NJAES Selected Ag Programs Calendar

Contributors: Holding a Twilight Meeting or running a Workshop? Post it yourself on the NJAES Selected Ag Programs Calendar and let other Ag Agents, Specialists, and Ag Professionals know about it. See an event you don't want to forget? Download it to your own calendar. Can't recall the date of your last group meeting? Scroll back through to find it. Keep abreast of what's happening at Rutgers Cooperative Extension.
For details email Jack Rabin.

Cereal Leaf Beetle in Wheat

I am starting to get many calls about cereal leaf beetles in wheat. This is not an easy call to make regarding control at this stage of crop development. I'll give some guidelines to help make the decision as to whether or not control is warranted for your fields.

• First, the established threshold is 0.5 to 1 larvae per stem. This number is obtained by sampling 100 stems in multiple locations in the field. Distribution of larvae is not always uniform across a field so make sure you sample at several locations within the field. 
• The second thing to consider is what stage of crop development your field is in. Generally, we are concerned with damage through the soft dough stage. Some fields I have seen are past this stage others have not yet reached it. 
• The next thing to consider is what percent of the field is showing leaf damage. Typically, we don't treat unless 10% leaf damage or greater is present. Also keep in mind that the upper most leaves are responsible for grain fill. We need to protect the flag leaf and one or two leaves below for grain fill. 
• Next , we need to look at the yield potential of the crop. This is where the price of your wheat comes into play. At this stage of the game many advise that we need to be looking at protecting fields with 60 bushel or more yield potential. Keep in mind we also need to consider how much wheat will be damaged by running across the field with a sprayer at this stage of crop development. 

As you can see this is not necessarily an easy decison to make at this point in time for some growers. This is a photo of cereal leaf beetle damage in wheat taken by Penn State Entomologist Dr. John Tooker.

Bill Bamka

Potato Leaf Hopper Watch

My colleagues in central Pennsylvania are reporting that they are beginning to see Potato Leaf Hoppers. Our current weather pattern has not only brought rain, but an early arrival of PLH. PLH is one of the primary pests of alfalfa. If you have alfalfa begin to keep an eye out for PLH. Scouting and Control recommendation for PLH can be found in the Mid-Atlantic Pest Management Recommendations for Field Crops.

Bill Bamka

Weed Control after the Rains

With the signifcant and long lasting rain events, we may see some compromised weed control efforts in our various crops. As a reminder, we have some comprehensive publications authored by our University of Delaware and Rutgers Cooperative Extension scientists, that can help look at choices and issues to consider in weed control management. Click on the following for links to the appropriate publications:Weed Control

Zane Helsel

Replanting Decisions

With all the wet weather you may have parts of fields where stand loss is significant. Alot of factors such as extent of stand loss, seed and fuel costs, crop insurance, herbicides planned/used, etc go into a decision to replant. The first decision is can you drive the planter down through the field and replant skips or waterlogged area that have dried. If the field sustained more substantial loss, then doing a stand count is essential. With corn, if you have 70% or more of the initial targeted population (as an example 20,000 out of 28,000 hoped for) remaining and plants are fairly evenly spaced, its probably not economical to tear up the field and replant. With soybeans, if you have 4 plants/ft of row in 30" rows or 1 plant/ft of row in drilled beans that are reasonably spaced there is probably no benefit to replanting, especially if it remains wet and you cant get in the fields for a week or more. If you do replant, you can stick with your intended variety/hybrid maturities unless you have some really long season ones which you likely should avoid, especially with corn after June1.

The above are very general statements. You can find alot more detailed and useful information from an Iowa State publication.

Zane Helsel