Kelly Estes, Author at farmdoc

Cooperators sought for Insect Trapping and Field Surveys

April 1, 2019

We are starting to look for cooperators that are willing to place and monitor traps for black cutworm and true armyworm this spring and European corn borer, corn earworm, fall armyworm, and western bean cutworm this summer. We provide traps and lures. We ask cooperators to place and check traps several times a week, reporting trap catches to our site.
We will also be looking for cooperators to participate in our summer field surveys as well.…

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Feedback sought on Pest Degree Day Calculator Upgrade

February 20, 2019

The Illinois Degree Day calculator has been available to Illinois producers since 2004. Hosted by the Illinois Climate Network (ICN), this pest management tool was developed to help aid producers in monitoring insect development throughout the growing season and aid in pest management decisions.
The calculator uses weather data from 19 network stations across Illinois to provide degree day accumulations and forecasts for 30 agricultural and invasive pests based on long-term averages. While this has been a great resource for many years,…

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And the Survey Says…

September 17, 2018

For those that attended Agronomy Day this past August, the title and above graphic may look familiar. As field and research season winds down, we’re able to finish collecting and summarizing data. One of our biggest summer projects is the annual corn and soybean survey. While some of that information was shared at Agronomy Day, the complete results are summarized below.
As a recap, this survey has been carried out across the state for several years (2011,…

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Insect Trapping Update:Week Ending May 11, 2018

May 11, 2018

Black cutworm
Black cutworm moth flights continue across much of Illinois. Several counties reported second -and even third- significant moth flights (Madison, Champaign, and Lee). Several counties had near significant flights (Piatt and Coles). It is important to remember that lack of a reported significant flight and subsequent projected cutting dates does not take black cutworm out of the equation in your area. I have had reported of 1st-2nd instar feeding and even a report of 3rd-4th instar cutting in a couple areas of the state.…

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Insect Observations/Trap Data for the Week Ending 4/27/18

April 27, 2018

Spring insect activity is off to a slow start, but is expected to pick up with the recent warming trend.
Piatt, Madison, Montgomery, and Sangamon counties all recorded significant moth flights this week. Projected potential cutting dates are identified in the map below. Remember, these dates are just estimates, scouting should occur before and after the potential cutting dates.

True armyworm numbers have been very low. Armyworm traps are just getting going, so reports for this week are broken down into a general area of the state.…

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Black Cutworm Moth Flight Beginning

April 23, 2018

Soil temperatures and field activity are increasing along with moth migration from the south. Insect traps (figure 1) are out around the state and we’ve been capturing both true armyworm and black cutworm moths for over a week. In fact, we recently had our first significant black cutworm moth flights recorded in Montgomery and Champaign counties (figure 2). We expect activity to increase with both of these insects over the coming weeks. As both corn and soybean planting progress,…

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Increased Insect Densities Reflected in Annual Corn and Soybean Survey

August 28, 2017

Thirty-six counties representing the nine crop reporting districts were surveyed at the end of July/beginning of August as part of our annual statewide corn and soybean survey. The surveys were performed by sampling five corn and five soybean fields per county. For the past several years (2011, 2013–2017), surveys in corn and soybean fields have been conducted with the goal of estimating densities of common insect pests. The estimates provided in this article should not be considered a substitute for scouting individual fields and making informed pest management decisions—even areas of the state that appear to be at low risk could have contained fields with high densities of a given insect pest.…

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Insect Briefs – June 30

June 30, 2017

Japanese Beetles
Japanese beetles are back. Reports statewide indicate Japanese beetles are here (and in some locations, in very high numbers.) With corn starting to tassel and getting close to tassel, it’s important to remember, even though densities may appear to be extremely high, the average density of beetles across the field may be below levels of economic concern. An insecticidal treatment should be considered during silking if:

There are 3 or more beetles per ear,

…

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Insect Snapshots from the Field

June 9, 2017

Just a quick overview of some insect issues presenting themselves recently.

True Armyworm
Lots of reports of armyworm being found in wheat and corn. With reports of wheat harvest starting/getting close, reports of armyworm in corn seem to be taking over. I’ve seen a range of larvae stages from 2nd-4th instars. Injury to the whorl and ragged leaf margins is usually noticed around field margins first. Armyworm larvae are night feeders and will usually spend the day in soil cracks,…

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Impressive Moth Flights across Midwest

April 28, 2017

Impressive moth flights have not only kept the Illinois insect monitoring network cooperators busy, but neighboring states are reporting lots of black cutworm and true armyworm moth activity as well. The current forecast and planting progress has raised questions about the potential for these pests in the coming weeks.
With the assistance of University of Illinois Extension educators, producers and industry volunteers, nearly 60 trap sites have been established across Illinois. Captures of both black cutworm and true armyworm have been common across the state.…

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