In the center of this photograph, see an aerial view of true armyworm damage of forage. (Photo Credit: Alex Helms, Assistant Director of Purdue Agricultural Centers)
14 articles tagged "scouting".
Although we are in a cool weather period and many crops have not yet been planted, alfalfa weevil are active and feeding. Pest managers throughout the state should be watching for this pest and preparing to treat if necessary. They are highly cold tolerant, so these cool nights will not slow them down. As I wrote here about a month ago, rotating insecticides is highly recommended as well as doing a post-spray survey (i.e. Did it work? Are the larvae dead?). Even varying the pyrethroid of choice is better than doing the same thing every year. There are also non-pyrethroid options for control of this pest. See the alfalfa weevil management recommendations, here. Producers can manage this pest most effectively by utilizing heat unit accumulations data (base 48°F) to determine when sampling should begin and when an action should be taken. The map below, current as of May 1, 2026,[Read More…]
The vast majority of cornfields in the northwestern counties of Indiana have reached or have passed pollination.
The Purdue Crop Chat is a regular podcast from Hoosier Ag Today and the Purdue University Extension Service, featuring Purdue Extension soybean specialist Dr. Shaun Casteel and Extension Corn Specialist Dr. Dan Quinn.
Could this be a cutworm year? Rainfall has delayed field work (e.g. weedy fields) and corn planting (i.e., lots of emerging corn).
The western bean cutworm (WBC) trapping season continues, and after a slow start, moth flights have rapidly increased in many northern Indiana county traps the past two weeks. With warm temperatures, egg development and hatch will happen within about 6-8 days after they are first placed by females. This will give little time for egg scouting. Unfortunately larval scouting is far more difficult, time-consuming and less reliable. In other words, some larvae have hatched and have already infested corn whorls, leaf axils, and/or ears. Control is very difficult at this point and those just looking for egg masses beginning now will likely be underestimating the population. However, it’s not too late! Although some eggs have hatched, our current period of increased moth activity represents the peak for egg-laying, as the vast majority of WBC eggs will be laid over the next 2 weeks. Use moth trap catches[Read More…]
This week, I was contacted about a 300+ acre, 5-6 leaf cornfield with multiple problems, described as plants dying and toppling over with feeding damage at the base of the roots.
Every spring, voluteers throughout the state put forth considerable effort in trapping for the arrival and intensity of black cutworm moths. We are indebted to these faithful bug counters, hoping you also appreciate their efforts as reported in the “Black Cutworm Adult Pheromone Trap Report.” If you recognize a name or two on this list of volunteers, by county, please thank them for their efforts! Heck…buy them a cup of coffee! Not since 2012 have we seen such an early flush of black cutworm moths! As described in a Pest&Crop #3 article, an intense storm causing lives and destruction on April 1, also brought massive numbers of moths from the Southwestern States. In addition, we’ve not had widespread freezes since then. Because of that, we set that date as biofix, and began accumulating heat units for cutworm development, that also tracks very closely to corn development. This is all explained[Read More…]
Once again, we urge you to view the “Black Cutworm Pheromone Trap Report.” For the fifth consecutive week, our volunteer trappers have been busy counting captured moths, e.g., lots of intensive captures.
Purdue Extension Soybean Specialist Shaun Casteel and Corn Specialist Dan Quinn are back for another episode of the Purdue Crop Chat Podcast. On this episode, the guys discuss the most recent crop condition ratings and compare that to what they’re seeing around the state. Casteel also discusses the advantages to having a drone to scout your field at this point in the season.
