Because of this continuing hot, dry weather, we are not seeing a lot of insect activity in cotton, peanuts or soybeans. There are a few exceptions. Grasshoppers are doing some damage to soybeans in certain areas. Spider mites are starting to show up in most crops, but so far, the buildup is pretty gradual. Finally, there is some hope this Saturday for some decent amounts of rainfall for a lot of the area. If we miss that opportunity&& Potato leafhoppers are showing up in peanuts, but again, the buildup is gradual. We are just beginning to get a picture of how the 2010 corn earworm population is developing. We may be in for some problems (see the Corn earworm update), again, if the weather doesn’t turn around with more frequent rains. PS, if we could shoot about ½ million deer we would solve a lot of our ‘pest’ problems, at least for many of our soybean growers.