tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81034533855757392132024-03-24T02:11:25.100-05:00Alabama Insect BlogFrom Scott Graham and Ron Smith, Auburn University Extension EntomologistsRon H. Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00402446997383859095noreply@blogger.comBlogger185125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8103453385575739213.post-54503624654982529882023-09-15T08:34:00.006-05:002023-09-15T08:34:58.126-05:00Alabama Insect Situation: Friday September 15, 2023We have received multiple reports of redbanded stink bugs
found nearing threshold levels in the Alabama Black Belt this week. Redbanded
stink bugs (RBSB) are the most damaging pest of soybeans in Alabama. They are small,
green and have a light red, orange or purple band across their shoulders (back). RBSB also
have a small spine in between their legs that points back up towards their
face. Scott H. Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13742232069057252553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8103453385575739213.post-4554412491729423052023-08-31T13:50:00.000-05:002023-08-31T13:50:01.978-05:00Alabama Insect Situation: August 31, 2023Phone calls and reports have slowed considerably over the
past 10-14 days. Most of the cotton is no longer susceptible to insects and
some is beginning to open. We have some areas that have gotten good rainfall
over the past week; however, many areas are very dry and need rain badly. Soybeans
have been the focus of most calls this week, with stink bugs and caterpillars
being the main concerns.
Scott H. Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13742232069057252553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8103453385575739213.post-14747793138770955412023-08-17T14:33:00.000-05:002023-08-17T14:33:16.817-05:00Alabama Insect Situation: August 17, 2023Plant bugs, stink bugs, bollworms, spider mites (cotton),
velvetbean caterpillars, corn earworms soybean loopers (peanuts and soybeans)
and stink bugs (soybeans) have been reported this week. In some places, cotton
looks good and has good moisture, in others it’s scary dry and blooming out the
top.
Bug Complex
Reports of green and southern green stink bugs have picked
up this week statewide. Scott H. Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13742232069057252553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8103453385575739213.post-37882303483590799762023-08-12T08:36:00.002-05:002023-08-12T08:40:25.255-05:00Alabama Insect Situation: August 12, 2023We are beginning to see the “light at the end of the tunnel”
for most of our late planted cotton across Alabama. We visited several fields
in central and south Alabama this week and the crop looks good. Many fields in south
Alabama were beginning to bloom out the top and are pretty much safe from bugs.
There are still many fields at risk from plant bugs and stink bugs, however, so
we can’t walk Scott H. Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13742232069057252553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8103453385575739213.post-34715630814573659322023-08-04T12:12:00.001-05:002023-08-04T12:12:12.466-05:00Alabama Insect Situation: Friday August 4, 2023The phone calls have picked up over the past week. Plant
bugs have picked back up in some spots and in some areas of south Alabama they
are still heavy. I spoke with one person in south Alabama yesterday about the
insect situation in his area. He told me most folks are saying vigilant but
getting frustrated with the number of plant bug applications going out. When
asked about stink bugs, his Scott H. Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13742232069057252553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8103453385575739213.post-17785281056861170392023-07-27T07:49:00.000-05:002023-07-27T07:49:07.866-05:00Alabama Crops Insect Situation: Thursday July 27, 2023The plant bug situation has not changed over the past week.
There are still some hotspots with high numbers of nymphs, but overall
populations are manageable. We have also observed and received reports that
adult plant bugs are showing back up in places, presumably moving in from nearby
corn fields. When scouting, keep an eye out for borders with corn because that
is likely to be where the Scott H. Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13742232069057252553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8103453385575739213.post-49379084668616714862023-07-20T09:11:00.000-05:002023-07-20T09:11:13.190-05:00Alabama Cotton Insect Situation: Thursday July 20, 2023Plant Bug Situation
Overall, we appear to be in good shape after the onslaught
of adult plant bugs that infested fields in June. Phone calls have slowed down
considerably, and most of the reports are that plant bugs are out there and in
some fields at damaging levels, but manageable. I think we have two big factors
that have helped us in this regard.
The first was our adult plant bug managementScott H. Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13742232069057252553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8103453385575739213.post-90074281329382647562023-06-29T09:45:00.000-05:002023-06-29T09:45:34.284-05:00Alabama Cotton Insect Situation: June 29, 2023: Plant Bugs Continue to BuildThe plant bug situation has continued to increase over the
past week. Going back at least 51 seasons, this appears to be the most
widespread and highest pressure we have seen in Alabama. There are fields with
numbers as high as 5x threshold in some places. Many fields have received 2
pre-bloom applications, and some have had three.
The question is “what do we do?”
In a lot of these fields, Scott H. Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13742232069057252553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8103453385575739213.post-77257233648434828902023-06-23T15:13:00.006-05:002023-06-23T17:20:09.402-05:00Alabama Cotton Insect Situation: Friday June 23, 2023: Plant Bug Pressure on the RiseWe have received reports of threshold populations of plant
bugs from the Gulf to the Tennessee line and from Mississippi to Georgia. If
cotton has squares, it should be scouted for adult plant bugs. In Alabama, our
threshold is 8 adults per 100 sweeps -OR- to maintain 80% square retention. Some
states recommend only treating adult plant bugs if square retention falls below
80%, regardless of the Scott H. Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13742232069057252553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8103453385575739213.post-76185088600231963182023-06-15T14:18:00.000-05:002023-06-15T14:18:22.473-05:00Alabama Cotton Insect Situation (And Thoughts on Plant Bugs): Thursday June 15, 2023Plant bugs are on the move. We have heard reports of adult
plant bugs moving into fields across Alabama. A lot of fields in SW Alabama and
some fields in Central Alabama have been treated over the past couple of days.
The rain much of the state is experiencing will likely keep scouts and sprayers
out of the field for a few days, but we need to get back in there as soon as we
can. Until this week,Scott H. Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13742232069057252553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8103453385575739213.post-15731124969491358112023-06-09T09:45:00.002-05:002023-06-09T09:52:01.312-05:00Alabama Cotton Insect Situation: Friday June 9thWe are getting dry in a lot of areas across the state. A few
rains have popped up here and there, but much of our cotton needs a drink. The crop
also appears to be relatively late. I would say based on a lot of what I have
seen and heard from folks we probably have more cotton closer to “first leaf”
than “first square.”
The thrips situation picked up heavy in North Alabama, with
several Scott H. Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13742232069057252553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8103453385575739213.post-35547267647393429192023-06-01T12:00:00.000-05:002023-06-01T12:00:11.620-05:00Alabama Cotton Insect Situation: June 1, 2023The past
week has brought slightly cooler temperatures across much of Alabama, resulting
in cotton that is not growing off as quick as we would want in some areas. We
also have some pockets that are getting dry, further exacerbating the issue.
Overall,
thrips pressure has not been too bad this year, but we are starting to see
pressure pick up in some areas. For the most part, our at-plant Scott H. Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13742232069057252553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8103453385575739213.post-80496087863043359182023-05-19T08:45:00.002-05:002023-05-19T08:45:48.317-05:00Alabama Cotton Insect Situation: May 19, 2023Planters have been rolling over the past 7 to 10 days, when
popup showers haven’t chased them out. We have talked to a couple of folks this week
that have had to dodge rains trying to get the crop in. Overall, I think we are
in pretty good shape right now.
The biggest question we have gotten this week: What’s thrips
pressure looking like? This tells me most folks are in the same shape we are
in,Scott H. Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13742232069057252553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8103453385575739213.post-7654991400613549342023-05-10T07:46:00.000-05:002023-05-10T07:46:27.372-05:00 Alabama Cotton Insect Situation: May 10, 2023As of Monday (5/8), we have turned hot and dry. In many
fields we have walked across Central Alabama this week, moisture is lacking and
stands are struggling to make. Some areas caught a rain yesterday, but storms
were somewhat localized. Over the coming days, some fields may need to be
irrigated up. As our agronomist Dr. Steve Brown says, farmers know their ground
far better than we do, so you Scott H. Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13742232069057252553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8103453385575739213.post-237775100222213702023-04-26T12:58:00.000-05:002023-04-26T12:58:35.451-05:00Alabama Thrips Model Update: April 26, 2023We have been running thrips models (link) across Alabama for the last 10-14 days to get a sense for what pressure will be like this year. Heading into my 4th
crop in Alabama, this is the easiest it has ever been to summarize the models
across the state.
Across South Alabama (models run in Baldwin, Escambia,
Coffee and Henry Counties), the Thrips Model is predicting a near “normal”
situation withScott H. Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13742232069057252553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8103453385575739213.post-67874042094297892392023-04-14T09:08:00.000-05:002023-04-14T09:08:33.024-05:00Alabama Thrips Management in 2023When it comes to managing thrips, there is one thing that
cannot be argued: you have to do something at-plant. There are some
rumblings of wanting to go with a base seed treatment (storage rate) to save some
up-front costs and try to “spray our way out” of thrips. This is very difficult
to do. Properly timing insecticide applications to manage thrips is hard with a
seed treatment, it is nearly Scott H. Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13742232069057252553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8103453385575739213.post-57378731060483167342023-03-10T09:13:00.000-06:002023-03-10T09:13:47.079-06:00Points to Consider with Alabama Cotton Insect Management in 2023<!--[if !supportLists]-->1. <!--[endif]-->Grasshoppers.
Grasshoppers tend to be worse in lighter, well drained soils and following dry
winters in reduced tillage fields. Immatures begin hatching out in late March
and continue until June. Stand loss occurs when grasshoppers feed on the
mainstem of emerging seedlings. Preventative insecticide applications are a
Scott H. Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13742232069057252553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8103453385575739213.post-29192310387059801742022-11-08T15:22:00.001-06:002022-11-08T15:22:38.514-06:00Summary of the 2022 Alabama Cotton Insect SituationWe certainly had some challenging situations through the
cotton production season in Alabama in 2022. From severe drought in some areas,
to excessive rainfall in others weather played a major role in the in-season
management of the crop. Even so, we expect to have a very good cotton crop in
2022. We have heard several reports of 3 or more bales per acre being picked
and expect our state average Scott H. Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13742232069057252553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8103453385575739213.post-59912211346869368192022-09-08T11:05:00.000-05:002022-09-08T11:05:07.888-05:00Alabama Insect Situation: September 8, 2022As the calendar turns to September, most of our cotton is past
insects, some is beginning to receive defoliation applications, and all is hoping
for a dry fall so we can get all the lint from the field to the basket. With
the cotton season mostly behind us, the soybean insect situation is beginning
to build.VBC collected in 5 sweeps near Prattville, AL.Over the past week, we have gotten several Scott H. Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13742232069057252553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8103453385575739213.post-65202223719112250702022-08-26T08:44:00.000-05:002022-08-26T08:44:34.286-05:00Alabama Cotton Insect Situation: August 26, 2022Sunshine. That’s what the Alabama cotton crop across much of
central and south Alabama is missing as of today. The 10-day forecast shows 50%
or greater chances of rain across much of the state. As a lot of cotton is starting
to open, we need to get out of this pattern. We realize that while insects are
still in many fields, they do not pose the greatest risk to our crop at this time.
We Scott H. Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13742232069057252553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8103453385575739213.post-77948140059836123262022-08-18T16:23:00.000-05:002022-08-18T16:23:29.845-05:00Alabama Cotton Insect Situation: August 18, 2022We are beginning to see some open bolls across south and
central Alabama, the end is in sight. Not much has changed over the past week
with our cotton insect situation. We are still fighting the bug complex in many
fields across Alabama. In addition to tarnished plant bugs and stink bugs, we
are also starting to observe some clouded plant bugs and leaf-footed bugs as
well.
Cotton
SLWFWe are Scott H. Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13742232069057252553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8103453385575739213.post-92012587447467170372022-08-12T09:23:00.001-05:002022-08-12T09:58:59.146-05:00Alabama Insect Situation: August 12, 2022 Cotton
Not much has changed over the past week with the cotton
situation. We are still fighting bugs in some fields statewide, while other
fields are relatively clean. A little cotton is starting to open, while most of
it isn’t quite out of the woods yet. We have talked to several folks that are
starting to put out a “clean up” shot then walking away. Keep in mind that our
stink bug Scott H. Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13742232069057252553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8103453385575739213.post-55854704920887926322022-08-05T15:29:00.000-05:002022-08-05T15:29:25.499-05:00Alabama Insect Situation: August 5, 2022The crop situation is all over the board in Alabama. Fields
in the Gulf Coast region have received rains in something like 30 of the last
37 days, while fields in North and Southeast Alabama are rated as abnormally
dry and in some cases, in a moderate drought (link).
Thus far, cotton in Central and East Central Alabama looks really good.
Retention has been high and after a slow start, rains have Scott H. Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13742232069057252553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8103453385575739213.post-91866722528814532492022-07-28T13:05:00.000-05:002022-07-28T13:05:05.720-05:00Alabama Insect Situation: July 28, 2022Cotton
Most of the reports we have received this week is that
overall, we are in pretty good shape. However. There are some fields that are in
need of reprieve. We have some fields in SW Alabama that cannot miss a rain,
and other fields in N Alabama that cannot catch a rain. Cotton across much of
central Alabama looks to be in good shape. We are hopeful for a good August and
September so we can Scott H. Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13742232069057252553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8103453385575739213.post-20568308525155328592022-07-22T11:39:00.000-05:002022-07-22T11:39:40.113-05:00Alabama Insect Situation: July 22, 2022Cotton
From this point forward, the bug complex of stink bugs and
plant bugs will be the most yield limiting insect situation we deal with. Stink
bugs will likely be the dominate pest complex, but we are receiving reports of
plant bugs still requiring attention in some fields across Alabama.
Bug Complex
We spent a lot of time in cotton fields across the state
this week and stink bugs and theirScott H. Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13742232069057252553noreply@blogger.com