Careful applications of neem oil (directed to the foliage of plants you wish to protect) has been shown to greatly reduce their feeding activity. Those that DO feed on sprayed leaves can be affected by neem's well known characteristics as a growth regulator. Neem won't affect the adults if sprayed directly on them (just like it has little affect on beneficial insects), but acts as an anti-feedant and IGR.

Use Nolo bait (or whatever brand you choose) It really does work, but takes a while.

There is a bait you could spread around that only would adversly affect members of that family if insects that contains a bacterium called "Nosema locustae". While it would be better if, like Milky Spore Disease ("Bacillus popillae"), everyone for miles around would spead this you can start where you can start.
The best time to work at controlling any insect pests is the early morning when they are still sluggish from the cooler night temperatures.

Novice, I live in a rural area and one day one of our chickens got out of the barn area and decided to hang around the house. Well at first I told my DH to put her back, but he didn't get around to it right then and I started to notice that she would follow me around the yard and she would stop to get a bug or grasshopper (which is a real problem) the grasshoppers were eating my hollyhock, turk's cap and more. This was about a week ago and now I have no trouble with grasshoppers and my plants look great. I have decided to keep her around the house.

novice

Are you in suburbia? If it isn't against area "livestock requirements", you might consider some kind of barnyard fowl to keep the 'hoppers down as mentioned above.

I've been thinking about getting a couple of guinea fowl to do bug patrol, though they're even more useful than that. They're great "watchdogs" for henhouse predators and announce visitors! ...their increasing role on the farm has taken on many purposes in todayÂs diversified livestock community. In addition to egg- laying and breeding stock production, one of the foremost uses for these animals today is for pest and rodent control. Guinea fowl, both male and female, are particularly adept at rooting out vermin such as mice and rats, and are even known to chase down and kill snakes. As well as keeping pests out of their environment, Guinea Fowl have been incredibly successful at ridding forested properties/farms of many types of bugs... Many Guinea Fowl breeders will attest to their "watchdogsÂ" ability of being able to distinguish between family members and strange and unfamiliar faces.

They'd take care of a LOT of grasshoppers!

From the link:
Guinea Fowl have been used for both pest control and as farm Âwatchdogs for decades now, and one of their relatively newer uses has been to the gardener and small crop grower. Guinea Fowl have proven most successful in organically controlling pests by eating most bugs in the garden, while leaving the green foliage virtually untouched. This has garnered the Guinea Fowl not just the praise and welcome of the farmer, but that of the gardener as well. Slugs, bugs, and other thugs are their specialty and Guinea Fowl have demonstrated once again, their versatility and ability to earn a reputation of wonderful uses.

Like Novice 2009, I have a grasshopper problem, and I do not want to use any chemical pesticides. The damage to both my herbs and veggie beds, and to many of my perennials is extensive.

I have used the grasshopper bait mentioned above for two years now, and here is my thoughts on the effectiveness. If you live on a large property, or have only developed properties around you, it may be effective. However, if you have open spaces, or vacant lots around you, it only postpones the inevitable. A couple of weeks after putting the bait out, the number of immature grasshoppers on my property begins to decrease. The problem is that a few weeks later, once the grasshoppers in the surrounding areas are mature, they move onto my property, and the full sized grasshoppers don't eat the bait. It is only effective on grasshoppers that are 1/4" to 1/2" in size. When the developer that owns the empty lots has the weeds mowed down, my yard becomes an oasis in the desert, and all of the grasshoppers migrate to my property. I live in a fairly rural area, but am in a subdivision with an HOA which prohibits chicken coops.

No matter how many grasshoppers I smush, I cannot begin to put a dent in the population. They have decimated most of my herbs, beans, an quite a few of my ornamentals. DH says that I say this every year, buy I really do believe that they are the worst I have ever seen them.

Sigh ... I guess I will give the Neem oil a try.

Bonnie

I'd suggest that you order some Nolo Bait, too. You could put a long lasting dent in the population with a combination of that particular bait and Neem applications.

thanks rhizo! Like Bonnie, there is a large field across from my house. They come and mow it with a tractor about 3x a year- and guess where the grasshoppers go? So I'm not sure if the bait would work, but I might try it out at the beginning of growing season next year. The ones I see look much too big to be affected. In the meantime, I'll try out the neem on a plant, to see if they leave it alone...and continue my early morning raids.....

The Nolo bait is one brand of that which contains the "Nosema locustae".

The larger grasshoppers in my yard all get eaten by the feral kittens from down the street... so much fun to watch!