Tarnished plant bug numbers have actually started off at low to moderate levels this year in the Delta region but just in the last few days numbers seem to be picking up pretty good in a few locations and square
It appears that 2014 is going to be the year of the armyworm in rice. I have had numerous calls, texts, and Tweets about armyworms in rice over the last week. If you have not had them in your rice to this point, consider yourself very lucky.
In 2013 a new aphid pest called the White Sugarcane Aphid, Melanaphis sacchari, was detected in grain sorghum in 38 counties in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and one county in Mississippi. This species has apparently been around for years but the hosts switch to grain sorghum appears to be new. This pest can be devastating to grain sorghum if populations reach high densities. In fact, some fields have seen 100% yield loss. Another major factor is this aphid is difficult to control with currently labeled products.
There are several caterpillar pests that commonly infest field corn in Mississippi. These include corn earworm, fall armyworm, and southwestern corn borer.
I have had numerous calls recently on green stink bugs in beans that are either vegetative or at R1-R2 stage with no pods. Numbers have ranged from 4-5 to 8-12 per 25 sweeps depending on the field. It is not uncommon to have a field or two on occasion to have threshold numbers of stink bugs before soybeans put on pods, but the number of fields this year being reported is certainly unusual.
The tarnished plant bug calls have started to come in on small cotton already. In some cases, consultants and growers are finding nymphs on very young cotton with only 1-2 squares. Similarly, some are reporting plant bug flagged terminals in pre-square cotton. We rarely have to spray pre-square cotton for plant bugs, but our threshold is 1 flagged plant per 10 row feet with bugs present. Although tarnished plant bugs are our most important and most consistent pest of cotton in the Delta, we usually don’t start finding nymphs until closer to first flower.
Every year at some point during the season we seem to hit a rainy spell where it seems to rain at some point every day and we have showers widely scattered across the state. It started raining last Wednesday and we have had some rain everyday since then and it is currently raining in Stoneville right now (Monday morning). With that, the questions start about how long you need to spray before a rain to get acceptable control.
Similar to most years when we have armyworms in wheat, there is the threat of having armyworms in seedling rice. We know of at least one rice field in Mississippi that was sprayed earlier this week. In general, damage from armyworms will not impact rice yields at this time of year unless they are beginning to reduce plant stand. This is especially true in hybrid rice planted at low seeding rates.
I have had several folks asking if there is a time when thrips should be treated in soybeans. Ordinarily thrips are not a problem in soybeans. Cotton and soybeans are completely different when it comes to how the plant can tolerate thrips. Soybeans are not nearly as sensitive to thrips as cotton and therefore can tolerate high numbers of thrips without yield loss.
I have gotten numerous calls about slugs this year in all crops but lately in cotton and soybean. Slug problems usually start on corn then soybeans then cotton in our area. This is only because we typically plant in this order. We have had isolated problems with slugs since 2004, some years worse than others.
Many of you have heard us talk about the declining efficacy of seed treatments against thrips throughout the winter meeting circuit. We started seeing the first signs of inadequate control about 4 years ago and the problem has seemed to get worse every year. Last year, most of the cotton in Mississippi was sprayed for thrips at least one time and many fields were sprayed multiple times, even behind a seed treatment. Until now, thiamethoxam (Cruiser, Avicta, or Acceleron N) has been impacted more than imidacloprid (Gaucho, Aeris, or Acceleron FI).
The soybean crop ranges from still in the bag to around V5 stage on average across Mississippi. Over the last 10 days I have received numerous calls (mostly from Delta region) about bollworms attacking vegetative stage soybeans. Arkansas has also reported high numbers of bollworms in soybeans. In fact, AR has some fields where bollworms are infesting emerging soybeans in the crook stage and eating them to the ground where vegetation was present during planting.
A little rice has started to go to flood in Mississippi this week and that means it is time to start thinking about rice water weevil. Overall, the majority of the crop is behind because of all of the rain that we have had across the Delta over the last several weeks. In general, the rice that is currently being flooded was some of the earliest planted. As a result, the early rice has endured a lot of rainfall and adverse conditions.
We have had several calls in recent days as news gets out about the EPA’s recent label changes for neonicotinoid insecticides. The intent is to offer greater protection for pollinators in and around crops where this class of insecticides may be applied. Basically, the new language forbids the use of these products while bees are foraging and until flowering is complete and all petals have fallen off the plants. There are a few exceptions if certain criteria are met.
Although very little, if any, cotton has been planted in the Delta, it is not too early to start thinking about managing tarnished plant bugs.
Recently several groups in Mississippi came together and developed then adopted a set of Cooperative Standards for row crop farmers and beekeepers in an effort to increase awareness of pollinator’s and create an environment where each could coexist while minimizing any
The results from the Second Annual Future of Ag Graduate Student Competition are included in this post.
On February 6th 2014, Mississippi State University will host the second annual “Future of Agriculture Graduate Student Competitionâ€. The competition will be open to M.S. and Ph.D. students working in production agriculture.
Attached please find the agenda for the Delta Ag Expo in Cleveland, MS. Make careful note that the dates of the meeting have changed from previous years due to a minor scheduling conflict with the Bolivar County Exposition Center.
On February 6th 2014, Mississippi State University will host the second annual “Future of Agriculture Graduate Student Competitionâ€. The competition will be open to M.S. and Ph.D. students working in production agriculture.
Since 2011 we have seen a decline in efficacy of thiamethoxam treated cotton seed against tobacco thrips. This has led to the increase of foliar applications in mid-south cotton acres. Recently Syngenta has confirmed that populations in the mid-south region
Over the last month we have had numerous questions about terminating stink bug applications in late season soybeans. Typically we manage stink bugs until near harvest but there are several things to consider before making an application to control stink bugs in beans beyond R6 growth stage.
Soybean looper has started to show up in soybean and a few applications have started in some fields. We have several good options to manage soybean looper and all of them should be considered. Belt has become the go to insecticide for looper control in a lot of situations over the last couple of years.
Now that early planted beans are drying down quickly and insect pressure is increasing on late planted soybeans in some areas, many are asking when it is safe to quit spraying insect pest in soybeans. For most pest in soybean
I have looked at several fields over the last couple weeks that should be considered safe from yield loss from insect pest. Keep in mind that termination rules for insects in cotton do not mean the crop is “bug proof” but
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