Grasshoppers continue to be an issue in some areas of South Dakota. The hotspots seem to be along the Missouri River, but it is a reminder that everyone should be monitoring their crops for grasshopper feeding.
In South Dakota, sunflower flowering is getting underway. That means it is time to start scouting fields for red sunflower seed weevils.
Potato leafhoppers are a migratory pest that commonly impact alfalfa fields throughout South Dakota. Feeding injury caused by potato leafhoppers resembles drought stress and, if left untreated, can reduce both yield and forage quality.
Some oat fields are showing plants wilting with tillers dying prematurely and heads looking bleached. Inspecting the crown and sub-crown area reveals the discoloration and rotting and sometimes a pinkish color can be observed. These are typical symptoms of Fusarium root and crown rot.
We have received reports of false chinch bug populations in canola this week. Heavily infested canola fields will sometimes appear drought stressed, but closer inspection reveals that false chinch bugs are the culprits for the wilting plants.
The South Dakota Department of Agriculture is again offering pesticide container recycling services across the state. The list of 2020 dates and locations is available now, with the first collection events on July 13 in Herreid and Selby, S.D.
A few oat fields that were recently scouted were found to have barley yellow dwarf virus infected plants. The infected plants were few and scattered throughout the oat fields.
Recent reports have indicated that pea aphid populations are very large in some alfalfa fields and should continue to be monitored and possibly managed.
The 2018 and 2019 alfalfa weevil populations were relatively low, and as a result, we didn’t receive very many calls regarding this pest during those years. However, 2020 has been quite a bit different, and alfalfa weevil populations seem to be much higher.
The goals of applying any crop protection products include: increasing effectiveness, mitigating drift, and maximizing profits. We will focus on mitigating drift, even though all three interact with each other.