What would you do if you went to work and later that day when you came home your lawn was missing? Not stolen per se, but the grass was all stripped and eaten away. Such a scenario may actually be possible.
Not long ago I wrote that armyworms were chewing/eating and destroying crops in the South. Soon after that article was written I was reading accounts of how armyworms had, in a matter of days, consumed entire hay fields and pastures. Each day brought news of severe infestations coming closer to home.
As a farmer who relies on the production of hay for a source of income, I had been following the progression of armyworms north through the Midwest. I saw that they were in fields by Champaign, Illinois and had infested many fields in Indiana and Ohio by the middle of August. Sure enough, in the last several days they have been confirmed in multiple locations in Will County.
Farmers in southern states have dealt with armyworms for years. They reproduce faster in warm weather and have more life cycles per year than in northern climates. They cannot survive frost nor can they overwinter in cold climates. The moths that lay the eggs can move great distances travelling with storm fronts. It seems that our consistent flow of southern gulf air and a warmer than usual summer has been favorable for them to travel much farther north than usual.
Armyworms love to eat grasses. Cereal grains/grasses such as corn, wheat, oats, as well as many species of grasses are all host foods for armyworms. As soon as the humid weather and rains that plagued the County Fair week left, I started cutting hay fast. My goal was to cut any fields with good growth to harvest them before the pests could do their damage. I had so many questions and very few answers about this new and unwanted pest.
That brings me to Wednesday, September 1, 2021. I was baling a 22-acre hay field and watching a flock of blackbirds constantly fly in front of the baler. For several hours they never left the field. Were they feeding on armyworms? I had read a little bit about the natural control methods of bird predation and parasitic wasps. By the time we finished the field, I was confident that the birds were eating well in the freshly harvested field. The minimal ground cover was giving any bugs and insects little chance to avoid their ravenous appetite.
I made multiple attempts to take a suitable picture of the birds. Alas, they would not sit still and would always fly ahead each time the tractor and baler approached. I asked my employee Bryce to try to count the birds so I had a number for this article. He scoffed at my instructions, and we settled on an estimate of 500-1000 blackbirds. An insecticide is usually the best way to slow the worms from destroying crops. In lieu of a chemical application, how many blackbirds would I need to accomplish the same task? Would the birds be effective in a taller stand of grass? Where can I rent or buy a flock of birds?
The worms allegedly get their name from how they march like an army on the move when in search of more food when an area has been stripped bare. There have been reports of roads that become slick and greasy from vehicles killing the worms as they cross the road. Perhaps it is best to not ride the motorcycle when I am out scouting my fields for this pest.
How will Will County residents respond if an infestation of the worms explodes? Is it too early to hope for a frost? My gardening friends are not going to be happy with that statement. Until it frosts, it looks like the armyworms are going to “out-eating in the fields.”
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