September 21, 2011: Fall Field Day
Plot research demonstrating methyl bromide alternatives for vegetable production along with nutrient, weed, disease, insect and general production techniques for polyethylene mulch systems, tomatoes, potatoes, corn, cotton, soybeans and more. Registration will begin at 2:00 PM with field tours beginning at 3:00 PM. A complimentary dinner will begin at 5:30 PM. If you have any questions or plan on attending, please contact Lauren Seltzer (mlpeyton@vt.edu).
Category Archives: Commodity
Corn earworm moth black light trap captures for the week ending August 11, 2011
Black light trap captures of corn earworm moths were generally lower than last week, with notable exceptions in Petersburg, Middlesex, and Richmond County/Warsaw. Please click “More” to see the current black light data table. Thanks to the following for their reports this week: Keith Balderson, Mary Beahm, Chris Drake, Jim Jenrette, Mark Kraemer, Watson Lawrence, David Moore, Mike Parrish, Kelvin Wells, Scott Reiter, and the Tidewater AREC entomology crew. Additional information: blacklight-table-11-pdf
Brown marmorated stink bug black light trap catches for the week ending August 11, 2011
BMSB black light trap catches for this week totaled 38 in Petersburg and 3 in Richmond County/Warsaw. No BMSB were caught in Essex, Chesapeake, Prince George, Southampton, or Suffolk black light traps. Please click “More” for the data table. Additional information: bmsb-blacklight-table-11-pdf
Corn earworm moth adult vial test results for the week ending August 11, 2011
Out of 375 corn earworm moths evaluated this week in our pyrethroid vial tests, the mean survival rate was 31%. This is down slightly from last week’s 36%. Please click “More” to view the season summary graphs (2010 and 2011 seasons). Additional information: 2010-2011-graphs-pdf
Corn earworm infestations are scattered but more common
There are more reports this week of soybean fields nearing or reaching thresholds for corn earworm, but the situation is sill spotty. We have checked a lot of fields and are finding essentially none. Other areas seem be trending towards just below, at, or just above thresholds. And there seem to be a few fields with well above threshold numbers. This fits the pattern for a year that I would describe as—normal or average. Moth catches are fairly low in number, steady, or even dropping in some locations. Many are reporting that they are finding higher populations of worms in flowering fields, which would be the double crop, later planted fields. The full season fields or those planted to Group 4 varieties are having less pressure, as those fields are more mature and less attractive to the invading moths. I still maintain that control should be good with high pyrethroid rates, even given the vial test tolerance results. But those fields with high numbers should be treated with non-pyrethroids. Stink bugs are certainly out there, but no major problems have been reported.
Worms and mites revisited…Ames Herbert and Rick Brandenburg
The next two weeks should be key weeks if indeed we are going to see caterpillars in the peanut crop; so keep your eyes open. The last week or so has been good to many of you with some much needed rains. This really helps with the spider mites. In fact, when we get two consecutive days of cloudy weather and temperatures below 90 F, that really helps a fungus that attacks mites and knocks populations back. However, mites still need to be watched carefully given the hot summer and the forecast for the next week. As we move further along into August you can feel more confident applying a compound like Brigade or Danitol for mites and caterpillars with less concern about a rebound of the mite population. Comite is an effective mite product but can be hard to find in certain areas. The later we get in the season, the more practical it is to spray once for mites and then take a wait and see approach and hope you get favorable weather.
Caterpillar sprays should be considered only if thresholds are met. In fields with normal or better leaf canopies, treat if caterpillar populations reach 4 per row foot; and this increases to 6 per row foot towards the end of August. Many peanut fields are treated when populations are well below threshold, a practice that does not reap any benefit, and could increase the risk of other problems. If plants have poor canopy growth, you may be justified in using a lower threshold, but again, it is important to at least try to determine the number per row foot and abide by the thresholds. Another consideration is what species of caterpillars are present. They all count equally in the threshold, but if fall armyworms are in the mix, a non-pyrethroid may be needed to achieve good control.
Mid-Atlantic Precision Agriculture Equipment Field Day
The Mid-Atlantic Precision Ag Field Day will be held at the Caroline County 4-H Park 8230 Detour Road, Denton, MD 21629 and is a cosponsored event by VA, MD, WV, PA, and DE Extension. . We will be offering Certified Crop Advisor Continuing Education Credits. This is a great opportunity to learn from some of the foremost precision ag experts. A flyer is attached.
Registration is free, but we are asking that attendees preregister.
The website with more information for the event and registration information can be found at: http://www.enst.umd.edu/extension/Events.cfm
Thank you,
Mark
VT VT VT VT VT VT VT VT VT VT VT VT VT VT VT VT VT VT VT VT
Mark S. Reiter, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Soils and Nutrient Management
Department of Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences
Eastern Shore Agricultural Research and Extension Center
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
33446 Research Drive
Painter, VA 23420
757-414-0724 ext. 16 (Office Phone)
757-693-2556 (Mobile Phone)
757-414-0730 (Fax)
Additional information: precision-ag-poster-pdf
Update on corn earworm and brown marmorated stink bug in the Virginia soybean crop
The corn earworm pyrethroid vial test data (see attach graph) are showing some decline in the percent surviving…which is good. But levels are still high enough to indicate possible control problems. As I said in last weeks advisory, I think high rates of pyrethroids will work well enough in soybean fields with threshold or just above numbers of worms. If we get into a situation like last year with high numbers (e.g., 15, 20, 30 or more per 15 sweeps) then ‘misses’ are much more likely and non-pyrethroids would be needed to achieve good control. In general, the non-pyrethroids will not do a good job of controlling stink bugs so if they are also present, pyrethroids, which do a good job on stink bugs, would need to be tank-mixed.
The CEW moth flight from corn seems to be a little slow in developing. Our traps are catching an average of about 60-70 per night, but elsewhere in the state counts are still pretty low. As far as we can determine, no worms have been found yet in any soybean fields in Virginia. We expect to find some in the southeastern part of the state by next week. It is a bit too early to speculate, but we may have a much easier year this year with fewer infested fields compared with previous years.
Our survey for brown marmorated stink bugs started this week and we found them in several soybean fields (Orange and Fauquier Cos.). But they were very scattered in fields and in low numbers (well below 1 per 15 sweeps). We found both adults and nymphs and in one field, egg masses. Delaware reports seeing low numbers in most soybean fields, and I suspect, as we progress with our survey, we will find the same thing. So far, these very low numbers do not represent any threat to the crop. How will this evolve? My best guess is that as populations increase and begin to move from other plant hosts, we may see larger numbers build up toward the end of the season, especially in our double-crop fields.
Additional information: cew-avt-results-aug-5-2011-pptx
Corn earworm moth trap captures for the week ending August 4, 2011
Black light trap captures of corn earworm moths continue to increase, with a range of 1 (Essex) to 137 (Warsaw) captured per night. Please click “More” to see the current black light data table. Thanks to the following for their reports this week: Keith Balderson, Mary Beahm, Neil Clark and Chris Drake, Mark Kraemer, Watson Lawrence, Laura Maxey, Janet Spencer, David Moore and Micah Owens, Kelvin Wells, Scott Reiter, and the Tidewater AREC entomology crew. Additional information: blacklight-table-11-pdf
Brown marmorated stink bug black light trap catches for the week ending August 4, 2011
Ed Seymore is scouting Virginia soybean fields again this year for brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) and soybean aphid. Ed found BMSB this week in low numbers in soybean fields in Orange and Fauquier Counties. Dr. Mark Kraemer (Virginia State University) caught a total of 93 BMSB this week in the Petersburg black light trap, and reported that BMSB has been found on flowering vegetable-type soybean and a few on Mung beans. The extent of damage is not yet known. Other BMSB black light trap catches for this week totaled 45 in Studley/Mechanicsville, 3 in Essex, and 6 in Warsaw. No BMSB were caught in Chesapeake, Southampton, Isle of Wight, Prince George, or Suffolk black light traps. Please click “More” for the data table.
Additional information: bmsb-blacklight-table-11-pdf