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Little River, TX | In an average year I will have 2 maybe even 3 cuttings of alfalfa in the barn, well before the stripped blister beetles emerge, 15 June. That is two thirds to three quarters of my years production.
Mist years when the beetles might be a factor we are in our normal summer drought and no alfalfa is ready to cut.
Still I switch to a 7 ft disk mower in June for the alfalfa. By this time a one ton cutting is more the normal and the hay dries quickly. I use a simple swath board, no stick to open the open area further.
To my knowledge I have not missed seeing a blister beetle aggregation 4 or 5 rounds before I reached where they were. It is simple for the two or three rounds to simply pick up the mower and go over the hay hosting the beetles.
In some ways I am fortunate because we have lots of silver leaf nightshade in this country.
Conversely:
Here our Extension People will tell a animal owner two beetles will kill a horse.
Here if a bet is called in to look at a horse run over by a train, will ask if they have been feeding alfalfa. If yes then it is obvious the horse died from beetle poisoning.
We have our share of want to get rich lawyers, who know the judges, and can play a jury like a piano. Truth and justice has nothing to do with their road to riches.
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Blister Beetle Boogie
