FARMERS in the Northern Cape province are fighting to eradicate swarms of locusts threatening maize and grape vines, an agricultural spokesman said on Tuesday. “In some places there are swarms up to 10 km long, but we have started spraying to get the situation under control,” said Hoffie Joubert, a spokesman for the Northern Cape Agricultural Union. Locusts are affecting farmlands near the towns of Uppington on the Orange River, Pofadder to the west and Brandvlei to the south, Joubert said.