Some areas saw a bit or a lot of rain this past week but likely not enough yet to reduce our risk of spider mites in soybeans and dry beans. What is very concerning is that samples collected last year from 10 fields in southern Ontario all were resistant to dimethoate (Lagon or Cygon). The […]
Written by: Tracey Baute, Field Crop Entomologist, OMAFRA, Dr. Vojislava Grbic, Associate Professor, Western University and Dr. Ian Scott, Research Scientist, AAFC-London With the exception of the significant rain events in the last week, this year’s hot, dry conditions and early wheat harvest could be priming us for another bad spider mite season in soybeans […]
Reports have already come in of a few soybean fields that have reached threshold and need to be sprayed this week for spider mites. This hot, dry weather at the start of wheat harvest is the perfect scenario for significant spider mite infestations to move into soybeans, dry beans and possibly even the corn crop. […]
Wheat Pests are Still a Concern True armyworm (TAW) larvae are in many winter wheat and spring cereal fields across southern Ontario, thankfully not always at threshold. Some fields have populations at threshold (4-5 unparasitized larvae smaller than 2.5 cm per square foot) or above and with minimal feeding damage. Larvae sometimes choose not to […]
While many fields have received rain over the last week, some areas are starting to show signs of stress from lack of moisture. A few pests take advantage of this situation. Thrips in Corn and Soybeans: A number of corn fields have had high levels of thrips. Rarely are they worthy of control, except in […]
Soybean aphids – Eastern Ontario and the thumb of Michigan have been battling soybean aphids for some time now. This is ideal weather for them so I expect to start to see fields in SW ON noticing populations climb. That said, I have not given up on the natural enemies. I just want everyone to […]
Reports of two spotted spider mite in some corn fields have been coming in. This pest is not normally a problem in corn but due to the hot, dry weather this year spider mites are showing up in numbers high enough to cause visible damage. Spider mite infestations start at the field edge and move […]
Since we’ve been getting a bit of rain across the province in the last week I’ve been asked about how the rain will affect spider mite populations in soybeans. Rains are very beneficial to help keep populations of spider mites down but don’t assume that because it rained our spider mite problems are over. If […]
Reports are coming in late last week of fields in Eastern Ontario reaching well above threshold levels for soybean aphids. Just a few weeks prior, these fields had only 30 to 40 per plant. I suspect other fields in even Central and Southern Ontario will also experience this kind of rapid increase as daytime and […]
Chris DiFonzo from MSU and I both have this pest on our radar. I was hoping to see more areas get some of the rain that touched Ontario yesterday but sadly that didn’t happen. It is typically a little early for mites given the stage of the soybean crop but with this heat and dry […]
Travelling the country side yesterday, I saw too much spider mite damage going out of control in soybean fields that were easy to spot from my car. Too many fields that still have some time to mature are seeing sure signs of spider mite activity. Some are already too late to control, as the mites […]
It hasn’t been since 2002 that we have experienced this low of levels of soybean aphids. Cross my fingers and knock on wood but I think we are going to get through the season without a problem. That said, spidermites are starting to pop up in fields, particularly where it is starting to get a […]