Flathead Valley wheat farmers are preparing to launch an aerial assault on the orange wheat blossom midge (short for midget).

The midge, an annual threat to wheat in the Flathead Valley, may intensify this year.

“Because of the wet spring we’ve had, it’s lining up be a major threat this year, and the hatch is such a small window, we’ll only have three or four days tops to get them,” said Mark Lalum, general manager of CHS Kalispell. 

Local wheat farmers have hired crop-dusting expert Mike Campbell from Dutton. He is on standby to go airborne since farmers won’t be able to cover their crops fast enough in their own rigs.

The orange wheat blossom midge lays its eggs in the head of the grain, next to the kernel, and then hatches into small orange worms that feed off the kernel. The kernel is no good at that point and could have as many as 20 or 30 worms on a head. 

“The goal is to get them when they hatch and before they lay their eggs,” Lalum said. “Timing is critical.”

 As soon as the CHS Agronomy Team discovers the midge in its larval stage, spraying will begin.  Spraying will start at 4 a.m. and could continue until as late as 10 a.m. each day. 

“The temperature of the day will dictate the length of spraying as the plane loses its lift the warmer it gets, so let’s hope for cool mornings,” Lalum said. 

The spray is not a threat to humans or animals.

Lalum estimated the aerial spraying could last two to three weeks.