AgFax: Plant Bugs Migrating Into Louisiana Cotton Fields
Sebe Brown, Louisiana Extension Field Crops Entomologist:
"We're fighting plant bugs pretty hard. A lot of corn has either dried down or is in the process, so plant bugs are migrating from corn into cotton. A big portion of our cotton is at bloom or will be before next week. All of that means more applications are going out. We're seeing large numbers of aphids in cotton, too. Guys are typically taking plant bugs and aphids out with Transform at the same time.
"We haven't seen a lot of bollworm egg lay yet. Our historic Fourth of July moth flight has been light thus far, although there's still time. Our trap catches have been low but I'm still holding my breath.
"Spider mites have shown up in small spots. With the lack of rain in the forecast, everyone needs to watch out for mite outbreaks.
"In soybeans, redbanded stinkbug numbers are picking up. We have beans that are at R-3 and above with threshold numbers and treatments have started. That's now happening from north to south Louisiana.
"Watch for bollworms in the late beans -- especially R-1 to R-3 that haven't lapped the middles. In particular, the short-statured beans are a prime candidate for bollworms.
Richard Griffing, Griffing Consulting, LLC, Monterey, Louisiana:
"We're in so much better shape than we were just a month ago. Back then, we still weren't even planted. I'm feeling very optimistic this week. A gentleman I worked with 25 years ago would say 'It isn't how you start but how you finish.' I'm holding to that this year. I'm not saying we're going to have a bumper crop, but it's so much better than it was. Some of our earliest cotton is now moving into the third week of bloom and looks good. That's true even for our late-planted cotton.
"We are starting to pick up immature plant bugs and aphids. We're also treating for a fair number of spider mites. I'm anticipating a big bollworm egg lay coming pretty quickly with that typical Fourth of July moth flight.
"Like everyone else in the Midsouth, we've had excessive moisture. Now, though, we're able to get in the fields and layby a good deal of the crop. Cotton is moving fast.
"We do have weed issues with all the different ages of cotton in the field. But we're staying on top pretty well with Staple, Roundup and also used some dicamba earlier in the season. It's starting to look like a cotton crop. First thing this morning, I told my scouts, 'We're at July 1, it's crunch time and time to roll.'
"About 10% of our beans are at R-5 and we're starting to pick stinkbugs in those, including redbanded. None of our beans are being watered yet but we may have to start in a couple of days. Corn is at dent and will be at black layer in 2 or 3 weeks. I'm still scouting for disease but things are moving quickly.
"One potential problem is the lateness of this crop and labor. Four college boys work for me and they will go back to class before things wind down in these crops. That may hurt us with help later in the season. Right now, though, all is well."