Sorry…It’s been a few weeks since my last blog but I finally went on holidays. I’m back and want to give you an update. While away, more reports were coming in of western bean cutworm damage being found in Ontario. Others are asking how to scout for the damage this fall so that they can determine if […]
There are a few guys out there thinking that with the cooler nights, SOYBEAN APHIDS will be leaving their fields so they don’t need to spray those fields that recently reached threshold. If aphids are staying at threshold levels 3 or 4 days after the initial assessment, you still need to spray. Only those fields that […]
We visited the Newbury WBC site last week and it was concerning to see so many plants infested with WBC larvae. There were no external entry holes from the outside of the ear which could fool those who think the ears are clean. Pay extra attention to those ears that are slightly opened at the ear tip (husk […]
My summer students are going to be frustrated when they find this out, especially with all of the scouting they have done looking for WBC egg masses and larvae and finding nothing to show for it. But today Adam Pfeffer of Monsanto brought in the first WBC larvae found here in Ontario. The larvae was from […]
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 […]
The current threshold of 250 aphids per plant and increasing should be followed to the end of the R5 stage of soybeans. The R5 stage is known as the “Beginning Seed” stage, when the pods on the top 4 nodes of the plant have a tiny seed developing inside them. Once the soybeans start to […]
Some counties in Michigan have been given the recommendation to spray their dry beans due to the high moth counts and observations of pod feeding at some locations. Montcalm County (central Michigan) in particular is at the highest risk with some trap sites capturing over 400-500 moths in the last few weeks. Isabella, Gratiot and Mecosta counties are also considered […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
This is a ladybeetle larvae. They can be black or a dull grey/purple with orange or yellow markings. If they are shaped like an alligator, they are a ladybeetle larvae. It will be an adult ladybeetle soon. Both the larvae and adults feed on aphids. The black velvet coloured aphid on the right is […]
Calls have been coming in from several areas across the province reporting fields that have reached threshold and need to be sprayed. The most recent hotspots include Huron County along lake Huron, Bruce County near Tara, fields north of Barrie, York and Durham and a large number of acres between Belleville and Cornwall. Just coming back […]
Now that we are getting into the R1 (beginning bloom) stage of soybeans, we have a bunch of research to do on soybean aphids including trying different combinations of water volume, pressure and nozzle configurations and testing new novel insecticides for future registrations. But we need sites. So anyone that finds soybean fields (>25 acres) with aphids […]
It is a strange season. Things that shouldn’t be happening yet are and it is really messing us all up in terms of catching things in time before they become a problem. I just had a call from Laura Neubrand that she has found true armyworm in a late planted wheat field near Exeter that […]