It is that time of year again, time to dust off your hand lens and scout for cereal rust mite (aka timothy mite) in your timothy fields. This is often the first pest of the season hay growers have to deal with. As we all know this pest can reduce both yield and quality of timothy. Look for signs of damage in your fields. If you see leaves rolled that look like the plant is in drought stress, your field most likely has mites. Treatment is recommended when 25% of leafs are curled. Sevin XLR Plus is labeled for control. Remember to increase spray pressure to enable the material to reach into rolled leaves where the mites are located. RCE fact sheet FS1084 "Cereal rust mite on timothy hay" has more information.
Bill Bamka
