Another "hopper" picture... really had them bad one year ago, and were really bad this past summer.
photo by stan click on photo to enlarge
Rangeland and Pasture: Damage Grasshoppers compete for forage with cattle. If enough grasshoppers are present, they can reduce the quality and quantity of forage that is produced. This can affect the rancher’s ability to use the pasture effectively for grazing. Grasshoppers consume up to 50% of their body weight every day in forage. Cattle consume abut 1.5-2.5% of their body weight in forage, so pound for pound, a grasshopper will eat 12-20 times as much plant material as a steer. Another way to look at it is that 30 pounds of grasshoppers will eat as much as a 600-pound steer. In addition, some grasshoppers feed on the most desirable forage plants in the rangeland, leaving the less desirable plants. Their feeding, if coupled with drought conditions, can cause long-term deterioration of the forage plant community.
