amount of spores that the grasshopper was able to consume. In very young, newly hatched grasshoppers, death may occur within a week. Unfortunately, if you are not planning follow up treatments, this may not really be the optimal time to infect, simply because it does not offer long term carryover. The young hoppers die quickly and dry up and disappear. Healthy grasshoppers migrate in, making it difficult to notice an impact. By the time grasshoppers reach the third stage of growth, or a one-half inch length, they have developed enough body mass to allow the spores to reproduce to some extent. They will become lethargic and dramatically slow or quit feeding, but will not die immediately. This stage allows for some spreading of the disease to take place as healthy grasshoppers come in and consume them. Once grasshoppers are almost to adulthood, infection results in the loss of appetite, lethargy, increased spore production inside their bodies and therefore more spread of the disease. It is actually good to see them very slowly moving about and yet not feeding because it is only in these lethargic but living grasshoppers that the disease can continue to propagate and eventually spread to more of the population. In young adults, reproduction and egg laying may be severely depleted or even stopped. When reproduction does take place, quite often the spores will be passed on in the sticky substance that surrounds the egg pods. Young will become infected as they chew their way out of the egg pod and crawl up through the soil to the surface after hatching. In this case they will probably not survive their first molt. This process explains why you may observe more obvious results the season after application has taken place then during the season in which you inoculated. This is due to an overall decrease in egg laying capability, and infection of the new spring hatch. Follow-up applications each year grasshopper populations are on the increase are useful to continue this process. Winter and spring weather will also have an effect on the spring hatch, as will the cycle the population is in at the time. GRASSHOPPERS cont. on page 4 TRAIL cont. from page 1 Riders follow the trail that is marked and mapped. A minimum and maximum time is given in which to complete the day’s ride. During the day’s ride, ride personnel perform pulse and respiration (P&R) checks on the horses. The veterinarian also checks soundness and condition periodically, both as a means of judging the animal and for its safety. Those who are registered for the two day ride are again checked by the veterinarian before being allowed to begin the next day. The competition ends with an awards ceremony, with placings for the top six horses and riders in each division and class. Many rides also give out breed awards and other special awards. All riders receive a copy of their scorecards for their own personal reference. The NATRC offers three divisions within to compete, the Open Division, for horses at least 5 years of age. It is the most challenging, with longer distances and faster speeds. The Novice Division is for competitors new to the sport, and is a good place to learn about competitive trail riding. Horses must be at least 4 years old to compete in this division. The Competitive Pleasure Division is the same length of trail and same speed as the Novice Division (1 day trail ride), but is for the more accomplished rider with a new horse or who prefers not to go the distance or speed of the Open ride. Both Open and Novice divisions are divided into three classes: Heavyweight for riders and tack with a combined weight over 190 pounds; Lightweight, for riders and tack with a combined weight of 100 to 189 pounds; and the Junior class for riders ages 10 to 17, no weight limitations. This was the first year that the NATRC had held a competition in Ogden Valley. Over 40 riders participated in the competition. Horses and riders from Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Idaho, Montana, Iowa, and, of course, Utah competed. To participate in competitive trail riding, you do not need to be a member of NATRC. If you would like more information about NATRC and competitive trail riding, contact: NATRC PO BOX 2136 RANCHOS DE TAOS NM 87557 Phone or Fax: [phone] NATRC’s Home Page on www: http://natrc.trailriding.com/ U.S. West Service Update In response to questions regarding the Valley’s phone service that was interrupted last month with unsolicited phone conversations interrupting regular service, Michael Frandsen U.S. West Utah spokesman responded with the following explanation, “We had just installed new fiber to increase telecommunications capacity in the Huntsville area. Within some of the new circuits, however, there were flaws, and that resulted in the cross-talking that some customers experienced.” “We put a lot of resources and a lot of people into fixing the problem as quickly as we could. But it’s a very painstaking, methodical process to determine which circuits were causing the problems, and then fixing them.” “The first real signs of trouble began showing up on [a] Tuesday and our technicians in the field began looking for the source of the problem immediately. Things were fixed by Friday afternoon.” “We [the phone company] compensate a customer if phone service is completely out for 24 hours or more. That wasn’t the situation here, though, where customers faced occasional glitches in service and not a complete loss of service.