Southern Corn Rust

As if we have not had enough challenges this year what with too wet, too dry, and herbicide issues in abundance, Southern corn rust has moved north much faster than any other year.   Of course if your crops are already burned up as the corn below near Tower Hill,  no treatment may be the best option.  If you have gotten the timely rains, scout and follow treatment options.  Purdue has a good writeup.

Cooperate on Insect Trapping?

U of I is looking for cooperators for insect trapping.  If you would like to participate, follow the link on the bulletin.

Degree Day Calculator

Living plants and plant pests develop according to degree days.  A calendar does not provide an accurate forecast for scouting for various pests.  University  of Illinois has developed a degree day calculator to help farmers determine when to look for various insects and diseases.  It is kind of late for this year, but the calculator might be a good tool for next year.  Keep in mind that degree days will vary field to field, so it is best to have temperature readings close by.

Black Cutworms

The Illinois Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey is predicting a black cutworn outbreak on May 13 based on moths caught in traps.  According to Kelly Estes, Christian County is likely to have a significant outbreak.  Check out her map.

Pollination Time for Corn

We have been seeing corn tassels peaking out since Wednesday.  Yesterday I went to St. Louis and noticed many more tassels on the way home than I did on the way there.  Moisture conditions should be in good shape for pollination at least for early corn.  One thing standing in the way of a good crop might be Japanese Beetles. University of Illinois entomologist Mike Gray presents new research results concerning silk clipping in this bulletin.  The good news is that infestations so far appear to be light, but we need to scout fields for the first 5 days of silking to assure good pollination. I should add that I expect 3 to 4 weeks to pass before all corn is pollinated, so that is a long scouting window.

Pest Management and Insect Forecasting

I was recently asked by a Monsanto representative to review their new site on Insect forecasting.  The site covers the entire United States.  It looks like a site that could be useful in tracking infestations and outbreaks so you know what you are looking when you scout your own fields. You click on the insect tab on the right to see what is going on.  I find it interesting that it currently shows a soybean aphid outbreak in an area where soybeans are not currently growing. 

Illinois readers might also want to check out the University of Illinois IPM Bulletin.  They update it regularly.  I am sure that other states also have similar sites.  We need all the help we can get to manage our pests.  Whether you are organic or conventional, you need to know all you can about what is out there. 

Midwest Fruit IPM final report

My regular readers know that I have been attending the Midwest Fruit IPM class sponsored by the University of Wisconsin Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems.  The class has involved 4 sessions in Wisconsin and Michigan with a brief foray into Minnesota.   We have spent over 100 hours in 14 days looking at managing pests in Grapes, Apples, and Cherries.

We began our last session at Barthel Fruit Farm near Mequon, WI looking at how Bob Barthels  and Nino Ridgeway manage the Apple portion of this farm.  They use some innovative techniques to enhance production.  Next we went to Peck and Bushel Fruit Company, a start up organic orchard near Colgate, Wisconsin.  Joe and Jennifer Fahey will have some apples for sale this fall.  They will soon be fully certified.  The orchard looks good at this point with about 4.5 acres of apples. 

Wednesday morning we looked at Parallel 44 Vineyard and Winery near Kewaunee, WI.  to hear Steve and Carl discuss how they manage pests n their Vineyard.  In the afternoon we visited Choice Orchards near Sturgeon Bay, WI to look at cherry production and pests. The field portion of the class finished up with a tour of the University of Wisconsin and ARS  Peninsular Research Station near Sturgeon Bay.  I am grateful for our hosts and instructors who provided us with excellent training.

We finished the class by writing Integrated Pest Management plans for one of the above mentioned operations.  About 2 hours was allowed for preparation and presentations were another 2 hours.  Considering the time allowed, all plans were well done.  I started this class with little knowledge about the fruit and grape business and finished with a workable knowledge that I can use to advise growers.  The best thing about the class was the 6 state network that we now have to look to for help with big problems.  Networking is one of the only ways for independent consultants to get help with sticky questions.

One of the most interesting things about the class was contrasting organic growers and approaches with more conventional systems.  I say conventional but all the growers we visited were progressive in their approach to chemical use.  All are trying to avoid some of the older broad spectrum insecticides and are trying to avoid allowing fungal diseases to develop resistance to crop protectants.

Japanese Beetles.

An annual insect plague in the farm world is the Japanese Beetle invasion.  They will eat over 200 different plants including most field crops.  Some of the things I have heard they feast on in addition to corn silks and soybean leaves include waterhemp and Virginia Creeper.  Integrated Pest Management for Japanese Beetles says to scout soybeans and spray at a threshold of 30% defoliation.  Corn should be sprayed if silks are clipped to 1/2 inch or less.  Some farmers who spray fungicides mix in insecticides as well for beetle control.  This idea could create resistance problems.  Continue to scout soybeans after spraying because additional invasions are possible.

Madison, WI

I took a 300 mile trip to the North country to attend the Midwest Integrated Pest Management course for Fruit.  today was action packed and tomorrow will be the same.  learned about insects affecting fruit trees today.  his stuff is pretty complicated and you are dealing with high value crops so it is even more complicated.  We had some very interesting problems to solve at the end of the day.  Watch my tweets for more.  I am really stepping out of my comfort zone here.