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True Armyworms Invading Sweet Corn!

Chuck Bornt, Team Leader, Extension Vegetable Specialist
Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture

June 7, 2018

This article was published in the June 7th 2018, ENYCHP Vegetable News.  Click here to view the full newsletter.

The last two weeks have had us finding some True Armyworm adult moths in our traps.  These moths move up from southern overwintering sites on storm fronts.  If you recall, we've had some issues with these buggers in the past and sweet corn isn't their only host as we've seen them attack several vegetable crops including sweet corn, brassicas, tomatoes, peppers and greens.   Not only is their damage a problem, but on things like lettuce, the droppings can affect marketability of the crop.  

Armyworms, whether Fall or True, are very eager feeders and can do a lot of damage in a short time.  Their feeding damage tends to appear ragged, with large holes eaten in the leaves and they leave lots and lots of sawdust looking frass (insect terminology for fecal matter).  They tend to feed on the top sides of crops during the night and on the undersides or deeper into the plant during the day.   

The adults are fairly large moths which are primarily nocturnal and have the ability to lay up to 2,000 eggs in their two week life.  The eggs will hatch in 7 to 14 days and the larvae begin feeding immediately, going through seven stages of development over several weeks.  The worms tend to be greenish brown (with some variations) with a pale white stripe on its back and an orange stripe on each side of the body.  One other distinguishable feature is a dark brown to black triangle located on the outside of each of the four pairs of prologs found towards the hind end of the body.   

Thresholds for when to treat corn have been established and should be treated when 25>#/b### of the plants are showing damage (Source: Integrated Pest Management Program, Missouri University).  For sweet corn and leafy greens, best control is achieved when the larvae are small (1st and 2nd instar) and applied usually later in the evening when the larvae tend to be more active and feeding on the upper surfaces of the plants.    

There are a number of insecticides labeled for leafy greens including these organic products:  Pyganic (pyrethrin), Dipel (Bacillus thuringinensis, subsp. Kurstaki), Xentari ((Bacillus thuringiensis, var. aizawai), Aza-Direct (azadirachtin), Azera (pre-mix of azadirachtin and a pyrethroid) and Entrust (check the label for the labeled rates as formulations vary for these products).   Again, these products are going to work best when applied to small larvae but if they get ahead of you, tank mixing a pyrethroid (Aza-Direct, Pyganic etc.) with a Bt (Dipel, Xentari etc) will improve performance.  Repeat applications may also be necessary depending on how long the egg laying period and development conditions are.  

Conventional insecticides labeled for armyworm control on sweet corn and leafy greens including Warrior II, Baythroid (both are recommended for 1st and 2nd instars), Coragen and Lannate.  Ensure that you get thorough coverage, of the canopy with any of these products including the whorl in the case of sweet corn.  Late evening applications also keep insecticides wet longer ensuring larval contact and ingestion of the insecticides.  Other insecticides labeled for sweet corn include Asana XL (1st and 2nd instars), Mustang Max, Radiant SC and Blackhawk.  Please check labels for rates.

army 1Note the ragged feeding and dark colored frass. (Photo: Teresa Rusinek)



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January 9, 2024 : Agritourism For Maple Syrup Operations

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February 13, 2024 : Grants for Agritourism Operations

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Agritourism operations need employees who are good with the public.  Where can you find a labor force for your agritourism enterprise? What different laws and regulations might you encounter as an employer for an agritourism workforce? How do you get your employees hired and trained effectively? 


April 9, 2024 : Working with your local tourism office

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April 15, 2024 : Virtual Orchard IPM Scout Training

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Join us for a live, virtual training on scouting of major insect pests of apple orchards. Anna Wallis (NYSIPM Program), Mike Basedow (CCE ENYCHP), and Janet van Zoeren (CCE LOFT), will broadcast from orchards in their region to discuss best practices for monitoring. We will review monitoring/scouting procedures for major economically significant pests. We will also share resources available for helping with identification of pests and forecasting pest activity.

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Announcements

2023 Spotted Wing Drosophila Monitoring/Management

All berry farmers are watching for monitoring reports that indicate Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD) adults are in their region. Mid-season berry crops should be sprayed as soon as berries begin to ripen unless you've elected to use insect exclusion netting.

- For general information about SWD, and to enroll for free monitoring reports, visit the Cornell SWD blog https://blogs.cornell.edu/swd1/.
- Click here for the 2023 Quick Guide for Pesticide Management. 
- For some great instructional videos and fact sheets on insect exclusion netting, visit the University of Vermont's Ag Engineering blog.


Resources from CCE ENYCHP!

We are developing new ways to connect with the CCE ENYCHP team this year! We have a Youtube page located at this link. Check out videos on Table Grape Production, Pest Updates and the 20 Minute Ag Manager - in 4 Minutes series

We have a Facebook Page here as well as an Instagram page. We keep these places updated with current projects, events, and other interesting articles and deadlines.

There are also text alerts available. Fruit and vegetable farmers in 17 Eastern NY counties can now receive real time alerts on high risk disease and pest outbreaks texted directly to their cell phone. The Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture program, which is supported by local Cornell Cooperative Extension associations, will now offer text alerts to those that enroll in our program in 2019. 

The text alerts will be reserved for important crop alerts that could impact management decisions immediately. For instance, if there were an outbreak of Late Blight in the area, this would be transmitted to vegetable growers.

Farmers can choose the crop for which they wish to receive updates. Additionally they can request that Ag Business Alerts be sent to them. These alerts might include due dates for crop insurance deadlines, market opportunities etc.

If you have questions, please contact enychp@cornell.edu


Podcasts

Winter Greens Grower Interviews in Northern New York

October 22, 2022
In this episode, vegetable specialist Elisabeth Hodgdon interviews Lindsey Pashow, ag business development and marketing specialist with the Cornell Cooperative Extension Harvest New York team. They discuss findings from a series of interviews with winter greens producers in northern New York. Lindsey shares production and marketing challenges associated with growing winter greens in this cold and rural part of the state, success stories and advice from growers, and tips for those interested in adding new crop enterprises to their operation.

Funding for this project was provided by the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program. The episode was edited by Miles Todaro of the ENYCHP team.

Resources:
• Crop enterprise budget resources available from Penn State Extension (field and tunnel vegetables: https://extension.psu.edu/small-scale-field-grown-and-season-extension-budgets), UMass Extension (winter spinach budgets: https://ag.umass.edu/vegetable/outreach-project/improving-production-yield-of-winter-greens-in-northeast and field vegetables: https://ag.umass.edu/vegetable/fact-sheets/crop-production-budgets), and Cornell Cooperative Extension (high tunnel vegetables: https://blogs.cornell.edu/hightunnels/economics/sample-budgets-spreadsheets/). Use these budgets as templates when developing your own crop enterprise budget.
• The Organic Farmer’s Business Handbook, by Richard Wiswall
• The Winter Harvest Handbook, by Eliot Coleman

For questions about the winter greens project discussed in this podcast, reach out to Lindsey Pashow (lep67@cornell.edu) or Elisabeth Hodgdon(eh528@cornell.edu).

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