Nation: Grasshopper Invasion

Unless they are stopped, they may cost farmers millions

They are like a scattered army—you can't shoot them all." So said Farmer Ivan Josserand of Stanton County in western Kansas last week, as he fought a losing battle against swarms of grasshoppers chewing up his alfalfa and corn fields. In Nebraska, Scotts Bluff County Agent Monte Hendricks counted up to 50 hoppers per sq. yd., five times the number usually considered to be disastrous. Said he: "On the fringes of some bean fields there is nothing left but stubs."

Throughout the Great Plains, hordes of grasshoppers were on the move last week, threatening...