My counterpart, Dominic Reisig, in North Carolina wrote a couple of good articles that are worth a look (linked below).  Sugarcane beetles, like just about everything else, are out early this year.  Ed Burns, Extension Agent in Franklin County, reported “about a hundred beetles” at his shop lights last week.  I typically start getting calls about this pest beginning in early May, but count on potential problems to start earlier this year.
Sugarcane beetles are active (Dominic Reisig, NCSU)
Cereal leaf beetle update (Dominic Reisig, NCSU)

At-planting treatments are really about the only effective option for preventing sugarcane beetle injury.  Poncho tends to provide better protection than Cruiser seed treatments, but even Poncho is not immune.  Poncho 250 and Cruiser 250 are the standard insecticide seed treatment rates unless your seed was special ordered with 500 or higher rates.  Data is limited, but one possible remedy to improve the performance of Poncho 250, Cruiser 250 or Cruiser 500 is an in-furrow insecticide treatment.  Granular insecticides including Lorsban 15G, Aztec 2.1G  and Force 3G or an in-furrow spray with a pyrethroid insecticide and specifically bifenthrin (e.g., Capture LFR, Brigade, Fanfare or Discipline) will help to prevent sugarcane borer and cutworm injury.  A liquid in-furrow spray is a pretty easy option for someone already using a starter fertilizer.  However, there are no guarantees that these treatments will provide complete protection. 

Caution: Lorsban and some other organophosphate insecticides may negatively interact with some herbicides and thus are not labeled for use when certain herbicides will be used.  Please read all labels,  Lorsban is prohibited if Accent, Capreno, Steadfast, Halex GT, Lightening, Option or Resolve are used.   We observed substantial  injury when Lorsban, applied either as a granular or spray, was used in combination with Capreno in trials done last year.

Dr. Reisig’s article does a good job of addressing cereal leaf beetle.  This is a common pest but only occasionally causes economic damage in Tennessee.  It will probably be a couple of weeks before they show up in earnest.  Pyrethroid insecticide do a good job if needed to prevent excessive defoliation.  Thresholds vary considerably across states.  The one proposed in the article above is good but potentially too aggressive once wheat is heading.  Because the cereal leaf beetle only has one generation per year, a single well-timed application should provide adequate control where needed.  However, this requires scouting!  Do not let defoliation exceed 20-30%.

Note: Cereal leaf beetle larvae feed by scraping away the leaf surface.  Thus, defoliation causes a window-paning effect rather than completely missing leaf tissue as might be observed with armyworm feeding.