State, federal officials plan ahead for next Mormon cricket outbreaks

Elko, Nev. — With memories of last summer’s biblical-scale swarms still fresh, state and federal agriculture officials convened Tuesday evening inside the Nannini Administration Building to outline a coordinated battle plan against future Mormon cricket infestations across northern Nevada.

Bryant McDowell, state entomologist with the Nevada Department of Agriculture, told the standing-room-only crowd that the agencies are refining survey protocols, mapping historical hot spots and pre-positioning supplies so that suppression teams can mobilize within hours once egg beds begin to hatch next spring.

The urgency was underscored by vivid images from 2025: millions of the flightless insects coating shoulders of Interstate 80, exits at Beowawe and Carlin, and the entire intersection of Routes 227 and 228 in Spring Creek. Drivers reported slick pavement after tires pulverized dense bands, while visitors to Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital navigated columns of crickets scaling the building’s exterior walls and doorframes. At Wild Horse Reservoir on July 1 and 2, crickets crowded the dam face, many losing footing and tumbling into the water where floating carcasses later became fish bait.

McDowell said the new framework will rely on aerial and ground surveys beginning in late winter, followed by targeted applications of approved insecticides when nymphs first cluster. The U.S. Department of Agriculture will provide technical support and emergency funding if populations exceed economic thresholds.

“We can’t stop every cricket, but we can break up the leading edge of a march and protect critical infrastructure,” McDowell said, noting that roads, hospitals and irrigation systems took the brunt of last year’s onslaught.

Officials encouraged residents to report sightings through the department’s online portal and to avoid driving through dense bands when possible, both for safety and to reduce the greasy residue that contributed to several slide-off incidents along Mountain City Highway.

No timeline was given for finalizing the plan, but the agencies pledged another public update before snowmelt triggers the next hatch.