This summer, concerns are high about bollworm (also known as corn earworm) infestations. Diligent scouting and monitoring is a must, as spotting pests early increases your chances of protecting soybean yields.

Monitoring

With large populations of bollworms infiltrating fields, recognizing threshold levels can help save your crop from further injury. These pests can be challenging to find, making it difficult to get an accurate sample.

The drop cloth threshold may be 3 per foot of row, but this technique can sometimes be impossible to use between narrow rows of soybeans, forcing farmers to bend the plants over and visually examine them. This can cause confusion and tarnished information.

According to Mississippi State University, using a recently developed economic threshold indicator has been proven effective at predicting accurate levels. By looking at price points and control costs, the pests-per-sweep method becomes easier to utilize.

Once levels have been reached, it is time to take bollworms down. Syngenta recommends Besiege®, a broad-spectrum insecticide providing both rapid knockdown and long-lasting residual control of lepidopteran, sucking and chewing insect pests.

To hear more about combatting bollworms and other pests, select your state below to sign up for our Pest Patrol alerts, which feature reports from university and extension entomologists about current threat levels, local area outbreak predictions, treatment recommendations and more.

Arkansas

Louisiana

Mississippi

Tennessee

Syngenta hereby disclaims liability for third party websites.