Additional option available for grasshopper control in West River counties

PIERRE, SD – The South Dakota Department of Agriculture (SDDA) has issued an emergency crisis exemption to allow Dimilin 2L® insecticide to be used to control grasshoppers and Mormon crickets in alfalfa hay and alfalfa mix fields in counties west of the Missouri River in South Dakota.

Dimilin 2L® is less harmful to insect pollinators, such as honeybees, than other products currently on the market.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and SDDA, grasshopper economic thresholds have been exceeded and the grasshoppers are currently in the second and third stages between molts. Dimilin 2L® is most effective on grasshoppers that are in the second to fourth stages.

In 2009, South Dakota ranked second nationally in alfalfa production. The annual value of hay production in western South Dakota is $200 million. South Dakota also ranked second in honey production in 2009.

Section 18 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) provides the authority for the South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture to issue an emergency crisis exemption when circumstances warrant.

For more information about the emergency crisis exemption and to obtain the label, go to the SDDA Web site at http://sdda.sd.gov/Ag_Services

The emergency crisis exemption became effective on Monday, June 14, 2010.