Basic Insect Management : Field Crops Doug Johnson

1. Basic Insect Management :Field Crops Doug Johnson BASIC TRAINING FOR CROP PRODUCTION 2006 Integrated Pest Management Feb. 7 – Winchester Feb. 8 – Elizabethtown Feb. 9 – Princeton Entomology

2. Before you do anything else • Make sure the pest is correctly identified!!

3. Many Ways to Organize • Note the “PAMS” approach • Adopted by USDA as ‘the” approach • Likely to play a large role in goal setting, evaluation (and regulation?)

4. The PAMS Approach IPM • Prevention, • Avoidance, • Monitoring, • Suppression

5. Prevention • Keep the pest out of the field! • Legislative; control movement of plant material and soil • Cultural; use pest free seed / transplants • Management; prevent weeds from producing seed • Mechanical; mow European corn borer staging sites in spring.

6. PreventionKY Examples • Pest free transplants (Tobacco) • KY Production • Import restrictions e.g. plants from south? • Reduce soil movement (soil insects) • Pest free seed • Clean equipment (especially in stored grains)

7. Crop Rotation Planting Date Uniform Planting Maturity groups Nutrient Management Timely Harvest Avoidance of Loss of Value Avoidance

8. Immigrant Insect Pests • Alfalfa • Potato leaf hopper • Corn + Grain Sorghum • Black cutworm, Fall armyworm • Soybean • Soybean aphid • Wheat • Grain aphids

9. Potato leafhopper Adults MIGRATE north in spring - lay eggs in alfalfa. Winter management techniques or severity not effective.

10. Avoidance • Crop Rotation • Corn - corn rootworm

11. Avoidance • Planting Date • Alfalfa –potato leaf hopper, fall seeding • Corn - corn borers, fall armyworm • Soybean - Soybean aphid, soybean podworm • Wheat - Hessian Fly, • Grain Sorghum - Sorghum midge

12. Avoidance • Uniform Planting • Grain Sorghum – Sorghum midge • Tobacco – aphids and corn earworm (especially in seed production)

13. Avoidance • Maturity groups • Corn – Fall armyworm • Wheat – Cereal leaf beetle • Soybeans – Soybean podworm • Grain Sorghum – Sorghum midge

14. Avoidance • Nutrient Management • Soybean aphid and K deficiency • Aphids and over use of N2

15. Avoidance • Timely Harvest • Alfalfa – potato leafhopper, cut every 30 days • Alfalfa weevil harvest to avoid spraying.

16. Avoidance • Harvest to Avoid Loss of Value • Corn – corn borers - harvest before lodging. • Soybean – soybean stem borer, harvest before lodging. • Alfalfa – blister beetles, sell first 2 cuttings as blister beetle free.

17. Monitoring • Crop Scouting • Damage Assessment • Trapping • Modeling

18. Prediction(PAMS Monitoring [part]) • Estimating occurrence of new pest. • Example soybean aphid • Estimating occurrence of occasional pests • Example southwestern corn borer • Estimating occurrence of annual pests • Example arrival of black cutworm or appearance of armyworm

19. Detection(PAMS Monitoring) Scouting (DIRECT) • Direct plant examination for pest or damage • Soil sampling wireworms, white grubs etc. • Trapping (INDIRECT) • insect pheromone traps (many moths) • Sticky / color traps (aphids) • Damage Assessment (AFTER THE DAMAGE)

20. What will you probably see first? Stems broken just a few inches above ground You can not see a tunnel on either side of the break Notice the “beveled” edge of the stem

21. Overwinter SWCB Survival Caldwell, Henderson, Davies, Hardin Counties Four fields/county

22. Prediction(PAMS Monitoring [part]) • Using: • predictive models, • http://wwwagwx.ca.uky.edu/Gisproducts.html • weather / climate patterns, • traps example spore traps or insect traps, • sentinel or trap crops,

23. Monitoring leads to Decision Making • Research based tools • Experience based estimations

24. Economic Thresholds vs Economic Injury level EIL Number Of Pests -Or- Damage Level ET Time or Plant Stage etc.

25. How do we decide? • Economic Injury Level (EIL) – The point at which the cost of injury becomes greater than the cost of control. • Economic Threshold aka Action Threshold (ET) – The level at which action should be taken.

26. Economic Thresholdsby Plant Stage Maturity ET Defoliation Vegetative Seedling Reproductive Plant Stages

27. For example soybean aphid on soybean • Action Threshold is: • 250 aphids per plant, • Plants in V through R5 stages, • Provides one week to make application.

28. To use the threshold you must have data from the field • Plant growth stage • Number of insects present.

29. Suppression • Biological • Host Plant Resistance • Mechanical • Chemical

30. Remediation (PAMS Suppression) • Biological (natural enemies) • Cultural (planting date, host plant resistance) • Mechanical (cultivation) • Chemical (pesticides)

31. Natural Control

32. Biological Control • Conservation • If you don’t spray when you don’t need to then you practice this! e.g. preservation of lady beetles, syrphid flies, parasitoids. • Augmentation • Importation (Classical) • Asian lady beetle

33. Host Plant Resistance • Modern hybrid field Corn • DIMBOA (European corn borer) • Gray leaf spot resistance • Soybean • Soybean cyst nematode resistance • Wheat • Hessian Fly resistance

34. Mechanical • Stalk / Stem destruction • Crown displacement - Soybean stem borer • Mowing staging sites - European corn borer

35. ChemicalActive ingredients • Synthetic Compounds • Many families • Formulated Pathogens • Bacillus thuringensis, e.g. Dipel • Spinosad, e.g. Naturalyte, Tracer • Botanicals • Nicotine sulfate • Soaps and Oils

36. ChemicalDeployment • Soil applied • Foliar applied • Seed coatings • Transgenic

37. So, Where Do They Fit? • Where are they needed? • Were will they work? • Where are they economical?

39. Yield Benefit by Planting Date7-Year Average

40. Insects Controlled by Bt Corn

41. Traditional Corn Seed Treatments ‘Hopperbox’ Agrox Premiere Germate Plus Grain Guard Plus Kernel Guard Kernel Guard Supreme KickStart Lorsban SL

42. True Seed Treatments Seed Treatments (Ordered with seed) • Imidacloprid Gaucho extra (0.6 mg/kernel) Prescribe (1.34 mg/kernel) • Thiamethoxam Cruiser Extreme Pak (0.25 mg/ker) Cruiser Extreme Pak CRW (1.25 mg/kernel) • Clothianidin Poncho 250 (0.25 mg/kernel) Poncho 1250 (1.25 mg/kernel)

43. Insects Controlled

44. Immediate Plant Back 30-Day Plant Back 120-Day Plant Back 12 Month Plant Back

46. Making the Control Decision • Rotation information • Corn after corn ? After pasture ? • Planting Date • Very early - wireworms • Very late – corn borers • Likelihood of Problems • Past problems ? • Cost • Is rotation more cost effective? • Equipment

47. Soybean Seed Treatment Test Results over three years • In NO trial did any treatment ever yielded differently from the untreated check. • In all cases insect populations were minimal. • In no year was movement of plant virus important.

48. How many ways can you make a mistake? • Treat when you don’t need to treat, • Lost cost of application & increased risk of environmental, regulatory burden • Treat when you do need to treat, • Reduced your losses but at a cost, • Don’t treat when you do need to treat, • Loss of potential yield / quality, thus income • Don’t treat when you don’t need to treat. • Conservation BioControl

49. Secondary Outbreak Application Time or Plant Stage Etc.

50. Resurgence Pesticide Application Time or Plant Stage Etc.