Michael Gray Email

On October 31, 2015, I will retire from the University of Illinois and on November 9, 2015, begin a new career with Monsanto Company, St. Louis, Missouri as Sustainable Agricultural Systems Lead. So, my actual retirement will be short-lived. In this new Regulatory Policy & Scientific Affairs position, I will have responsibilities for advancing important sustainability initiatives and advanced agricultural technology platforms. This position will require close collaboration across multiple teams including Monsanto’s Regulatory,…

Producers throughout the Corn Belt are in the midst of harvest operations. However, it’s not too soon to begin evaluating the value of corn rootworm inputs for 2015 and their potential value for the 2016 growing season. Earlier this month, the Plant Management Network posted a new webcast titled Estimation of Efficacy Functions for Products Used to Manage Corn Rootworm Larval Injury. The webcast was created by Dr. Nicholas Tinsley,…

On August 10, 2015, Dr. Doug Johnson, an Extension Entomologist with the University of Kentucky reported that the sugarcane aphid, Melanaphis sacchari (Zehntner), was collected in two western Kentucky counties (Fulton County and Graves County) on grain and sweet sorghum. The identity of the aphids was confirmed by Dr. Lee Townsend, Extension Entomologist, University of Kentucky. To date, this aphid has largely affected sorghum producers in several southeastern states as well as Kansas,…

As part of a USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) sponsored grant, surveys of insect pests were conducted in randomly selected corn and soybean fields across 28 counties throughout Illinois this summer. Fields were sampled during two discrete periods: July 27 – July 31 and August 12 – August 24. Within each county, five cornfields and five soybean fields were sampled. Within a cornfield (away from the field edge and end rows), 20 consecutive plants were examined carefully for northern and western corn rootworm adults.…

As part of our on-going USDA NIFA (National Institute for Food and Agriculture) sponsored University of Illinois Extension IPM Program, our research team, led by Nick Tinsley (Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Crop Sciences), surveyed 28 counties between June 10 to 22 for first-generation European corn borer injury. The counties and six regions surveyed are listed below.
Regions and Counties Surveyed
Northwestern Illinois: Bureau, Knox, Mercer, Ogle and Whiteside
Northeastern Illinois: Kane, Kankakee, LaSalle, Livingston and McLean
West-central Illinois: Adams,…

Byron Hendrix, Agronomist with Terayne AG Specialties, Venedy, IL, observed green and brown stink bugs in soybean fields in Washington County on June 25. The field in which stink bugs were observed was planted in early May. Management of stink bugs in vegetative stage soybeans is not typically necessary. As plants enter the reproductive stages of development and pods begin to fill, rescue treatments may be warranted. Growers should consider a rescue treatment when adult bugs or large nymphs reach densities of 1 per foot of row when pods are filling.…

In spite of the very heavy precipitation and saturated soils in many fields across the state, some western corn rootworm adults have survived and have been sighted in several fields in central Illinois. Matt O’Whene, Research Associate with DuPont Pioneer, observed western corn rootworm adults in a cornfield located in Piatt County on June 24. The western corn rootworm in Matt’s photograph appears to be a male. Males typically emerge first followed by the emergence of females a few days later.…

Joe Spencer, an entomologist with the Illinois Natural History Survey, observed 2nd and 3rd instar corn rootworm larvae earlier today (June 23) in his research plots located north of Urbana, Illinois. He anticipates the emergence of adults from these plots by early next week. As we begin the 4th of July Holiday, I suspect initial sightings of western corn rootworm adults will begin to occur across central Illinois. Overall, I anticipate the statewide population of western corn rootworms to be reduced this season due to the heavy precipitation many areas have received throughout June leading to saturated soils at the time of larval hatch.…

The annual western corn rootworm hatch appears to be similar this spring to the two most recent growing seasons. Thanks to Larry Bledsoe and his entomology colleagues at Purdue University, we have compiled a list of hatch dates over the past 20 years! Beginning on May 21 (and at 3-day intervals), Larry examined the root tissue of untreated corn plants for first instar larvae. On June 4 in Tippecanoe County, Indiana he found his first corn rootworm larva and estimated that hatch occurred the day before.…