There’s something oddly charming about a single locust, according to Arianne Cease, who runs Arizona State University’s Global Locust Initiative. “They’re very destructive when there’s a lot of them, but one-on-one, what’s not to love?” she says. It’s a sentiment most farmers dealing with swarms probably don’t share, but Cease’s affection for these insects hasn’t stopped her from finding ways to control them.
And now she might have cracked the code. After 15 years of studying these crop-devouring machines, her team discovered something beautifully simple. Locusts are basically endurance athletes on a donut diet, and if you mess with their carb intake, they lose interest in your fields.
The Carb Loading Problem
Here’s what’s happening. Crops grown in nutrient-poor soil end up packed with carbohydrates and almost no protein. For locusts that need to fuel long-distance flights and rapid reproduction, this is perfect. It’s like finding an all-you-can-eat pasta buffet when you’re training for a marathon.
But plants grown in nitrogen-rich soil flip that equation. They pack more protein and fewer carbs, which turns out to be a nightmare for locust biology. Their bodies can’t handle the protein overload, and they don’t get enough energy to thrive. It’s the insect equivalent of being forced to eat nothing but protein shakes when you really need quick energy.
The question was whether this actually worked outside a lab. So Cease partnered with farmers in Senegal who deal with the Senegalese grasshopper, a species that doesn’t form massive swarms but causes serious damage through frequent smaller outbreaks. These farmers had worked with her before and were eager to test the approach on real crops.
A Field Test That Actually Worked
One hundred farmers each planted two plots of millet. One got nitrogen fertilizer, the other didn’t. The team counted locusts and measured damage throughout the growing season, unsure if the insects would just migrate from untreated fields nearby or if the protein-rich plants might attract different pests.
The results weren’t subtle. Fertilized plots had fewer locusts, less leaf damage, and harvests that were literally twice as large. No new pest problems showed up either. The research, published in Scientific Reports, represents the first real-world test of this method, and it worked exactly as hoped.
Mamour Touré, an associate professor at Université Gaston Berger in Senegal who led the study, says the findings matter beyond just science. “The results are of major importance to the scientific community and also to Senegalese farmers. The study gave them a better understanding of grasshoppers and locusts, as well as a practical way to control them at the local level.”
But there’s a catch. Nitrogen fertilizer isn’t affordable or sustainable for many farming communities, especially in regions where locust damage hits hardest. Chemical fertilizers cost money most farmers don’t have, and they can degrade soil health over time.
The Compost Solution
That’s where the story gets interesting. Cease’s team switched to compost and got the same results. The farmers noticed too. After USAID funding for the project ended in early 2025, the Senegalese farmers kept composting on their own. Touré notes that farmers “unanimously stated that they no longer burn crop residues after land clearing, but instead practice composting to fertilize their fields, thereby helping to reduce grasshopper infestations.”
It’s the kind of organic adoption you hope for in agriculture research but rarely see. The farmers aren’t continuing because someone’s paying them to. They’re doing it because it works and makes economic sense.
The approach also fits into a broader understanding of locust outbreaks that considers environmental conditions, insect behavior, economic pressures, and land management as interconnected systems. The Global Locust Initiative, part of ASU’s Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, looks at all these factors to find intervention points that actually stick.
Why Americans Should Pay Attention
You might think this is someone else’s problem. The U.S. doesn’t have native locust species, so why worry? Cease has an answer for that. The Central American locust currently ranges to within about 200 miles of the U.S. border, and climate models suggest Texas will become suitable locust habitat within 10 to 15 years.
“Whether or not they will create a problem is yet to be determined, but it’s something that we should definitely be aware of,” she says.
Even without locusts, American ranchers already deal with what the USDA calls the “Dirty Dozen,” 12 species of rangeland grasshoppers (and one cricket) that strip grazing land when they swarm. They compete with livestock for food and create serious economic losses. Right now, chemical pesticides are the main control method, but work on alternatives could change that.
What scientists learn from controlling locusts in Senegal might end up protecting American ranches and farms. It’s one of those rare cases where research addressing problems in developing countries also prepares wealthier nations for challenges that haven’t arrived yet but probably will.
The elegance of Cease’s approach lies in its simplicity. No new chemicals, no expensive technology, just understanding insect biology well enough to make crops less appealing. It’s a reminder that sometimes the best solutions come from asking what the pest actually wants and then making sure they can’t get it.
