What now?

It rained, the temps have cooled down and the spider mites are still moving around on the crops.  Although the crops look a little healthier from their reprieve, and the mites look a little slower, I was still a little nervous about the numbers I was seeing.  However, Peter Johnston has assured Ontario through Twitter that the Spider Mite threat for Ontario is over as long as the moisture and cool weather stays (the 14 day shows it will).  If it does get hot and dry again and your soys have not reached R6 yet (at least one out of the top 4 pods has beans filling the pod), I would get back out there and take a look.

Enough of Spider Mites, now on to the next bug - it is 2012 you know.

There are a few Green Stink Bugs being found in area soy bean fields.  Below is a picture of the nymph.  The bugs pierce the pod and feed on the juices of the bean.  As a result, the beans can become shriveled and deformed.  Also the pierce injury is a pathway for disease to infect the seed. Control could be warranted in IP soys if there is 1 stink bug found per foot of row in 30" or  .2 bugs per sweep in narrow rowed or solid seeded soys.  This threshold is to the end of R6.



Another bug being found in some area dry bean fields is Western Bean Cutworm.  Since the peak flight of the moths was after the corn tasseled, they may have laid their eggs in dry bean fields instead.  Once the eggs hatch the larva will start to feed on the pods and eventually make a home in a rolled up leaf.  No one at OMAFRA or any of the dry bean growing state extension offices have come up with a reliable way to scout for the bug and thresholds.  It's a gut reaction on this one whether or not you spray.  The one good thing about 2012 is that the trap counts during the peak moth flight across Ontario were considerably less than last year.

Below is a picture of Western Bean Cutworm Larval feeding on Dry Beans.


Good luck with this round of bugs.  If we get a swarm Locust next, I'm packing my bags and am out of here!