This week has been the turning point on plant bugs and appears to be the week for the mass movement of migrating adults into cotton fields in many areas. Compared to previous years we are 10-14 days behind schedule. There have been quite a few sprays going out for tarnished plant bug this year but as a whole numbers have actually not been as high to date as many of us would have thought with the warm winter.
Bollworm trap counts remain low again in all monitored regions. Tobacco budworm and beet armyworm counts are also fairly low, so it appears that worm pests are not a major problem in MS cotton production at this time. Our best
Interest in mid-season application of various inputs has certainly increased as we try to improve corn productivity through better management. This article discusses how corn physiology plays a primary role in determining corn yield response and appropriate management timing.
I have been getting quite a few calls about whether or not to mix an insecticide with the fungicide at the R3 growth stage of soybeans this year. The reason I am getting the calls is for the most part
Bollworm pheromone trap counts inched higher for a second consecutive week, but are still lower than normal. With much corn past green silk stage, bollworms in the region will be laying their eggs in cotton, soybeans or late corn. Tobacco
As some of the rice in Mississippi is starting to approach head emergence within the next few weeks, I wanted to give a brief update on rice stink bug populations that we are seeing across the Delta.
The DREC will be holding two separate field days, one for corn and soybean on July 19 and one for rice on July 31.
The biennial North Mississippi Research and Extension Center Agronomic Row Crops Field Day will be held at the Lee County Agri-Center, Magnolia Conference Center, Highway 145 South of Verona, on Thursday, August 9, 2012, from 8:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Plant bug sprays are going out this week but overall numbers have not been as high as expected to date. This can change rapidly as plant bugs begin to move into fields from wild host plants. Click to Enlarge
Bollworm and budworm pheromone trap catches are up some from last week, but bollworm catches are still far below typical catches for this time of year. Some sampling of corn and sweet corn has confirmed the low pressure. Once corn
Transform, a new insecticide containing the active ingredient sulfoxaflor, has received an emergency use exemption for Delta counties in Mississippi for the control of tarnished plant bug in cotton. This product represents a new mode of action and has excellent
Plant bug numbers are picking up this week in the Delta areas in the ditch banks. Click to enlarge
For the second week in a row, bollworm counts were very low in all regions. In the chart below you can see that Delta counts this week averaged less than 10 moths/trap for the week, while they averaged about 300 per
Plant bugs are still the predominant pest we are finding on wild hosts at this time. Click on to Enlarge
Pheromone trap counts for bollworm and tobacco budworm for the week are much lower than last week or than last year at this time, particularly in the Delta. Therefore, corn that is now silking may not have as much corn earworm
From time to time we send crews out to survey insect pest populations in ditchbanks adjacent to agricultural fields. This gives us an idea of what to expect later in the season based on what and how many pests we
Over the last couple of weeks I have had numerous calls about caterpillar pest in young soybeans. Most of these have been concerning beans that are still in the vegetative stages (V2-V5). The species that are being found are bollworm, yellowstriped armyworm, green
The insect scout schools for 2012 have been set. At each scout school we will go over biology, thresholds, and scouting techniques for each of the major pests of cotton, soybean, and corn. This is a great refresher for the
In most years it is not uncommon to overspray 20-30% of the cotton acres for thrips in MS. Last year (2011) was an anomaly in that we treated around 70% of the cotton acres for thrips due to extremely high pressure. It appears that this year is shaping up the same way. This week we have had numerous calls on young cotton with very high numbers of thrips. There have also been reports of Western flower thrips on cotton.
Pheromone traps are up and running for 2012. I will be posting county average trap counts here weekly from the Delta, the Northeastern Hills and the Central MS region for bollworm, tobacco budworm and beet armyworm. Most counties have 2 traps
There have been a lot of questions recently about thrips control in peanuts. In general, thrips will not hurt peanut yields except in EXTREME situations. Peanut seedlings are relatively vigorous compared to most of the crops grown in Mississippi. Foliar insecticide applications, though rarely needed, should be based on plant injury rather than thrips numbers.
Yesterday (4/30), I had a call from a consultant who found about 20% infestation of 3-4 day old SWCB in Non-Bt, V6 stage corn in the Minter City area. There were places in the field that averaged 40-50% infestation, but overall was about 20%.
Rice Acreage: On March 30th USDA estimated that Mississippi will plant 135,000 acres of rice. That is down 16% from 2011 and the lowest acreage since the mid 1970’s. Talking with producers and seed retailers, I would estimate that Mississippi acres will be closer 100,000 acres. There are a lot of farmers across the delta that will not be planting any rice and it has been over 40 years since they have done that. Stagnant rice prices and high urea prices have not encouraged any additional plantings. The recent upswing in urea prices will not have a significant impact on rice acres.
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