Oregon State Capitol
900 Court Street NE, S-223
Salem, Oregon 97301
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Michael Gay
September
26, 2008 503.986.1950
Funding to fight grasshopper
infestation approved
Salem,
OR – The Legislative
Emergency Board approved $119,000 to hire a state entomologist and offset costs
already shouldered by farmers to fight back a grasshopper infestation in Eastern Oregon.
“I want to
thank Senate President Peter Courtney (D-Salem) for his attention to this
issue,” said Senator Ted Ferrioli (R-John Day). “This
funding goes a long way towards keeping family farms functioning and
profitable, and lets rural Oregon
know that we still matter.” Ferrioli went on to thank Jan Kerns,
member of the State Board of Agriculture, Baker County Commissioner Fred
Warner, and Congressman Greg Walden for their efforts.
More than 733,000
acres of wheat, barley, corn, potatoes, hay and pasture crops have been
affected by the infestation. Grasshoppers are being found in numbers
averaging 100 per square yard. The threshold where economic losses
begin taking effect is eight insects per square yard. This season
farmers have personally treated almost 14,000 acres without any assistance
from the state.
“Grasshoppers
belong on a fishing hook, not piled up on farmland,” said
Ferrioli.
Ferrioli submitted a
letter to Senate President Peter Courtney (D-Salem) and House Speaker Jeff
Merkely (D-Portland) on Monday requesting $119,000 from the Emergency Board
to help control the grasshoppers.
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