Plains Pest Management News May 27, 2021

 Here's the Link to the Plains Pest Management News for May 27, 2021. 

Thanks,

Blayne

Mosquito Management Tips

  

               As recent rainfall events bring relief to the drought situation we have been in for some time, we can expect to see, and indeed are already starting to see, a deluge of mosquito onslaughts.  More than just an annoyance, the very worst species of mosquitos can transmit a plethora of diseases such as malaria, West Nile, Zika and others that can be transmitted to humans and animals if the diseases are already in the area.  Successful mosquito control, or integrated mosquito management (IMM), is much more than relying on municipalities spraying for mosquitoes and wearing repellent and should be much more effective than getting suckered into spending good money on unproven gimmicky mosquito control devices.  There are several simple and proactive things you can integrate to lower the mosquito population in your domain. 

               First you need to understand that all mosquitoes require standing water to complete their life cycle and most IMM strategies involve limiting their access to that water or managing that water.  It does not take much water and it does not need to stand long, especially for the most dangerous mosquito species.  There are several species that require 3 days or less of a thimble full of standing water for the wigglers, the larval stage of mosquitoes, to reach adulthood.  So, what are a few things anyone can do to manage standing water and limit the mosquito population?

-        Following a rain or irrigation event, do not allow water to stand longer than 48 hours or so.  This can involve simple things such as filling in a small pothole in the back alley, draining a clogged gutter or potted plant, or dumping the water from an abandoned tire or child’s toy.  This activity costs nothing but a touch of intelligent vigilance strictly adhered to along with managing all locations on a property could reduce the mosquito population by 70%, just by denying the wigglers (mosquito larva) a location to develop into adults.

-        Manage any standing water that cannot be drained or filled. 

This can involve treatments or biological control.  Readily and commercially available to the public are a type of naturally occurring Bt bacteria that kills mosquito wigglers in water.  There are several commercial versions, often formed into donut shapes and often referred to as ‘Dunks.’  These are locally available at very reasonable prices.  Please be sure to follow label instructions.  These ‘Dunks’ can be broken up to fit the size of the water treatment need and impact only the mosquito wigglers, leaving fish and other aquatic organisms unimpacted.  For stock tanks or even larger or permanent bodies of water, predacious fish or other mosquito predators can be introduced.  Water collection systems and tanks can also become mosquito breeding sites.  The mosquito ‘Dunks’ can be used here also, but primarily these systems need to be airtight so no mosquito eggs can be lain in them. 

With a few inexpensive integrated mosquito methods, the mosquito deluge can be seriously mitigated where it matters to you most.  

Blayne Reed

 

Hands on Field Scout Training

 Greetings all,

 Now that the season is starting to take shape, we can set our Hands on Field Scout Training dates.  These are above and beyond our field scout schools, this year’s is slated for this Friday, May 28^th in Plainview. 

 The Scout Schools are awesome, but designed to be an introduction to the pests, crops, beneficials, plant diseases, plant mapping, and crop damage that anyone scouting cotton, corn, or sorghum fields will see over course of the summer scouting season.

 For the Hands on Field Scout Trainings we are actually in the field applying what was learned at scout school, targeting the topics appropriate for the crop stage the area’s crops are entering.  To accomplish this I am opening up the roughly biweekly trainings for our PPM field scouts and interns to all interested AgriLife personnel for free and company or private early career ag professionals for $75 per training date.  Our first training will be Tuesday June 1^st at the Halfway Experiment Station at 9am.  We may move to several nearby fields if we need to and we should be finished before noon. 

 Below is our target dates for all the 2021 Field Scout, Hands on Training Dates.  All dates are subject to change depending upon weather and current crop and pest conditions.  If possible, please RSVP a few to several dates to attend through our Plainview office at 806-291-5267.  If these tentative dates change, we can quickly notify everyone on our RSVP lists.   

 

Targeted Field Scout Training Dates	Training Topics
Tuesday, June 1, 2021	Plant per acre stand counts, thrips in cotton, early season cotton, corn, and sorghum agronomic stages, weed ID, seedling diseases, beneficials, and wireworms
Monday, June 21, 2021	Early cotton squares and calculating % fruit drop, plant bug and whole plant inspections, proper drop cloth and sweep net use, beneficials, grain crop whorl stage pests, early spidermite and aphid detection, herbicide damage ID, agronomic stages
Monday, July 5, 2021	First bloom detection and NAWF determination, drop cloth and sweep net use, fruit drop calculation and estimation and basic plant mapping, foliar and secondary cotton pests, corn borer and ear feeding pests, spidermite detection, agronomic stage ID, PGR data collection, quick disease ID
Monday, July 19, 2021	NAWF and peak water use irrigation scheduling, conducting good whole plant inspections, proper drop cloth, sweep net, and beat bucket use, corn borer and ear feeding pests, spidermites, SCA scouting, head feeding pests, current issues
Monday, August 2, 2021	Bollworm scouting, conducting large plant whole plant inspections, estimating fruit drop, NAWF and agronomic stage measurements, irrigation scheduling data, SCA and spidermite scouting, head and ear pests
Monday, September 20, 2021	Cotton harvest aid data collection, gaging boll maturity, NACB, and % open boll, late season pests, end of season irrigation data collection, late grain crop management

 

 

Thanks everyone!  Hope to see you soon!

Blayne

High Plains IPM "Radio" Podcast 05/26/2021

Here’s this week’s High Plains IPM “Radio” Podcast

5/26/2021 (audio file) Cotton: still time to plant, some cold shock in existing stands, minimum plant stands, thrips light but weeds and disease the primary issues. Grain crops look good in spite of some hail damage. Alfalfa weevil still hanging on. Scout School for cotton, sorghum and corn this Friday, May 28. (9:38 mins)

Thanks,

Blayne

High Plains IPM “Radio” Podcast 05/19/2021

 Here’s this week’s High Plains IPM “Radio” Podcast: https://soundcloud.com/user-766365640-259391064/hp-519

5/19/2021 (audio file) Cotton soil temperatures good but planting slow or delayed. Wheat; light pest pressure including thrips. Grain crops look good. Alfalfa weevil still present. Check cotton for wireworms. (4:40 mins)

Thanks,

Blayne

 

2020 Hale & Swisher IPM Report

The 2020 Hale & Swisher IPM Unit’s annual report is finally completed.  Here you will find a summary of the Unit’s activities for the year, the year at a glance, and a write up of all research and demonstration projects completed in 2020.  This should be a great reference.  Link to 2020 Hale & Swisher IPM Report

Thanks,

Blayne Reed 

Field Scout School May 28, 2021

Scout School is BACK!  Join us on May 28th, 2021 at the Ollie Liner Center in
Plainview.  It's time to train those Summer Field Scouts.  Also a great learning opportunity for early Ag Career Professionals! Learn how to properly scout for pests in Summer Crops.  See the agenda below.

Thanks,

Blayne 

High Plains IPM "Radio" Podcast 05/12/2021

 Here’s this week’s High Plains IPM “Radio” Podcast:  https://soundcloud.com/user-766365640-259391064/high-plains-512

5/12/2021 (audio file) Alfalfa weevil still emerging but first cutting approaches. Start scouting for wireworm damage three days after planting cotton. Thrips and pima cotton in Parmer and Bailey counties. (5:10 mins).

Thanks,

Blayne

High Plains IPM “Radio” Podcast 05/05/2021

 Here’s this week’s High Plains IPM “Radio” Podcast:  https://soundcloud.com/user-766365640-259391064/high-plains-55

(audio file) Alfalfa weevil still emerging and a threat. No freeze damage on heavily irrigated wheat. Cotton: soils will be warm enough very soon, wheat for cover - late burndown will increase wireworm risk. Preventative treatments are the only option for wireworms. Check for wireworms shortly after planting. (3:56 mins)

 Thanks,

Blayne