A Plague of Locusts
Literally - as reported by
CNN
bq. CANBERRA, Australia (AP) -- A plague of locusts has engulfed towns in Australia's Outback, devastating crops just as farmers had begun recovering from a two-year drought.
bq. The bugs started breeding in northeastern Australia after it was swamped by heavy rainfall late last month, and quickly migrated south to feed on newly planted crops of oats and alfalfa, agriculture officials said Tuesday.
bq. "A thick haze of them came through over the weekend and chomped their way through our oats crop overnight," said Bev Dennis from her farm in Tomingley, 340 miles west of Sydney.
bq. The oats were intended for lambs, which have struggled for two years with little green grass to eat as vast tracts of Australia experienced their lowest levels of rainfall in a century.
bq. "We were just staggering out of the drought -- we are incredibly frustrated," Dennis said. "I just kept on thinking it's got to get better, but now we've got this."
Ouch - first a couple years of drought and now, when they finally get some rain, it triggers this outbreak.
I wonder if the lambs can eat them -- they are high in protien...
Posted by DaveH at March 17, 2004 1:22 PM