Stinkbugs Still Stink Up Louisiana Soybean Fields

By Don Molino, Voice of Louisiana Agriculture Radio Network

Research continues at the LSU AgCenter into controlling red banded stinkbugs and kudzu bugs in soybean fields.

Entomologist Dr. Jeff Davis says they’re doing a lot of screening of commercial high yielding soybean varieties to see which ones will best fight those insects.

“We’re taking those and have tested them for two years in a row,” says Davis. “We found some of the varieties that appear to be very moderately resistant to red banded stinkbugs.  By that I mean when we’re testing those, we’re comparing them treated and un-treated plots side by side. What we see are varieties that do not have a yield loss due to stinkbugs at very low or moderate levels.”

At those low to moderate levels, says Davis, producers should be controlling the insects and what growers should be doing is relying on the soybean plants ability to naturally overcome those stinkbug populations.

(This report a service of the Louisiana Soybean and Grain Research and Promotion Board)