NEWS & EVENTS

7/28/2023

Week four counts are in.  As expected, peak flight occured sometime last week.  Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns when scouting for WBC egg masses.  We are glad to support our customers and help navigate their options when spraying Western Bean Cutworm!

7/21/2023

Week three of Western Bean Cutworm moth counts are in.  You can see a sharp drop on our West trap this week due to the corn being at full tassel for a week now.  The South and North traps appear to be leveling off and the East trap is still increasing.  Now is a great time to scout your fields for egg masses.  Please remember – if you have Leptra hybrids (AMLs) you are protected agains Western Bean Cutworm and do not need to spray an insecticide.  Please let us know if you have questions on what to scout for or if you need assistance identifying WBC egg masses.  We are glad to assist you at any time!

7/14/2023

There has been a sharp increase in moth flights this week.  We will check again next Friday but it appears that peak fligth for Western Bean Cutworm will be this week.  Now would be the best time to start scouting your fields for egg masses.  Please let us know if you need assistance in identifying egg masses or if you would like a second opinion on when to spray.

7/7/2023

Western Bean Cutworm moth counts have started again.  The first week shows a larger amount of moths than expected for this time of year.  First counts in 2022 were roughly half what we found this week. Moths are probably emerging sooner due to the larger number of heat units we have seen this season.  We will continue to monitor moth counts in the next several weeks and will let you know when to start scounting for egg masses!

7/22/2022

Week three of Western Bean Cutworm counts are in!  As you can see from the chart below, we are two weeks past peak flight.  For most fields, it will no longer be cost-effective to spray for WBC; however, for late-planted fields that are at, or near tassel, it may still be worthwhile.  If you do not have hybrids with a trait to protect against WBC, and have not sprayed this season, please consult with your retailer on your options.

Please contact us any time if you have questions.  Western Bean Cutworm can be extremely damaging to yields.  This year was a bad one for WBC pressure and we want to make sure you are protected!

We don’t want to gross you out but would like to put things into perspective.  Week three of moth collections in our local traps looked like this…

That is almost 3,000 moths in four traps – and peak flight (roughly 5000 month) was last week!

7/30/2021

Today is the final day of Western Bean Cutworm trapping in our area.  The graph indicates that peak flight was roughly July 16th.  We hope you found this information helpful in scouting and making decisions regarding insecticide application!

UNL WBCW Information

7/11/2019 – Check out this video by Bill McClure and Bekah Nortrup on Timing Fungicide Applications.  It was filmed RIGHT HERE in Polk in the North Forty Seed Plot!

2/20/2019 – Check out our latest corn and soybean product sheets by clicking on the product menu!

11/19/2018 – FFA WHITE CORN PLOT HARVEST

Check out the High Plains Yield Hero Picture!  Nice job to Tom Hofman and his students for growing some GREAT white corn!

9/24/2018 – FFA SOYBEAN PLOT HARVEST

Today we harvested the local FFA plot.  Great results from Pioneer soybeans!  Thanks to everyone involved!

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HPC FFA Plot 2018