Beetle plague 2022: farmer fights grubs with his own machine
Created: 08/13/2022, 15:00
By: Joana Lück
So that grubs don't ruin the entire hay harvest, a farmer from Bavaria resorts to drastic measures: with a specially built machine.
For hobby gardeners, it is not a pretty sight when grubs have spread in the flower or bed soil.
There are grubs in almost every garden, but these are only harmful if they are certain varieties such as May beetles and June beetles.
Rhinoceros beetles and rose chafers, on the other hand, are considered beneficial insects due to their properties.
Beetle plague 2022: farmer fights grubs with his own machine
Cockchafers can do a lot of damage.
© Stock&people/Imago
But the cockchafer infestation is even more annoying if you are a farmer and depend on income.
For the part-time farmer Alois Zitzelsberger from the district of Freyung-Grafenau, 2019 was a year with only a little hay harvest: "2019 must never be repeated for me," as he told
Bayerischer Rundfunk
.
In response to the may beetle year three years ago, he even built a machine with which he wants to get at the creepy crawlies, because 2022 is another beetle year.
With blades on the underside of the machine, grubs are supposed to be cut up and thus rendered harmless.
The rest is crushed directly into the ground by the machine to achieve a 90 percent destruction rate.
If you don't have your own machine, you should consider the following tips:
Search the soil for grubs before planting.
You can also fight the larvae with nematodes, especially if they are already nesting in the lawn.
The variety Heterorhabditis bacteriophora is
particularly recommended according to
Compo .
If you can, scarify the lawn often, as this also keeps larvae away.
Insects are attracted to light: the darker your garden, the less chance the pests will show up.
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In addition, plants such as geraniums and delphiniums keep the beetles away.
Garlic is also considered a deterrent to beetles and grubs.