David Owens, Extension Entomologist, owensd@udel.edu
Soybean
Full season fields are senescing and are now pretty safe from pests. Still be on the lookout for defoliation and for stink bug in the late double crop fields. Stink bug thresholds through R6 are 5 bugs per 15 sweeps. Defoliation in R6 needs to be approaching 20% before a treatment is warranted.
Corn
Now is the time to start thinking about variety selection for next year. Our blacklight traps captured VERY FEW European corn borer this year. Next year we do plan to put up pheromone traps for ECB along with CEW. Earworms will get into most other traits. What this means is that for timely planted corn that will be done with silking prior to the end of July, there is an opportunity to shift some acres to conventional, non Bt corn without taking on extra risk. For fields in the northern part of the state that were corn this year and will be corn next year, you may want to consider a variety with a rootworm trait. You can find a handy guide to the trait names and the pests that they control here: https://agrilife.org/lubbock/files/2020/02/BtTraitTable_FEB_2020.pdf.