Recent Posts
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I have been getting scattered reports of lesser cornstalk borer (LCB) in Georgia peanuts for several weeks now. The very dry conditions that we experienced to start the season were perfect for LCB survival, and they showed up early enough in the year to cause me no small amount of concern. The recent rain that…
Posted in: LCB -
Insect Scouting Schools will be conducted on June 12, 2017 in Tifton and June 20, 2017 in Midville. Crops to be covered include cotton, peanuts, and soybean. These programs offer basic information on insect pest identification and damage, natural enemies, and scouting procedures. The training will serve as an introduction to insect monitoring for new…
Posted in: General pest update -
Research tells us that peanuts planted in Georgia from this point forward should be at reduced risk of thrips infestation and Tomato Spotted Wilt infection. Nevertheless, we continue to catch adult tobacco thrips which means they are still moving around and can infest peanut fields as the crop emerges. My April planted thrips trials currently…
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Thrips numbers on our traps have remained relatively steady for the last three weeks, though we did see a spike last week in Colquitt County. My first thrips trials are just now emerging from the ground, and I have not heard any reports of thrips control problems on early planted peanut as of today. I…
Posted in: Thrips -
Tobacco thrips numbers declined at five of our six trapping locations last week. This does not mean that thrips flights are over or that peanuts are safe from injury. Thrips dispersal is still occurring, and seedling peanuts emerging over the next couple of weeks will be exposed to adult thrips and the risk of feeding…
Posted in: Thrips -
Peanut planting is about to get real serious in Georgia, and we are once again monitoring tobacco thrips flight activity for the spring planting season. Producers who have already planted or who are planting this week should be watching peanut fields closely for thrips and signs of thrips injury as seedlings emerge. We saw thrips…
Posted in: Thrips -
By now most of you have probably heard that the US EPA recently announced that it would not proceed with any additional restrictions for chlorpyrifos or changes to US tolerances. This is good news for Georgia peanut producers who have very limited insecticide choices for several important pests.
Posted in: Regulatory -
One of the last things a peanut grower wants to do is make an insecticide application in late September, and it is one of the last things that I want to recommend. We still have fields in Georgia with velvetbean caterpillar (VBC) infestations, and populations in some fields are high. The question that we get…
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Few pests of peanut are as dreaded or as difficult to control as the two spotted spider mite. Spider mites generally start to show up in peanut fields in late July, and if conditions are favorable they can severely injure or even kill plants. Hot and dry are the main ingredients in the recipe for…
Posted in: spider mite -
Drs. Monfort, Srinivasan, and I spent several days last week walking peanut fields to get a measure of how severe tomato spotted wilt is in this year’s crop. Incidence of virus symptoms varied from 0 to over 30% in the fields that were surveyed. This effort also gave me an opportunity to see first hand…
Posted in: General pest update