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Armyworm Marches Into North Country Farm Fields

Story Published: Jun 13, 2012 at 8:31 PM EDT

Story Updated: Jun 13, 2012 at 8:31 PM EDT

In 24 hours, Doug Shelmidine's hay field went from rich green to leafless brown.

It's all thanks to armyworms. 

They eat the leafy green part of grasses, hay and corn. 

On Doug Shelmidine's land, they've eaten all of the above.

"We've lost a portion of our hay crop, probably in the neighborhood of 40 percent of our second cutting," he said.

The amount the worms have eaten is surprising farmers because they were first spotted in Jefferson County just 2 weeks ago.

They spread first from southern states and then from western New York.

Armyworms grow to be one and a half to two inches in length.

There are so many of them in southern Jefferson County because conditions were perfect.

"The recent warm weather we had was ideal for their growth," said Shelmidine.

Mike Burger, who has a farm in the town of Adams, is also having problems with the worms.

"We're going to do about 400 acres and cost is around $12 an acre for application of chemical," he said.

That's approximately $4,800 in treatment costs and that total doesn't include how much money Burger is losing on lost crops. 

The scariest part - the worms grow into moths and then fly to the next field to lay their eggs. 

That means there's a possibility the armyworms could be marching to farmland near you.
 
Thursday, May 23, 2013
, Watertown, NY

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