scouting

It seems like a long time since the last episode and that's because it was! Matt and Erin are back to talk about pest updates in Iowa. Drought stress throughout much of the state has been ideal for twospotted spider mite. Erin reports Some injury has been observed in corn and soybean this summer. Treatments are going on now throughout some southern Iowa counties. In addition, soybean aphid continues to be an erratic pest. Some populations are building up in northern Iowa counties, but most fields are not reaching the economic threshold in July. Matt elaborates about high numbers of Japanese beetle and they talk about the use of pheromone traps as a management tool. Finally, Matt talks about a new Science research paper that has inconsistent data on the effect of neonicotinoid seed treatments on wild and managed bees in Europe. 

In this mid-June episode, Matt and Erin start off by summarizing current soybean aphid activity around the state of Iowa. Populations are showing up over much of northern Iowa the last two weeks. Some fields have approached infestations ranging from 10-50%, although the density per plant remains low. Under ideal conditions, these populations could exceed the economic threshold in a few weeks. Brian Lang also found an aphid mummy, which is also early compared to most summers. Erin talked about a new publication for European corn borer that is available at the ISU Extension Bookstore. The 12-page pub reviews identification, life cycle, plant damage, scouting and treatment recommendations for this devastating pest. In their new segment, Matt talks semantics about how to spell one of the most widely recognized insects in the world. 

Today, Matt and Erin cover a lot of topics. First, Erin summarizes her recent trip to Indianapolis for the 2017 North Central Branch ESA meeting. Lots of interesting papers and posters were presented this week. Also, the first confirmation of soybean aphid in Iowa happened again this week. It is typical to find aphids during early June in vegetative soybean, so listeners shouldn't be too concerned at this time. Other pest activity updates include more black cutworm and armyworm, plus a few bean leaf beetles and slugs. Matt follows up on the slug conversation by highlighting a recent interview with Penn State entomologist, John Tooker. As a follow up to the IRAC discussion a few episodes ago, Erin reminds everyone that the organization puts out a few helpful references on insecticide modes of action and resistance management. 

Two events of interest coming up:

Pollinator Fest at Reiman Gardens is on June 24. It's free this year, so bring your family for some fun hands-on activities centered around pollinators. 

Matt and Erin are organizing a field day with Greg Tylka on August 17. The event is at FEEL near Boone, IA and registration is open now. 

Erin and Matt discuss the recent increase in aphid populations including winged aphids that are moving from field to field.  We discuss what growers should consider when applying insecticide to soybeans when seeds are developing. We summarize a recent Integrated Crop Management newsletter articles on late season management of soybean aphids. For more information visit www.extension.iastate.edu/CropNews/2009/0813hodgsononeal2.htm

For the week of August 3, 2009, Drs. Hodgson and O'Neal discuss scouting reports from the previous week indicating increases in aphid populations.   In our longest podcast to date we discuss several issues growers should consider with regard to spraying insecticide for soybean aphids, including the potential for spider mite outbreaks.