Aphids Coming and Going

I have had a few calls from some reps and growers who have been amazed and delighted and some who have been frustrated and frazzled this week.  But I’m in it with you, believe me.  Soybean aphids seem to be very active right now, developing winged generations and have been moving from one field to another for […]

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Spray the Buggers and Be Done With Them?

I have been getting more calls this week with people wanting to spray the aphids just to take care of them..even if they are not at threshold.  Most realize that the natural enemies are going to get killed but they also assume 100% kill of the aphids and struggle to understand how the aphids can […]

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Scouting for Soybean Aphids is Advised

A recent summer migration of soybean aphids in Ontario has resulted in many new fields having a fair number of aphids in them now.  Fields that were scouted a week or two ago and were found to have very few aphids could now be closer to threshold than you think.  Scouting is advised.  Scout Cruiser […]

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Spidermites, Aphids and Western Bean Cutworm

SPIDERMITES: I have a sneaking suspicion that spidermites are making their way into those fields that haven’t had rain in a while.  We have had situations in the past where not only have they popped up in soybeans and were being disregarded as “drought stress” symptoms but also in seed corn, especially around or just after […]

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To Spray or Not to Spray the Aphids

A lot of calls are coming in this week from growers and reps who have fields that are hovering around the 250 aphids per plant range.  With the poor weather and wheat harvest some are anxious to make the call if they need to spray.  In fact, there are some rumours out there that some are spraying […]

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Soybean aphids high in counties bordering Lake Simcoe

High aphid numbers are being found in fields in counties bordering Lake Simcoe (Simcoe, Durham and Victoria).  Spraying has been necessary in many of the fields that have been scouted.  Scouting is advised in all fields in that region, starting first with the fields that were not treated with Cruiser.  Cruiser treated fields should not be […]

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Insects for this Week

First off, I apologize for not updating the blog for the last little while.  I’ve been busy with setting up the SouthWest Diagnostic Days and just ran out of time.  But let me catch you up on a few things that have taken place but I am also hoping that others who have been out […]

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Slugs Keep Feeding

I’m getting quite a few calls about slugs taking out soybean plantings not once but sometimes twice in the same field.  It has been an ideal spring for slugs with all of this wet cool weather.   And last fall was wet too, which helped all those slugs lay eggs and survive in these problem fields.  Unfortunately there […]

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Natural Enemies are Moving In

We are starting to see natural enemies moving into the soybean fields to feed on the aphids there.  Ladybugs and syrphid fly larvae are the most evident but there have been a few fungal mummies starting to show up too, thanks to this moist week.  This cooler weather will slow down the aphids doubling rate […]

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Soybean Aphids – Do you spray this early?

I’ve had a few calls come in this week about this issue.  Some reps are starting to find about 15 – 30 aphids per plant and want to know if they should  tankmix some insecticide in with the herbicide since they have to spray the weeds this week anyway, in hopes of getting ahead of the aphid […]

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Soybean Aphid 2009 Scouting Maps

We are starting to scout our soybean sites for 2009.  Our weekly scouting results are available on the IPM PIPE Network at:  http://sba.ipmpipe.org/cgi-bin/sbr/public.cgi?host=All%20Legumes/Kudzu&pest=soybean_aphid We will be updating these maps weekly and will include any key observations and recommendations within the commentary for both soybean aphids and bean leaf beetles.  To see the Ontario commentary, you need to […]

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