A couple of new things to report from our statewide soybean survey: soybean aphid has greatly exceeded the threshold (250 aphids/plant) in at least two fields in Gloucester County. Our scout has been watching this area closely for several weeks as it has been the ‘hot spot’ in the state. As of this week, the population has jumped. As the beans are still in the R4-R5 growth stage, we are recommending a pyrethroid treatment. Pyrethroids are effective in controlling this aphid species.

The scout also brought in samples of brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) nymphs collected from soybean fields in three counties, Culpeper, Augusta and Clark. These are in the upper- central and northern Virginia. The counts were low in these fields, only about 1/15 sweeps, which is not alarming, but definitely warrants watching. Reports of huge masses of BMSB are starting to come in from places like Fairfax, VA with bugs massing on trees, especially maples, and vegetables of all kinds.