Soybean looper problems in Northampton County

A lot of soybean fields in Northampton County, particularly in the Cape Charles area, suffered some late-season defoliation from soybean looper. There was a lot of concern about insecticide resistance in this often difficult-to-control pest, particularly after loopers appeared in fields after being sprayed with a pyrethroid. After hearing reports from some growers and cooperators and their experiences, pyrethroids such as Baythroid and Warrior, were effective against this pest if you got good coverage and penetration into the canopy. Also, follow-up sprays of Warrior appeared to clean up the larvae in some of the problem fields. It is more than likely that some of the soybean looper infestations that we had on the soybeans in Northampton County following sprays of Warrior or another pyrethroid were a result of poor coverage or possibly bad timing. It would have been very difficult for a low volume aerial application to penetrate all of the foliage that we had on our dense soybean canopies this year in Northampton County. It is possible that soybean loopers fed on untreated leaves in the lower canopy, then moved on to the pesticide covered upper foliage after the residual was gone.

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