Cropping Issues in Northwest Minnesota

This article was written by Angie Peltier and Bruce Potter (UMN Extension) and Eric Burkness and Bill Hutchison (UMN Dept of Entomology). Purpose of Study European corn borer (ECB) larvae tunnel into stalks and ear shanks ( Figure 1 ). Feeding affects the transfer of water and nutrients within the plant and can directly affect yield by reducing kernel weight and number.  ECB feeding can indirectly affect yield when tunnels cause stalk breakage, ear drop, or allow the entry of stalk rot and ear mold fungi. Figure 1. European corn borer ( Ostrinia nubilalis ). Clemson University, USDA Cooperative Extension Slide Series, Bugwood.org. ECB and Bt corn.   More than 25 years ago scientists found a way to transfer a gene from a soil-borne bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) into the corn genome. Bt corn was approved for commercial use in 1996. Within the corn plant tissues, this gene produces a protein toxic to corn borer larvae. When ingested by larvae, the protein breaks do

This article was written by Angie Peltier, Jared Goplen and Anthony Hanson. Purpose of Study The soybean crop and pest survey was designed to provide in-season data about regional pest pressure to assist farmers and consultants in making pest management decisions. The 2021 growing season was the sixth that UMN Extension undertook this MSR&PC-sponsored survey. This project was coordinated with a similar survey undertaken by the NDSU IPM team. Bi-state survey maps were made by NDSU IPM and are available on the NDSU Pest Management website: https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/ndipm/ipm-survey-archives/ Results Field surveys of randomly selected Minnesota soybean fields were initiated on June 21. A total of   822 fields were surveyed from June 7 through August 13 in MN and ND (Fig 1). Figure 1. Field locations of soybeans scouted for soybean IPM survey in 2021. (Map: NDSU Extension IPM). The above-normal temperatures that prevailed throughout the 2021 growing season (Fig 2) accelera