First Year Western Corn Rootworm Sampling 2005
Authors: Curtis Young, Ron Hammond, Bruce Eisley
Personnel from Ohio State University Extension have continued to sample for first-year, western corn rootworm adults (FYWCR) in soybean fields for the ninth year. Data from the 2005 rootworm trapping program have been assembled. This is an overview of the results from that survey. Sampling was done using Pherocon® AM yellow sticky traps placed in 94 fields covering 26 counties. Six traps were placed in the soybeans on metal posts at canopy height and located at least 100 feet from the field edge and evenly spaced in the field. The traps were initially placed in fields in late July and removed in late August or early September. Traps were serviced once a week throughout the sampling period with a new, clean trap. After each trapping week, the numbers of beetles collected were summed and divided by the number of traps (6) and the number of days the traps were in the field resulting in the average number of beetles collected per trap per day. Research indicates that catches in soybean of 5 or more beetles/trap/day during any trapping week indicates a potential problem with rootworm in the field the following year.
The trapping data from 2005 had the following results from the 94 fields:
Only a single field with an average > 5 beetles/trap/day
Five fields with an average between 4 and < 5 beetles/trap/day
Most fields were <3 beetles/trap/day
The field that had > 5 beetles/trap/day was in Williams County. Those fields between 4 and 5 beetles/trap/day were in Champaign (2), Shelby, Van Wert, and Williams Counties. We should mention that many fields, especially those in NW Ohio, had also been sprayed for soybean aphid. It is not clear exactly how that might have effected the collection of FYWCR; however, we believe that if there were high numbers of the WCR, they would have been collected in higher numbers on the yellow sticky traps at least one time during the sampling survey. Additionally, we did not hear of many problems with FYWCR in first year corn this past summer.
So What Does This Mean?
Based on the potential treatment level of 5 beetles/trap/day during any trapping week, if the single field with over 5 beetles/trap/day is planted to corn in 2006, a treatment of either a soil insecticide, Poncho 1250 or Cruiser CRW seed treatments (the highest rate of each), or a transgenic rootworm corn (YieldGard Rootworm or Herculex RW, or perhaps YieldGard Plus or Herculex Xtra) should be considered for control of rootworm. As we have stated previously, these data do not mean that other fields in a county that were not sampled do not need treatment. But we feel that the data do give good information about the fields that were sampled and about the overall abundance of the beetles this year. Rootworm populations continue to be relatively low. We do NOT recommend widespread treatment for rootworms unless you had scouted your field and know you have a population in the field. However, there might be those very few soybean fields that do have populations sufficient to warrant treatment next spring. Because of this continued concern with this insect, we urge growers to develop a sampling plan next year in their soybean fields, and to sample roots for feeding injury in their first year corn for the presence of FYWCR.
Ohio No-Till Conference
Authors: Randall Reeder
The annual Ohio No-Till Conference will be held Tuesday, Dec. 6, at Der Dutchman in Plain City (on Rt 42, between I-70 and Rt. 33). Registration opens at 8:00, with the program starting at 9:00 and ending at 3:15. CCA credits have been applied for.
Early Registration: $20 (by Nov. 30). Or $25 at the door.
Mail a check (payable to “Ohio No-Till Council”) to Ray Glaze, 13910 Purdy Rd., Spencerville, OH 45887. For late registrations, call to reserve a seat: 419-647-6381.
Soil fertility will fill the morning program. Robert Mullen, OSU Extension Specialist, will discuss the new fertilizer recommendations, and capturing N with cover crops. A panel (Dave Brandt, Bob Slicker, Bob Featheringill, Bill Lehmkuhl and Tom Menke) will present and answer questions on fertility topics including lime, manure management, in-season N management, in-season aeration, and cover crops.
The afternoon will include growing profitable, high yield wheat (Matt Sullivan, Bill Lehmkuhl and Dave Brandt), carbon trading (Mark Wilson), strip-till (Todd Hesterman), solutions to planter problems caused by seed coatings (Bill Lehmkuhl), and research results from the Bill Lehmkuhl’s farm plots.
Annual Rye Grass Field Day
Authors: Dusty Sonnenberg
The use of cover crops, more specifically Annual Rye Grass, has become a hot topic in recent months. With increased concern over water quality issues, as well as increased fertilizer input costs, a series of annual rye grass and cereal rye grass plots have been established in Northwest Ohio to evaluate potential benefits. On Tuesday, November 15th, OSU Extension in Henry County will be hosting an Annual Rye Grass Field Day. The program will begin at 10:00 a.m. at the Maple Grove Dairy Farm located on Henry County Road B, just west of Henry County Road 17B, outside of Pleasant Bend Ohio.
The specific purposes of this plot are as follows:
1.Evaluate and compare soil compaction and fertility using rye cover crops vs. the bare ground check.
2.Evaluate the percent residue cover of rye cover crops and check plots on corn/soybean ground and compare to NRCS Standard 633 which requires 90% residue cover for winter manure application.
3.Evaluate the effectiveness of rye cover crops to absorb fall applied manure nutrients and prevent manure nutrients to surface water.
State Specialists: Pierce Paul & Anne Dorrance Dennis Mills (Plant Pathology), Ron Hammond (Entomology) Extension Educators: Roger Bender (Shelby), Steve Foster (Darke), Greg La Barge (Fulton), Howard Siegrist (Licking), Mark Keonig (Sandusky), Dusty Sonnenberg (Henry), Keith Diedrick (Wayne), Gary Wilson (Hancock), Harold Watters (Champaign), and Alan Sundermeier (Wood).