This will likely be my last insect update for cotton this year. Reports are that 80% or more of the fields have reached the point where pest management is no longer needed. Plant bugs are still Continue reading
We don’t give sorghum too much attention in our news updates, but insect pests can be a major problem with this crop. If you have sorghum that is starting to head or has so in the last couple of weeks, you need to be very aware Continue reading
The primary call this week has been about whether to treat for threecornered alfalfa hoppers or not. Reports of 1-3 hoppers per sweep are pretty common. The short answer is Continue reading
Meet the caterpillar stage of the silver spotted skipper (Epargyreus clarus). It is not uncommon to catch a few of these while sweeping soybean fields for insects. Although the larva is a foliage feeder, it is not really considered a pest because it rarely, if ever, occurs in numbers high enough to cause Continue reading
For the most part, soybean insect problems remain sporadic. But keep up with your scouting! There are treatments being made for some pests, and as usual, you should expect problems to intensify Continue reading
This has been a common question the last several weeks. The short answer is you should NOT spray for threecornered alfalfa hoppers (TCAH) in flowering soybean. Populations have been high all year, and there are currently reports of 1-2 TCAH per sweep. This is Continue reading
Fortunately, much of the cotton is reaching the point where insecticide applications for plant bugs can be terminated. However, the battle remains pretty intense in later maturing fields (those running 4, 5 6 or more nodes above first-position white flowers). A number of folks are Continue reading
We’ve had an early drought and more recent rains that has resulted in the emergence of volunteer wheat in some double-cropped soybean fields. This happened widely in 2007, and these conditions resulted in a huge fall generation of Hessian flies and an even larger spring generation that devastated Continue reading