Lencho would have preferred a plague of locusts to a hailstorm because, although locusts eat crops, they usually leave some part of the harvest intact. In contrast, the hailstorm was so destructive that it completely destroyed everything — the leaves, flowers, and corn crops — leaving nothing behind.
Lencho felt that a locust attack, as bad as it is, would have been less devastating because it might have allowed some crops to survive. The hailstorm, however, wiped out the entire field, causing total loss and leaving his family with no food or income for the year.