The following is a short video clip showing sugarcane aphids building on the flag leaf of mature grain sorghum. This will have to be addressed in this field to avoid complications with harvest equipment. Options are Transform at .75 –
There have been numerous calls and questions about Dectes Stem Borer over the last few years. It seems that numbers are increasing each year. This is not surprising when you consider the biology of the insect coupled with an increase in soybean acres in MS.
We have been getting calls on loopers showing up in soybean for about 2 weeks. In recent days there have been reports of defoliation exceeding 20% or numbers exceeding threshold in some areas in the central to southern part of the state. The bulk of our soybean loopers typically show mid to late August or even into September so this is a little early but certainly not unusual. Soybean loopers are migratory and work their way north each year from southern latitudes. Early arrival could be due to a number of reasons.
Over the last week we have been getting a lot of calls about extremely high bean leaf beetle numbers. Most calls have come from the Northwest Delta region of the state. We have actually made bean leaf beetle targeted sprays on a number of acres in recent days. Yield loss is caused by defoliation and less frequently by pod feeding
There have been numerous reports lately of high numbers of corn earworm and sorghum webworm in grain sorghum. I have heard some reports of numbers as high as 10X threshold. It is critical to scout and treat as needed to control these pest. There are three species that make up the headworm complex in grain sorghum; the corn earworm (bollworm), fall armyworm, and the sorghum webworm.
Week 5 Scouting Report Graduate Student Nick Bateman is running a weekly insect scout line in soybeans for part of his PhD project. We will be reporting his numbers weekly on the blog. Only insect pest that are being found in
When it comes to scouting for sorghum midge I have found that very few people have the confidence to accurately find them. Most believe if they are not finding them that they must be missing them or doing something wrong. The
Rice leaf blast has been observed most of the rice season throughout the MS Delta. In addition, neck blast has been observed in some fields that were infected early on with the blast fungus.
The diseases encountered throughout the MS corn crop continue to be the same. Northern corn leaf blight and southern corn rust continue to be the two most talked about diseases. Annually, as the corn crop matures, NCLB appears to increase since lesions reach their most mature expression. Southern corn rust has been observed in 19 MS counties to date (July 11, 2015). Fields where the disease has been observed typically contain a light dusting of rust.
Stink bugs consisted of Brown, Green, and Southern Green stink bugs, with Green and Southern Green Stink bugs making up 95% of the total stink bugs caught. Egg masses of both Kudzu Bugs and Stink Bugs have been seen in both regions in R3 and later soybean.
The incidence of soybean diseases in the MS soybean production area has increased over the past 10-14 days. Aerial blight, Cercospora blight, frogeye leaf spot, Septoria brown spot, target spot, and Vein necrosis virus have all recently been observed in commercial soybean fields throughout MS.
Corn diseases have started to be more commonly observed throughout the MS corn production area. Given the time of year in both calendar date and crop stages (post-tassel) several corn diseases are being observed more often. Northern corn leaf blight, southern corn leaf blight, and Diplodia ear rot have all been observed over the last two weeks. Southern corn rust made an appearance earlier than normal; however, the disease is considered to be at extremely low levels at this time even though five counties (Adams, Claiborne, Coahoma, Forrest, Stone) have been observed to contain infected corn plants.
Stink bugs consisted of Brown, Green, and Southern Green stink bugs, with Green and Southern Green Stink bugs making up 85% of the total stink bugs caught. Some small corn earworm larvae were found in very low numbers in the Delta region.
An agronomic crops field day will be held at Cliff Heaton farms, just east of the intersection of Highway 61 and Highway 6. The field day will be held in the cotton field on the south side of the road. MSU Extension Specialists will be present to discuss topics in corn, cotton, grain sorghum, peanut, rice and soybean.
For the most part, the corn disease situation has been quiet. Limited occurrences of common rust and northern corn leaf blight have been observed in some Delta fields. With the cooler and wetter conditions encountered early in the season it is possible that some uncommon diseases could be encountered.
Questions continue regarding fungicide products to be used at the R3/R4 application timing. The most important decisions should be made based on the specific variety planted in each field since frogeye leaf spot is resistant to the strobilurin class of fungicides meaning that stand-alone strobilurin products are no longer effective against the disease. See the information contained within this blog post regarding fungicide products, effective rates of products in pre-mix combinations and the effectiveness of some fungicides on managing frogeye leaf spot.
This is a recycled article from 2012 and slightly updated but it fits well with recent calls. Sentences in italics have been added or updated since original posting. I have been getting quite a few calls about whether or not
This year we have seen tremendous population growth and expansion of Kudzu bugs from previous years. We have treated some acres already that were at threshold and I am confident that there will be many more to come based on what we are seeing around the state including the Delta region.
Over the last 7-10 days reports of sugarcane aphids in grain sorghum are becoming more frequent across the state. To date, I am not aware of any applications going out yet but numbers within some fields are definitely increasing. So far I have had about 10 reports of findings from the Delta region ranging from Cleveland to south of Inverness.
Choosing a foliar fungicide product for either a common fungicide application at a specific growth stage in the absence of foliar disease or in the presence of disease should be based on the soybean variety planted. Widespread fungicide resistance to the strobilurin fungicides in the MS soybean production system within the frogeye leaf spot fungal population may ultimately change how we use fungicides. Choose a fungicide product based on whether or not frogeye will occur in a susceptible variety rather than choosing a fungicide based on price.
Mississippi State University will be hosting 5 scout schools this year. We have transitioned over the years to make these trainings much more diverse than insect pest alone. This year we will be including insects, disease, fertility, weed identification, and
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 cloverworm, granulated cutworm, alfalfa caterpillar, cabbage looper, garden webworm, and yellowstriped armyworm.
For the most part the Mississippi wheat crop is clean with regards to foliar diseases. However, some important issues are occurring that need to be addressed with regards to Fusarium head blight, stem maggot feeding, and general herbicide injury as these three issues can easily be confused with one another at the field level.
Mississippi State University will be hosting 5 scout schools this year. We have transitioned over the years to make these trainings much more diverse than insect pest alone. This year we will be including insects, disease, fertility, weed identification, and herbicide systems. There will be numerous hands on displays of insects, weeds, nutrient deficiencies in all major row crops, and fertilizer characteristics. CEU’s Provided: Nutrient Management = 1.5, Integrated Pest Management = 3, Crop Management = 1
Three more opportunities exist for ag-related personnel to attend the Mississippi Soybean Promotion Board sponsored seminar series on nutrition management, nematode sampling and management, and irrigation practices. Meetings are scheduled next week in Tunica (2/25; 9 am), Verona (2/26; 9 am), and Macon (2/26; 2:30 pm).
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