Problems Plagued Department of Agriculture's Grasshopper Control Program in 1979

The Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) did not adequately manage the program to control grasshoppers in 17 Western States in 1979. Efforts by Federal and State officials and local participants were not sufficiently coordinated. Management weaknesses reduced the ability of the local project managers of APHIS to effectively identify areas to be sprayed to control grasshoppers, schedule spraying operations at the best times, and evaluate the effectiveness of the spraying. Although grasshoppers cause economic losses in the United States each year, the 1979 infestation reached levels unprecedented since the 1930s.