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Looking Ahead

Forages & Grains

Corn

Soybeans

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Nursery & Forest

Degree Days

Looking Ahead
Volume 61 Number 4 Date 05/19/2016


BLACK CUTWORM - Migrants continue to arrive in significant numbers and oviposition is expected to increase with warmer weather predicted for next week. Early signs of cutworm infestation should be apparent in emerging corn. Larvae thrive best in reduced tillage and no-tillage fields, especially those with previous winter annual weed infestations, which is where growers and consultants are advised to scout for evidence of cutworm feeding.

CODLING MOTH - Emergence of the first spring moths began near Rochester in Racine County on May 18, despite low temperatures. No other trapping locations reported moth captures. Daily monitoring of pheromone traps is recommended in the week ahead or until the biofix has been determined.

TRUE ARMYWORM - Larvae were swept in low numbers from alfalfa in Monroe and Vernon counties this week. The ¼ inch worms are the offspring of moths that arrived in April. Black light trap have been registering low number of moths for several weeks and growers should anticipate more armyworms appearing in fields by early to mid-June.

PLUM CURCULIO - Unseasonably cold temperatures during the last reporting period delayed weevil migration into orchards, but the first oviposition scars are likely to become evident in the two weeks following petal-fall. Apple growers are advised to begin examining early cultivars for the crescent-shaped scars indicative of plum curculio egg laying once fruitlets reach 5 mm.

ORCHARD PEST MANAGEMENT AFTER FROST - Continued pest management is recommended for apple orchards impacted by Sunday's hard freeze, even for orchards expecting 100% crop loss. Failure to control key apple pests such as codling moth, apple maggot, plum curculio and powdery mildew this season could compound insect and disease pressure in 2017. Adjustments to treatment plans should be made for orchard blocks or areas with only small amounts of fruits or no fruit.

-- Krista Hamilton, DATCP Entomologist