For Western Bean Cutworm – Timing is Key
I’m seeing a lot of pics on Twitter of recent WBC moth catches in traps, which I think is great. The more people that are trapping, the more data we have to work with to determine when peak flight takes place and when scouting is required. But trap counts do not indicate if a spray […]
Time to Join the 2017 Western Bean Cutworm Trap Network
Calling all WBC Trap Participants! The WBC Trap Network website is now up and running and ready for you to add your trap sites and join our trapping network. Anyone wishing to join must login and create a new user account at www.cornpest.ca. Click on the “Login” menu from the top left of the page […]
Western Bean Cutworm in Edible Beans
Western Bean Cutworm (WBC) are active now in both corn and edible beans fields. While we do not have an action threshold specific for treatment of WBC in dry edible beans, farmers can scout nearby corn fields and consult the available resources listed below. Infosheet: WBC Management Strategy for Dry Edible Beans Corn Pest Coalition […]
Western Bean Cutworm – Still Scout Corn and Now Dry Beans Too
Trap counts are still quite high this week in Ontario which indicates that peak flight hasn’t plateaued yet. So there is likely still lots of egg laying happening. Moths will prefer to lay eggs in later planted corn that is still in pre to early tassel stages or will find dry bean fields nearby. Just […]
Western Bean Cutworm Scouting Begins
A few tweets, text messages and reports from our scouts have indicated that WBC egg masses are being found in corn this week. The next two to three weeks are key for scouting and managing WBC for the bulk of the corn crop. Though the typical hot spots (eg. Bothwell area) are more prone to […]
Western Bean Cutworm Update 2015
Author: Jen Bruggeman, Research Assistant, University of Guelph Ridgetown Campus Western Bean Cutworm traps have been up in Ontario for approximately 5 weeks, with nil to low catches being reported until now. Just this week we have started to see an increase in moth captures, due to our resident population starting to emerge from the […]
Western Bean Cutworm Traps for 2015
There is clearly a renewed interest in trapping for Western bean cutworm (WBC) in 2015. This is understandable, given that WBC caught us off guard in 2014 with ear damage being reported across much of Ontario, beyond our typical hot spot areas. Sign up to the Ontario WBC Trap Network: We will be mapping trap […]
Scout for Western Bean Cutworm and Ear Mould Now
Author: Jocelyn Smith, University of Guelph Ridgetown Campus “Check your fields for WBC and ear rots now and consider harvesting early to stop mould growth. Adjust your combine to discard lightweight mouldy kernels and dry mouldy corn as soon as possible.” If you had trouble finding Western bean cutworm (WBC) egg masses when scouting back […]
Western Bean Cutworm Reaching Threshold in Some Fields
Either our own resident WBC populations did fine over the winter or the recent storm fronts brought in the bunch of moths from the US or a combination of the two. But reports are coming in that fields between Thamesville and Bothwell and near Rodney have reached threshold, well, sort of. What is messing up […]
Does spraying Bt corn for Western bean cutworm make sense?
Author: Jocelyn Smith, University of Guelph, Ridgetown Campus Growers in the high WBC risk areas (sandy soils) saw heavy infestations of WBC in 2013 and many were surprised by the survival and amount of damage by WBC on Bt corn. Bt corn hybrids that express the Cry 1F insecticidal protein such as the Herculex® and […]
ALERT – FIelds in High Risk Western Bean Cutworm Regions Need to Be Scouted!
Author: Jocelyn Smith, Research Associate, Field Crop Pest Management University of Guelph Ridgetown Campus It appears that in 2013, southwestern Ontario’s hotspot areas for Western bean cutworm (WBC) (large area around Bothwell and Tilsonburg) have a significant problem in their corn fields. OMAF and MRA and University of Guelph Ridgetown Campus staff have completed surveys […]
Western Bean Cutworm Thresholds for High Risk Fields in Ontario
My crew is finding many corn fields at threshold levels of western bean cutworm (WBC) in the “high risk areas” of Bothwell and Tillsonburg. We have learned over the last few years that Bothwell and areas around Tillsonburg in particular (higher sandy soil areas) are prone to high levels of WBC infestations. Other areas of […]
Western Bean Cutworm Trap Catches Low So Far
Our trap network has been up and running for nearly a month and surprisingly, trap counts have been very low so far. The lowest we have ever seen them for this time of year. We typically see moth catches peak the mid to second last week of July which means peak egg laying is usually […]
Western Bean Cutworm Peak Flights
Peak flight is a bit difficult to pin point this week because there is some data missing from our week 10 trap reports however, we have received some missing data from previous weeks so I can provide information on peak flights for some counties and possible peak flights for others. Some areas are still experiencing […]
Western Bean Cutworm Trap Counts Going up; Time to Check for Eggs!
Our WBC trapping network has been catching relatively few moths over the past weeks but last week some higher numbers were reported. These numbers are still a bit behind what I would have expected considering the warmer weather but the trend is towards increasing numbers. Just last week the scouts were finding quite a few […]