Transform Section 18 Extended

2014 Section 18 for Transform on Sugarcane Aphids in Sorghum Extension

                Unfortunately many of us are still dealing with the sugarcane aphid in sorghum fields:    

This week I received two phone calls from independent crop consultants in Floyd County describing a handful of field situations with the aphid well over the expressed action threshold for this aphid with aphids infesting heads, panicles, and green leaf coverage in the thousands with harvest still several weeks away.  In our Hale & Swisher scouting program, I also have several fields nearing, but not quite at, this level.  While convincing producers to actually make the additional inputs of a Transform application this late in the growing season remains a tough sale and most of our producers with sugarcane aphid problems are currently opting to harvest early or apply sorghum harvest aids without major incident yet, having the option to chemically control this aphid should remain a vital option for our area producers.  

With a little petitioning through the sugarcane aphid task force, we were able to have the deadline of the section 18 extended until December 10, 2014.  Hopefully this will be post killing freeze date when we can hopefully (and finally) put this invasive pest to bed for the season.

I still urge producers and consultants to keep good tabs on this pest until harvest or freeze.  If treatment looks like the best option for any field, at least now we still have that option.

Blayne