Sentinel Plot Program in Soybeans

In general, insect and disease populations have been very mild in the fifteen fields that we have been tracking. This time of year insect pest problems start to tail off and late-season diseases start cropping up, but we need to keep in mind the cost of running spray equipment through fields including the tire-track damage as part of the calculation of the value of any treatments.

Pests that were found during scouting are listed with their severity, which is rated on a 1-10 scale with 10 being the highest. Make sure you check your fields to determine your local populations, but these reports will give you a sense of what pests are active in fields. For all the reports thus far, see Penn State’s Field Crop Entomology website .

York County – 6 Sept 2012

Growth stage: R6

• Grasshoppers active – Severity: 1
• Bean leaf beetle active – Severity: 1
• Soybean Vein Necrosis Virus – Severity: 2
• Septoria leaf blight or bacterial leaf blight – Severity: 2
• Cercospora leaf blight – Severity: 2

Lancaster County – 4 Sept 2012

Field 1

• Grasshoppers active – Severity: 2
• Brown marmorated stink bugs active – Severity: 2
• N

Field 2

• Grasshoppers active – Severity: 4
• Brown marmorated stink bugs active – Severity: 6

Berks County – 7 Sept 2012

Field 1

Growth stage: R6

• Bean leaf beetle active – Severity: 1
• Lady beetles, damsel bugs and spiders active

Field 2

Growth stage: R5.5

• Bean leaf beetle active – Severity: 1
• Grasshoppers – Severity: 1

Franklin County – 31-Aug-12

Growth stage: R7

• Brown marmorated stink bug – Severity: 1
• Grasshoppers – Severity: 1
• Green cloverworm – Severity: 1
• Downy Mildew – Severity: 1
• Septoria leaf blight – Severity: 1
• Soybean Vein Necrosis Virus – Severity: 1
• Frogeye leaf spot – Severity: 1
• Cercospora leaf blight – Severity: 1