Sustainable Pest Management

Spring is a busy time on the farm that demands a lot of different tasks; one of the tasks that can be overlooked is scouting your small grains now for the presence of diseases, especially this year considering many areas of the state are off to a wet start. For a few select diseases, scouting now could pay off later in the season.

Listed below are the corn trait packages to make it easier to understand seed guides, sales material and bag tags. It is an abbreviated version of the Bt trait table plus related extension materials free online at: https://www.texasinsects.org/bt-corn-trait-table.html. Information listed Includes the name of each trait package, bag tag code, Bt toxins expressed (Cry1 types and Vip3A for caterpillars, Cry3 types for rootworms), refuge requirement (RIB=% refuge in the bag or REF=% structured refuge) and herbicide tolerance (GLY= glyphosate /Roundup-Ready, LL=glufosinate/Liberty Link, 2,4D or group 1 ‘fops’ type herbicides). Note that older trait packages, with limited or no commercial availability, are listed, so you can look back and interpret previous year’s planting records, seed guides, and research results.

In July 2023, the EPA posted 10 years (2013-2022) of pesticide incident (see glossary) data on its website. This was done to increase transparency and provide a better understanding of pesticide exposures, including exposures to vulnerable populations.

IPM Threshold Guide for Vegetable Crops

Insect Pest Management in Peppers

Insect Pests of Tomato

Although sorghum faces relatively few pests compared to our other grain crops, it is not a “plant and forget” crop. Sorghum is often grown on marginal ground, in areas with greater deer pressure, dryland fields, and as a rotational component for managing weed and disease pressure. Sorghum is generally a minor component of a farming operation, and as such is easy to overlook during the season, especially now as other pests are requiring more attention and corn is nearing harvest. However, there are two significant insect pests that need to be scouted for to avoid potential losses and both are active right now on Delmarva. 

IPM Threshold Guide for Agronomic Field Crops

Potato production in Maryland continues to grow and has more than doubled in the last 5 years, while in surrounding states it has declined. About 50% of the potatoes harvested in Maryland are for the fresh market while the other half goes for processing. Because of its value growers frequently apply pesticides too often in order to protect their investment. This often leads to the development of insect resistance, environmental contamination, worker and food safety concerns and poor management of pests.

The Asian Longhorned beetle (ALB), native to eastern China and Korea, is a wood-boring pest which feeds on a number of hardwood trees, eventually killing them, impacting both urban trees and forested sites. Wildlife habitat will be impacted due to loss of forest shelter and food sources. Industries such as such as lumber, maple syrup, nursery, commercial fruit, and tourism will feel an economic impact.