Agronomic Crop Insect Scouting

David Owens, Extension Entomologist, owensd@udel.edu

Small Grains
Be on the lookout for aphids, especially in malting barley if you haven’t yet gone over fields. While most fields we have sampled or that scouts have sampled have very low numbers, one field at the Carvel REC had moderately high populations for this time of year, with spots approaching 40 aphids per foot. There was also a mix of greenbug, birdcherry oat aphid, and English grain aphid. It is impossible to know if these populations will continue building, or if populations in fields will build before natural enemies take them out. Last year in wheat, we did not see a yield response to extremely high (150+ aphids/ft) but brief (<2 weeks) populations. In malt barley there was a slight trend, though not significant, for lower yield in the check plots with no reduction in quality.