LETHBRIDGE, ALTA. It s been a whirlwind season for farmers in southern Alberta who have had to deal with dry weather and extreme heat. Now, uninvited insects are adding more misery to their already-wounded crops. The region s grasshopper population is booming and the pesky insects are ripping through farmers crops, leaving behind a trail of devastation. One of the biggest hurdles is that grasshopper infestations aren t an easy thing to control. Most insecticides are non-selective so, if you have to go in because you have a problem with something like grasshoppers in your crops, you re also going to hurt all the beneficial insects, said research coordinator for Farming Smarter Chris Gretzinger.