Addressing pasture pressure early is key to managing black field crickets, especially as their numbers fluctuate with seasonal conditions. Early baiting, alongside a range of IPM areas including pasture density, soil fertility and specie selection will help protect pastures.
Black field crickets impact your business:
- Slow Autumn pasture recovery, nipping off green tips as re-shoot
- Seedling establishment, eating young grasses
- Long term pasture persistency
- Winter feed quantity, setting pasture back weeks in our opinion
Particularly to black cracking soils, here Notman Pasture Seeds highlights key action points.
Cricket Pressure in a Dry Summer
During a long, dry summer, crickets remain active and persistent, seeking moisture and food sources in pastures. Without significant rainfall, they burrow into cracking soils, sheltering in the subsoil and emerging in large numbers at night to feed on seedlings and pastures. This continuous feeding can devastate newly established paddocks, making early bait applications crucial for keeping numbers in check before they cause widespread damage.
Cricket usually eat grasses first, then weeds, legumes and even the seed.
Cricket Activity After a Wet Summer
In contrast, during a wetter summer, cricket populations can surge following rain events, as the moisture creates ideal conditions for breeding and rapid population growth. This is especially problematic on black cracking soils, where the softened ground allows for increased burrowing and activity. Farmers often report a sudden explosion in cricket numbers after heavy rain, requiring immediate action to prevent crop losses.
Applying bait to control crickets
Applying cricket bait early, when numbers are still manageable, is key to preventing outbreaks. It’s an effective solution, attracting crickets quickly and help reducing the population before they can cause significant damage.
Why is bait better than spray? As a night-active species, these soil environments provide shelter during the day, so insecticide spray applications have demonstrated they won’t penetrate into the deep cracks where crickets shelter.
IPM (Integrated Pest Management) and Black Field Cricket
Other strategies to help reduce black field cricket pressure into grazing management and pasture selection choice.
Grazing management and crickets
Avoiding overgrazing can help maintain ground cover, reducing bare soil where crickets thrive. Of course, this isn’t the easiest objective in a hot dry summer when pasture quality and quantity is low.
Pasture selection, dense species
Sowing species with a dense, vigorous growth habit can limit cricket access to bare ground and emerging seedlings. This is namely diploid ryegrasses, such as Matrix perennial, Vibe Italian, which are dense and persistent types for southern Victoria.
Alternative deep rooted grasses may be considered, but it’s best to get in touch with our agronomy team to find whether they suit your farming system.
Summer crops and summer growrh
Chicory’s deep taproot allows it to access moisture well below the surface, making it resilient in dry conditions. Sown in early Spring, chicory strong summer growth curve ensures quality high ME feed when other species struggle, helping to maintain pasture cover and limit bare ground where crickets thrive.
This persistence and regrowth capacity of summer crops like chicory make it a valuable addition to a grazing system aiming for improved resilience and relieve pressure on pasture across others of the farm.
Soil fertility, optimising Phosphorus and Potassium
Ensuring phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) levels are at optimum strengthens pastures against black field crickets. Phosphorus promotes deep root growth, improving moisture access, while potassium enhances cell wall strength and drought tolerance. Well-fertilised pastures recover faster from cricket damage, whereas weak, nutrient-deficient paddocks remain vulnerable.
Finally…
Early intervention and a proactive approach aligns with integrated pest management (IPM) principles, emphasising the importance of combining multiple strategies for effective pest control.
Be proactive, especially after dry spells or rain events, to prevent numbers from spiraling out of control.
