Sept. 10, 2004 ~ A different kind of army
Yesterday was not a total waste, but close to it. After dealing with back and neck problems for some time, my neck was actually starting to feel better. The night before, I'd even thought I might be able to skip physical therapy this week. Hah! I woke up to muscle spasms, probably the result of sleeping in a goofy position. My head would barely turn to either side, so driving was out. I called the PT office to cancel, and spent the day on muscle relaxers. A bit uncomfortable, but not terribly so. It's just one of those things that has to work itself out. Today brought improvement, and I expect tomorrow will be even better. I did manage to run a few errands today. No muscle relaxers.
This morning I bent down to pet the Meadow girl, such a sweet puppy, and saw the cutest little worm. And then there was another worm. And another, and another. My heart sank. Just sank. That cute little worm, together with all his friends, was an army worm, so called because they attack a field or yard and destroy it almost overnight. They can completely wipe out a field in three days. The patch of yard where I saw the worms in Meadow's pen was green this morning. This afternoon it was brown. I dreaded telling Husband about it. We looked in dismay at the back pasture, and noted that an acre or so closest to the barn was now brown and dead. It was green yesterday. We'd been "saving" that pasture, letting the grass grow, and were going to let the cows in there this weekend. We opened wide the gate and let them in tonight. Might as well let them get what they can while they can get it.
These critters are the larval stage of a type of moth. The moth lays lots and lots of eggs, which hatch into the worms. The worms eat the blades of grass, leaving only the stems. Sometimes they only destroy parts of a pasture; sometimes they wipe it out completely. Sometimes the grass can come back in a couple of weeks; sometimes the cycle starts over and the worms wipe it out again.
Just yesterday I'd been thinking how lucky we were to have green grass at this time of year. It looked like we wouldn't have to start feeding hay until November. Now we may have to start feeding the cows much sooner. First order of business... to find some more hay. We got on the phone and located some that was just baled today. Husband has to work tomorrow, but if he gets in early enough, he'll start hauling hay. If not tomorrow, then Sunday. I hate for him to have to work on Sunday, as he surely needs the rest, but some things can't be helped.
This whole army worm business is disappointing, no doubt, but there's no point in making ourselves sick about it. We can't control the weather, and we can't control insects. At this point I think it is too late to spray. It's possible, but how effective would it be?
Later...
We called our neighbor to let him know about the worms. He appreciated the call very much, as he has hay meadows just across the road. He offered to let us borrow his spray rig and even said he had some chemical we could buy if they're out at the local stores (and he thinks this is very possible). But it's not cheap. He said he has battled army worms his whole life, that some years they're worse than others, and that there is no way to prevent them. The moths are present every year, and every year they lay eggs. Some years the conditions are right and the eggs hatch; some years they don't. He said that if we choose not to spray, it won't affect next year's population of worms either way, and our neighbors' pastures aren't going to get infested because of us... the eggs are already there. He is going to cut his hay tomorrow, though, to be on the safe side. He doesn't have worms yet.
He also said that these critters don't usually like bahia grass, and we have mostly bahia with some bermuda. They like bermuda, and that's what's been affected so far. He said that he really thought we would be okay, that the bahia would probably be fine. So that's a relief. And as a friend pointed out, it's not a matter of life or death. If we make a wrong decision, either way, we'll know better next time.
Such is life on the farm.
All rights reserved
_______________________________