Cotton: Only 10-20% of the acres are at legitimate risk to insect pests at this time. These are the later maturing fields, mostly those planted in the river bottoms after flood waters receded. These same areas are in the midst of a large bollworm flight, and Continue reading
Do you know what this critter is? The lesser cornstalk borer is an uncommon pest of late planted soybean, corn and peanuts. I’ve had a couple of complaints about this pest on soybeans from the Mississippi River Bottoms, and I have also observed Continue reading
Soybean: As I feared, corn earworms are making their presence felt again in soybean. Again, the heavy action is mostly concentrated in the Mississippi River bottoms. Following last week’s high moth catches up and down the River, there have been numerous reports of many moths in fields. Again, use a treatment threshold of 9 larvae per 25 sweeps (36/100 sweeps). Good control has been reported from the Continue reading
As reported by NASS on August 15, 2011
Variable Crop Conditions Within Counties. Last week brought only scattered showers in most counties leaving a scenario, at week’s end, where all regions could use a general rainfall. Despite this generally dry pattern, crops overall remain rated in good-to-excellent condition. Most counties have crops in all condition categories from very poor to excellent. Continue reading
Week Ending August 11 – Although this is the last week we will run moth traps this year, bollworm (a.k.a corn earworm) moth catches continued to increase this past week, and this matches the increased action observed in soybean and cotton. Complete moth trapping results for bollworm (corn earworm), tobacco budworm, beet armyworm and southwestern corn borer are linked below. Continue reading
Calls about various caterpillars in soybean have cooled down some this week, but we need to remain vigilant for a potential second bout of corn earworms. Moth traps have shown a rebound of corn earworms in some areas as Continue reading
This week brought extreme heat and hit or miss showers to most Tennessee counties. Rain was generally welcome where received, but more will be needed to keep crops in good-to-excellent condition. Pastures are stressed, but generally are in good shape for this time of year. Besides the harvest activities, growers were active spraying pesticides, scouting, and irrigating. Continue reading
Many calls continue to come in about various caterpillar species occurring in soybean in large numbers. These include corn earworm, yellowstriped armyworms and green cloverworms. This problem has mostly, but not exclusively, been in the counties bordering the Mississippi River. The problems have also tended to be worst in late planted fields. However, the bollworm flight has expanded and more Continue reading