David Owens, Extension Entomologist; owensd@udel.edu
Soybean
Continue scouting double crop soybean that have not reached R6 for stink bugs. Once pods are full, thresholds start rising from 5 to 7 per 15 sweeps, and as leaves and pods begin yellowing, they rise even further. At R7, thresholds are greater than 10 stink bugs per 15 sweeps.
We have not yet started scouting for slugs in fall residue, however, our soil moisture is much greater this year than last year. I anticipate being able to find them. One of the fields we have scouted over the years tends to get a fall tillage to bury corn residue but hasn’t been planted in cover crop. Slug pressure on the tilled side in the springtime has been much lower than the adjacent, no-till field
Small Grains
Small grains will soon be planted in our area. Wheat varieties have varying levels of resistance to BYDV. This disease is spread by aphids like the bird cherry oat aphid and English grain aphid. The disease is not always present, and for many years it was almost entirely absent in our small grain. Management is aimed at reducing the potential for aphids to spread the disease, and especially with secondary spread throughout a field. Neonic seed treatments are an option, and probably more important in barley. Other aphid materials include Sivanto, Transform, and Sefina. Of those, Sivanto and Transform probably have the longest residual activity. In barley only we can use Endigo which has a neonic in it.