That is a really tricky problem, and one that doesn't have a perfect solution unfortunately. Everyone says hand pick them...which is nice in theory, unless you have enough eating your crops to fill a 55 gallon drum. The fact that they can fly in from neighboring yards doesn't help either.
That is a really tricky problem, and one that doesn't have a perfect solution unfortunately. Everyone says hand pick them...which is nice in theory, unless you have enough eating your crops to fill a 55 gallon drum. The fact that they can fly in from neighboring yards doesn't help either.
The main thing we've found is that they have boom and bust years, and if they absolutely decimated your crops this year, you might see none next year. That's been our experience. We have a bad year about every 5-7 years, and then almost none in between.
My best suggestions are the milky spore stuff, which does work, but it's expensive and labor intensive to put out on your land. And hand picking daily, which sucks, I know, but know that you won't have to do it every single year...just in the really bad years.
That is a really tricky problem, and one that doesn't have a perfect solution unfortunately. Everyone says hand pick them...which is nice in theory, unless you have enough eating your crops to fill a 55 gallon drum. The fact that they can fly in from neighboring yards doesn't help either.
The main thing we've found is that they have boom and bust years, and if they absolutely decimated your crops this year, you might see none next year. That's been our experience. We have a bad year about every 5-7 years, and then almost none in between.
My best suggestions are the milky spore stuff, which does work, but it's expensive and labor intensive to put out on your land. And hand picking daily, which sucks, I know, but know that you won't have to do it every single year...just in the really bad years.