Tag Archives: Field Scouting

Pest Update and 2020 Insect Thresholds

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This week we have been finding low numbers on insect pests in cotton, grain sorghum and soybeans. Cotton ranges from 1/3 grown square to mid-bloom. While most fields are below threshold, we have found a few fields with 30-40 cotton fleahoppers per 100 plants. Continue to monitor for cotton fleahoppers until bloom and treat when they exceed an economic threshold of 15 per 100 plants. Blooming cotton has had significant bollworm moth flights this week but so far, egg numbers have been low. Bollworms are important pests and should… Read More →

Unique Production Season Ahead

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When I first moved down to Port Lavaca, at a crop tour, growers were talking how much experience they had farming.  One replied he had “1 year experience, 40 times.” I think there is a lot of truth to that statement.  It seems each year presents it’s own production challenges. So how is 2020 different from other years? There are two obvious differences: lower than normal rainfall and higher than average temperatures. Much of insect and plant activity occurs as a response to three variables. These variables are… Read More →

Headworms, Stink Bugs and Sugarcane Aphids in Grain Sorghum

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We have been finding Rice Stink Bugs, Headworms and Sugarcane Aphids in Sorghum fields  of the Mid-Coast of Texas. Scout sorghum using a 2-gallon bucket and beat heads into the bucket and see what is being captured in the bucket. Look here for a brief video. Economic thresholds for stink bugs and headworms depend on the cost of control, expected crop value, and sorghum heads per acre. Look here for an economic thresholds calculator. I am using an economic threshold of 0.5 – 1 stink bug per head,… Read More →

IPM Field Meeting – May 28, 2019

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Date: Tuesday, May 28 Time: 9 am Location: Near Port Lavaca at the Intersection of FM 1679 and Sanders Rd. 28.609097, -96.721086 Topics: Crop development, cotton fleahopper management, and plant growth regulators will be discussed CEUs: 1 hour CEU will be provided.   CROP TOUR DATES Refugio County – June 12 Calhoun County – June 13 Victoria County – June 18

Stink Bugs and Headworms in Grain Sorghum

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Some sorghum fields across the Mid-Coast of Texas have been inundated with Rice Stink Bugs or Headworms; or in some cases, both stink bugs and headworms. Adding to this problem, I have received several reports of pyrethroid insecticides failing to control rice stink bugs. Scout sorghum using a 2-gallon bucket and beat heads into the bucket and see what is being captured in the bucket. Look here for a brief video. Economic thresholds for stink bugs and headworms depend on the cost of control, expected crop value, and… Read More →