Figure 1. Wheat lodging due to wheat stem sawfly. Figure 2 (inset). Wheat stubs remaining in field after sawfly feeding. The sawfly will overwinter in the stub and leave the plant in the spring.
One of the newest challenges to wheat growers is the wheat stem sawfly, which can girdle stems, causing lodging and yield losses. University research may offer a clue to new control practices.
Using clean, certified, treated winter wheat seed optimizes the chances of obtaining high yields. Seed-transmitted diseases and fall insects can reduce grain yield as well as quality next summer.
Grasshopper populations may decline in late summer, but remain significant enough to cause serious damage to emerging wheat. Monitor densities in field borders before and after planting.
Western bean cutworm egg masses have been reported on field corn in a number of locations across the state this week. Here's what to look for in the field, treatment thresholds and recommendations.
By using a degree-day model, growers can account for the effect of temperature on insect development and approximate when certain insect stages will occur. See predicted cutworm flights and recommended scouting periods for 14 Nebraska locations.
Video: Populations of wheat stem sawflies, a serious pest of wheat in western Nebraska, are at high numbers this year. Surveys are underway in wheat fields, grasslands and pastures to evaluate grass hosts for the pest and its parasitoids.
Figure 1. Alfalfa weevil larvae and adults collected in a single 12-sweep sample in Goshen County, Wyoming by Dan Keener on May 11, 2018. Note that both large larvae and adults are present.
High populations of alfalfa weevils have been found in alfalfa throughout the Nebraska Panhandle; lower populations were reported this week in central and eastern Nebraska. The economics would warrant continued scouting through June to provide for timely treatment, if necessary, and yield protection.
From the 2018 Crop Production Clinic Proceedings: Corn rootworm continues to be a problem for Nebraska growers who rotate crops infrequently. Additionally, resistance to insecticides and some Bt corn reduces efficacy of these important tools in some fields.
